When Josie finished dressing, Klaus was looking out the window.

She came to stand next to him, seeing that he was watching Kol and Jeremy shoot crossbows in the archery range.

"We can shoot another day if you want," offered Josie, not wanting another confrontation between Kol and Klaus.

"There's plenty of room in the target area," Klaus said stubbornly.

Clearly, he wasn't going to be kicked out of his own archery range by Kol.

"Just remember that I offered," she said, rolling her eyes at male egos.

15 minutes later, Klaus and Josie were standing in front of a target and Klaus was explaining the different parts of a bow, shooting techniques, etc. She appreciated it, but after another ten minutes, she really just wanted to try shooting.

She bit her lip, looking over at Kol and Jeremy. They had been shooting arrows since Josie and Klaus had joined them on the range. Kol must have seen her looking because he cleared his throat and began speaking loudly.

"Learn by doing, Jeremy," he said. "Why wax poetic about proper grips when what you really need is the feel of the bow in your hand?"

Klaus called Josie's name and she blinked, looking up into his face.

"Sorry, right," she said, trying to remember what he'd been talking about. "Pull to the anchor point."

Klaus looked over at Kol with an unfriendly gaze.

"Why don't we just try it, my love?" he asked.

Josie nodded and tried to grip the bow how he'd described. He chuckled and placed her hands where they should be. Then he moved in behind her, his chest flush against her back, his mouth near her ear. All of a sudden, her breath deepened and her heart rate picked up at his closeness.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, running his hands down her arms to help guide her in drawing the bow.

"I'm fine," she said, trying to focus on the bow.

"You'll never hit the target if you can't concentrate," he teased, giving her a small kiss on the neck.

"I can't concentrate when you do that," she said, tightly.

"Do what?" he asked. "This?"
He kissed her neck again, but this time he lingered for a little longer, adding a bit of tongue.

Josie bit her lip, trying to suppress a moan. She knew why he was doing this. Even if she understood to a certain extent, she didn't want Klaus to get away with it completely.

So she arched her back slightly and ground her ass into his groin. She was rewarded with a barely-audible growl. A few more seconds and she felt a hard poke on her backside. She smirked, knowing that sometimes, the vampire ability to be ready in seconds was not always a