AN: Long, but I hope you like it! Let me know!
Chapter 36
A Streetcar Named Desire
K stood in the corner of the den while Freya eyed Stefan skeptically.
"He needs a favor." Klaus told his sister a bit too happily for anyone's liking. "Turns out he's been mystically branded and we need something to dampen the single. A concealment salve, perhaps? Invisibility Cloak, even. Something."
"I'll see what I can do." She replied rigidly.
"In the mean time," K said from her spot. Klaus felt ice shoot up his spine. Stefan noticed actual concern mar the hybrid's face before he slowly turned to face an irate vampire. "You and I need to talk."
"Of course, darling." He kept the chipper tone, but it was clear he was already a bit agitated. Nothing good was to follow. K pushed herself away from the wall and left the room, expecting Klaus to join her. "Though something tells me yelling will be the more likely." He muttered.
"You'd be right!" they heard her call back.
Biting on the inside of his cheek, Klaus left the room as well. Stefan was the only one who had trouble comprehending what happened and that much was clear when he looked to the other two Mikaelsons.
"And they're seriously going to get married?" he asked the pair.
"I truly hope so." Freya said with a sigh as she gathered her things.
"Believe it or not," Elijah said as he took hold of his drink, "They are better with each other."
Stefan fought the urge to say that no, he didn't believe it.
~!~
"How could you keep this from me?!" K yelled as she lobbed a glass at Klaus. He easily caught the object and set it down. She grabbed another. "You let me believe she was still dead!" he caught the second glass and set it down as well. "How long have you known?"
"Since my trip back." He replied. Klaus wisely kept his voice calm, but it didn't help K.
Enraged, she grabbed the decanter of bourbon and lobbed it at him. Klaus caught it delicately given the likelihood of spilling the beverage and set it down with the glasses.
"Will you stop throwing things?" he asked with a sigh.
"Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded. K had tears gathering in her lashes. She felt incredibly betrayed.
"Because she told me not to." He said firmly. K was temporarily silenced and stunned. Klaus sighed again and began to take tentative steps towards her. "She knew you'd return to Mystic Falls."
Her jaw was clenched so tightly it looked painful. She pointed angrily at him.
"You should have told me about Bonnie."
He cocked a single brow.
"You should have told me about Rebekah." He countered.
And that –more or less- put an end to the fight. K didn't truly have the right to berate him and neither did Klaus. Both were keeping someone else's secret, so neither had room to be angry with the other.
~!~
An hour passed before Hayley called and said they knew where Aurora was hidden.
"I'm coming with you." K said as she grabbed her jacket.
"No," Klaus said quickly. He turned and held up his hand as though trying to keep her at bay. "No, you're staying here."
"No, I'm not." She told him plainly. "The two of you are going to need help when you find-"
"Kali, please," Klaus snapped. He growled and sighed as he tried to calm himself. He didn't mean to yell, but he had. He closed the distance between them and took her hands. "I want you as far from that woman as possible."
K cocked a single brow.
"I can take care of myself."
"I don't risk what happened last time."
"I'm not a child anymore Niklaus." She didn't bother hiding her growing agitation with him and he was no better at it. Her continued refusal to let him keep her safe had drawn on his last nerve. "I am more than capable of handling myself against that shrew."
"She nearly killed you!" he shot back loudly. "Do you have any idea how it felt to see you nailed to that bloody cross? Or the stake that was plunged through your heart? You'll stay here where I know you'll be safe."
She glowered at him. K wanted to fight the redhead, but Klaus didn't want her anywhere near Aurora. Both were too stubborn to see the others' reasoning.
Without another word on the matter, Elijah and Klaus left. K fought the urge to throw yet another item at the hybrid, though just barely. What she did do, was scream loudly.
"ASSHOLE!" she bellowed.
K knew the word followed the hybrid. She hoped he heard it. Still angry, K spun and saw both Freya and Stefan eying her curiously. They were surprised by the outburst, though Freya had grown a bit more accustomed to it.
"If they don't kill him, I will." She said angrily.
"In the meantime," Freya said calmly, "Would you help me gather the supplies I need for my spell?"
K ran her fingers through her hair and tugged at it in her frustration before answering.
"Fine," she grumbled.
"You had a stake through your heart?" Stefan asked.
K was hardly paying him attention, so it took a moment to realize he'd spoken.
"Hm? Oh, yeah." She nodded. "Twice."
"How are you still alive?"
"I'm a hybrid now, evidently."
"What?'
"Oh yeah," she didn't bother hiding her agitation. "Stakes and sunlight don't work anymore either. And my bite's toxic." She gave him a curt smile as she walked by him towards Freya. "Should we do this?"
Freya nodded and the two young women headed into the hall leaving Stefan behind for a moment. The situation he found himself in just seemed to get stranger and stranger. The last time he'd seen K and Klaus, they most definitely weren't as close as they were. They weren't even on the level of 'friends', but now… not only did they seem to be getting married, but she yelled at Klaus like his own family did. That was something he never thought anyone would do and survive to tell the tale.
And she was a hybrid?
Things most definitely were different now.
By the time Stefan found Freya and K again, Freya was beginning to mix something up. She was taking vials and small bottles from K, sprinkling in however much from each and then proceeding down the line of ingredients.
When they heard him enter, both glanced up briefly, but paid him marginal attention. Freya was too busy mixing everything together.
"Sit." She instructed. Stefan obliged. A moment later, she appeared to inspect the wound.
"So K," Stefan chimed. He looked at her when she stepped around the couch to sit beside Freya on the coffee table. "You and Klaus."
"Me and Klaus." She repeated as she sat beside the blond. She offered Freya the mortar filled with the clay-like substance. "Problem?"
"No," he shook his head. Freya dipped her fingers into the concoction and began to spread it over the wound. "Just… strange."
She cocked a single brow to the much younger vampire.
"Is it?" she asked in such a way it sounded like she was daring him to continue.
"Considering you couldn't stand him the last time we spoke," he replied as though unafraid of her, "Yeah."
"Our relationship is… complicated."
Freya smiled lightly.
"That's a rather timid description, from what I'm told." She said.
K found herself smiling softly too. Freya wasn't wrong.
"There." Freya said as she finished wiping the mixture on Stefan's chest. "Now, let that dry, and you'll be on your merry way."
K stood to set the mortar back on the table behind Stefan.
"Look, I wasn't expecting a warm welcome or anything, but why does everything seem so tense? What happened?"
He heard K scoff a small laugh from behind before Freya spoke.
"Does it have to be just one thing?" K asked from behind.
Freya gave her own weak laugh before explaining things to Stefan. Even he seemed surprised by the hell they found themselves in, but he had trouble empathizing. As far as he was concerned, the Mikaelsons brought it upon themselves.
"So, for your own wellbeing," Freya sighed as she pushed herself up, "You'd better run as far as possible, as fast as possible."
"No kidding." He mumbled.
Freya made it to K's side. The vampire was busy gathering a few jars of herbs.
"Thank you," she said.
K nodded and headed for the door to put the supplies away while Freya grabbed the rest. Before she made it to the door, however, K felt something wash over her. She swayed and the room spun. She lost control of herself in one swoop.
The sound of breaking glass drew attention. Freya and Stefan managed to see K stumble, drop the bottles in her hands and crash against the threshold.
"Kali," Freya jogged for her.
She nearly reached her before K's legs gave out and she crumbled to the floor. Stefan raced for K and caught her just in time. He guided her gently to the floor while Freya hovered over her. K's eyes held no focus.
"Kali," Freya said softly. There was no response. "Kali!" Still nothing.
Without warning, K gasped and her body tensed. She could hear something, people, in the distance. She knew those voices.
"What happening?" Stefan asked in slight panic.
"This has to be Niklaus," Freya said. Her panic was more intense than the younger vampire's.
"What?"
Freya stood.
"Can you put her on the couch, please?"
Stefan nodded and lifted K into his arms. He guided her back to the couch he'd been sitting on and set her down. Freya sat again on the coffee table, but pulled it close so she could lean over the vampire.
"Kali and Klaus are linked." She said as she looked over the comatose vampire. "If he is under attack, she's affected too."
"How the hell did that happen?"
"Long story." She sighed.
Freya held her hands over K and began to mutter an incantation of some kind. She had to search K's mind to find out what was happening to her brother.
Inside her head, K could hear Aurora, Tristan, Klaus and Elijah. She couldn't see anything, not really, but she knew they were there.
Despite her eyes being open, K didn't see the room. She saw something light, white and unlike anything within the Mikaelson home. Just beyond her line of sight there were clouded figures. Everything was fuzzy and out of focus, like she was looking at it through frosted glass. Something was happening to Klaus and Elijah, but she didn't know what. Their connection was strong, but not strong enough to break the veil.
Being completely aware of what was happening gave K no solace. No matter how much she willed it, she couldn't break through to Klaus or come back to the real world.
~!~
Freya had been chanting over K for longer than she thought she would before she saw any change.
Without warning, K shot up and breathed deep. She coughed as though she'd been staked or her neck was broken.
"What happened?" K asked as she looked around. It took her a moment to realize Hayley and Freya were standing over her.
"Aya has the witches working to break the sire bond." Freya said. "Obviously, you were affected when Klaus and Elijah were taken."
"Then why am I awake?"
K began to stand, but her stance wavered again. She didn't feel right.
"What's wrong with me?" she asked. K felt arms around her as Hayley helped her stand. Something was definitely wrong.
"I couldn't sever the link." Freya admitted. "The best I can do is block the connection, but it's temporary."
"Come on," Hayley began to walk with K hanging at her side. "We've got a plan to get them out."
K nodded and followed whoever was leading her.
It was hard to explain how K felt. It wasn't like she was drunk, but not far either. She felt she had no control over her body or movements. She knew what she wanted to do –like walk on her own- but she couldn't manage it. Her 'body' was being torn between the physical plane and the spiritual where Klaus was being kept.
"It's up to me to come up with the grand plan then." Lucien said smugly.
"No need, Lucien." Hayley sighed.
The group turned to see Freya, Hayley and a drunk looking K coming closer.
"What happened to you?" Marcel asked at the sight of her.
"Freya managed to put a stopper in the connection." K muttered. Even her voice sounded off. "Why the hell is that one here?" she said looking at Lucien.
"Lovely to see you again too, darling." He said derisively. "Fallen a long way, haven't you?"
"Someone kill him before I do." K said.
"That'll have to wait." Hayley said. "Freya has an idea on how to get the boys out of the Shambra."
"I would channel Finn," she said, "but he's all for letting our brothers perish. So I'll use Lucien. The older the vampire, the better the battery."
"We're going to buy her some time and keep the Strix occupied." Hayley said.
"Wait," Lucien didn't sound happy. "So you expect me to sit here, holding the hand of the leftover sister, while you take the toddlers and tackle the Strix. You must be jo-"
Freya twisted her delicate wrist and put an end to Lucien's ravings. He collapsed into the couch immediately.
"Impressive." Stefan nodded.
"I work better with quiet." She told him with a smirk.
"I've told you to use me." K said with a sigh. "I'm already half in."
"It's too dangerous." Freya replied. "I will have to channel all of his energy. It might end up killing him. Niklaus would never allow me to use you."
"Allow," K scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "Well send me back then."
"Why?" Stefan asked.
"It's not like I'm going to be much good here." She snapped. She was a bit annoyed with the situation she found herself in. "I can barely stand on my own. There's no way I can fight the Strix right now." K stood and stepped away from Hayley. The hybrid was a bit reluctant to let the swaying vampire stand and watched closely as she approached Freya. "Can you undo what you did?"
"Of course." She didn't look enthusiastic about K's questions.
"Can you make the connection stronger?"
Freya cocked a brow. She really didn't like where the questions were leading.
"Yes," she answered slowly. "I think so."
"Then do it." K gave her a short nod.
"Why?" this time it was Hayley who asked. "That link's almost gotten you killed a dozen times."
"Because right now, I'm stuck in some weird middle-ground." She explained. "I'm not really here or there and I need to be." She looked at Freya again. "I can help find out what's keeping them there, but I have to be all in."
Freya didn't look happy about the thought. Her face began to twist into sad agreement. K was right. Having her deeper in the Shambra would help Freya find out what was linking her brothers to it before she got in there, but it was incredibly dangerous too.
Freya closed the distance between her and K to ensure she had the vampire's attention.
"I don't know what'll happen after I do this." She said. "Are you certain you want me to strengthen the link between you two?"
"Right now, we don't have a choice." K replied. "The longer they're in there, the closer they are to being slaughtered."
Hesitantly, Freya nodded her agreement. She looked to the others.
"I need him upstairs." She said as she pointed at Lucien.
Stefan –being the closest- grabbed the vampire and together, the group headed upstairs.
Freya tied Lucien to a chair and had K take a seat. Hayley, Marcel and Stefan were gone.
"Are you sure?" she asked again as she knelt in front of K.
She felt herself nodding, but K wasn't sure about any of it. All she knew was Elijah and Klaus wouldn't survive the night without help, and in her current condition, this was the best she could do.
Freya closed her eyes and began to chant. K immediately went limp and sank into her chair.
"A concept that ensures the two of you will spend your immortality alone." Aurora declared.
Klaus turned his back on the harpy.
"Oh," she chimed. "It seems I've struck a nerve."
"Who says either of them is alone?"
The new voice caused all those within the dream-world to turn and see someone none of them thought could be there. Shock rippled through the four.
"Kali," Klaus breathed.
"How is she here?" Aurora demanded angrily. She knew no one in the Strix would have allowed the vampire in. "You're meant to be dead."
"Some bonds," Klaus said as he looked at her, "Are stronger than your ridiculous tantrums."
K made her way towards Klaus. He offered her his hand which she happily took. He smiled warmly at her.
"Stakes don't work on me, anymore." K said. She eventually looked at Aurora. "You should've cut out my heart to be sure."
"That's not possible." She shook her head.
"Oh I assure you, it is." Klaus replied.
She glowered hatefully.
"Tell me, Aurora," Elijah said. He was still angry about her earlier comment and wanted to make sure he cut her as deeply. "Have you met your brother Tristan?"
The redhead barely managed to tear her eyes from Klaus and K to look at him in confusion.
"Between deception and rampant abuse, he has frequently –repeatedly- isolates and abandons you. Of course, he's painfully aware of something Niklaus and I have known all along. You are a deranged and ridiculous child who cannot be left alone without supervision." He told her smugly. "You know, the greatest mercy I ever paid my brother was to compel you to leave him." Elijah turned to see his brother smirking back at him. "Ten centuries later," Elijah gave the simpering girl his attention again, "And he's come to that conclusion himself." When he took a step towards her, Tristan pressed his violin's bow against the Original's chest. "Oh, well it looks as though I've struck a nerve."
Both Tristan and Aurora were silenced by Elijah's biting remarks. Aurora was nearing tears like the little girl she was while Tristan nearly vibrated with anger.
"Now then," Elijah turned once more to K and Klaus. He took steps towards the pair holding hands. "How is it you're here? I know the connection is strong, but it shouldn't have taken this long for you to appear."
"It's wasn't this strong, at first." K admitted. "I was stuck in the middle. I could hear, but not much more. Freya managed to break it, but I had her undo it." She looked at Klaus and smiled guiltily. "She strengthened it so I could come through."
Klaus smiled adoringly at her for what she did. He didn't think of the downsides to it right then, despite knowing there were many. Instead, he reached forward and threaded his fingers through her hair. Klaus tenderly pulled her closer and gave her a soft kiss.
When they parted Klaus cupped her jaw and placed one last kiss on her forehead. It was then Aurora noticed his ring. She hadn't thought much of it the first time she'd seen it –taking his explanation as truth- but now it held a different, underlining meaning. Perking, Aurora took steps closer. Sure enough, just beyond immediate line of sight, was K's left hand. It bore its own rings.
She was suddenly seething.
"Oh you must be joking." She snapped loudly. It drew the eyes of the others. "You actually married the slave?"
Klaus' expression turned impressively dark.
"I have warned you once against speaking about her like that." He said darkly.
Aurora opened her mouth again to speak. She had a great many things to say and a lot of jealous anger to spout, but she didn't get the chance.
"Ignore the psycho," K sighed softly. She looked to Klaus who gave her his attention. Both of them were ignoring Aurora, which she hated more than anything. "What are your links here?" she whispered.
Klaus looked at the chessboard not far away. It was still littered with pieces.
"Which ones?" she asked.
"I don't know." He muttered.
Before she could ask if they'd even narrowed it down, the doors to the room burst open. Freya charged in with determination.
"Quickly, find me what represents you in here."
"The chess-" was all K could get out before she felt something at her throat.
At the same instant, Klaus and K's necks began to split open. Blood poured from the phantom wounds that appeared out of nowhere. Not a moment later, Elijah met the same fate. He crumbled to his knees alongside his brother and K.
"Tell me!" Freya demanded as she knelt before them. "I have to break the link."
"The kings." Klaus choked.
"The knights." Elijah said.
Freya raced for the chess board and snatched one from each side.
"Which is it?" she asked frantically. "We have to make a decision now."
But neither knew. None of the three knew.
Aurora took steps closer to those who'd fallen to their knees as they choked on flowing blood.
"How ignorant you are, even now." She told him angrily. "Even if you never learned from your sins, at least you get to die because of them." Her eyes danced between Klaus and K who even now still held one another's hand as though it could save them. "And I get to watch as you and your whore choke and gag on your own blood."
Klaus glowered at her with the purest hatred.
"The queens represent us," he barely managed to get out loud enough for Freya to hear. "For the women we've betrayed. Aurora, Aya."
Freya snatched the pieces immediately and began to work her spell. Elijah was the first to disappear and reemerge in the real world.
Klaus grabbed K's hand and forced himself to turn his head to look at her. She barely managed to do the same. She couldn't put into words the pain she was in and it broke her heart to know it wasn't her own.
"I am sorry." He said softly.
K shook her head. It wasn't his fault.
Just as suddenly as Elijah had vanished, Klaus and K did the same.
K gasped as she shot awake in the same chair she'd sat in. Veins were protruding from her face like she was nearly desiccated, but not as severe. She suddenly cried out in pain.
Freya rushed for her, but she didn't know how to help the vampire.
"What's happening?" she asked frantically.
The same instant the final syllable left her lips, K's arms began to glow red. K suddenly felt fire wash through her body. She screamed again at the unimaginable pain and gripped the chair's arms so tightly it broke.
"Oh god," Freya breathed. Lucien began to scream in pain too. When she looked, she saw the same flame-red color saturate his skin. "Davina's breaking the sire bond."
It lasted only seconds, but seemed to go on forever, before both Lucien and K relaxed. Each was breathing heavily as they tried to recuperate from everything that just happened.
~!~
When Klaus arrived, K was waiting for him in the courtyard. She couldn't help but run for him and immediately wrapped he arms around him. An overwhelming feeling of loss lingered in her gut, and she knew it wasn't her own.
Klaus hugged her in return and buried his nose in the nape of her neck. He squeezed her harder than he probably should have.
"You're all I have left." He mumbled into her skin.
K gently raked her fingernails along the back of his head. She knew he meant the last connection to his offspring. Their bond was more than just him being her sire, it was a good deal more, and couldn't be severed so easily.
K had become his mirror image, his duplicate and the only one left whose life depended on his. She was his blood now, like his family and that terrified him. Klaus knew this was only bad for K. She may not see it yet, but he was self-aware enough to know what was in her future. She was the last to be linked to him, the only one, which meant his protective nature, his possessiveness and paranoia was going to get worse. K had inadvertently become the last thing he could control.
When they finally parted, K gently touched his cheek. She wanted to give him a smile, but found it hard to muster one.
"I've come to change." He told her. K hadn't even realized he was still wet. "And then I'd like you to come with me."
"Of course." She agreed without asking why.
The 'why' became clear, however, when they made it to the cemetery. Klaus had changed quickly and taken K with him. After parking the car and exiting, Klaus opened the trunk to reveal Aurora. He picked her up, took K's hand, and headed into the cemetery.
Freya and Stefan were already waiting for them. Stefan set down the final stack of bricks outside the mausoleum. Freya told Klaus the barrier was already up. Evidently, Klaus had a rather ingenious idea when it came to dealing with Aurora. K whole-heartedly approved.
The wall was nearly half-built by the time the redhead woke and realized she would be forever trapped. Soon she begged for death, a plea to which Klaus only smiled.
"Oh I don't think so." He cooed. "You see, with the only person who ever loved you dying at the bottom of the ocean, I would never grant you the courtesy. So, while the fish eat him and the worms eat you, just know," his face darkened, "That it was me who put you here."
"Well," K sighed softly, "You can't have all the fun."
"Of course," he chimed. Klaus turned and offered K a brick and the trowel. "Where are my manners?"
"Thank you." She smiled sweetly as she took the pieces from him. When she looked again to Aurora, her face turned downright evil.
"He'll be the end of you." Aurora told K. She found footing in her hatred for the woman Klaus so easily chose over her. Despite her declarations about hating him, it was clear she was still too in love to be serious about them. She looked at Klaus. "No one will ever love you as much as I did."
"I do love him," K said freely, "more than I thought possible and it hurts, but this kind of love," she sighed loftily and shook her head as though finding the right words was impossible. Klaus came up behind her. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled K protectively to his chest. "It is ravenous and consuming and terrifying." They stared at Aurora with the purest hatred. "The things we do for love like this are ugly… mad… full of sweat, and regret. This love burns you and maims you and twists you inside out. It is a monstrous love, and it makes monsters of us all." She said. "And I will happily show you just how stupid you were to try and take it from me."
"He'll never see you as more than a monster," Aurora barely choked out, "After he finds out about those women you slaughtered in Whitechapel." She was desperately trying to taint their relationship as much as possible before being left to rot. "Lucien told me everything."
Both K and Klaus began to smile predatorily.
"He already knows." She grinned.
"She need never fear my judgment." Klaus said as he held K lovingly to his chest. "Kali has always been my anchor through seas of blinding hatred and rage. She has always been at my side no matter the destruction and pain I've left in my wake." He held K a little tighter than before. She smiled and tilted her head just a hint to the side. Klaus kissed her temple before pressing his forehead to the same spot. He took a deep breath and sighed softly. "She has never seen me for the monster I am, but rather the man I could be." With his forehead still pressed to K, Klaus turned his head enough to look disappointingly at Aurora, but he didn't pull away from K. "You were nothing more than a fleeting distraction meant to pass the time before Fate intervened." Klaus stood upright again and any caring he once held in his eyes while speaking of K was gone as he stared down his nose at Aurora. "And make no mistake; you will suffer greatly for trying to take her from me." Klaus stepped towards Aurora and knelt down enough to look her in the eye. "Demons will weep tears of pity as you are left to rot behind this wall, accompanied only by your madness, for the rest of your disgusting, miserable life."
The temperature in the room dropped significantly by Klaus' declaration. All the while, K smiled from her spot beside him.
When he stood, K smacked a layer of cement against the brick in her hand and smashed it into place. The wall took form at a slow, torturous pace and they delighted in it.
Forgot to tell you guys, this portion of the quote, "The things we do for love like this are ugly, mad, full of sweat, and regret. This love burns you and maims you and twists you inside out. It is a monstrous love, and it makes monsters of us all" was from the movie Crimson Peak. Good movie, and when the character delivered the speech, I thought it perfectly described these two. I had to use it, but forgot to give the proper credit to Guillermo Del Torro.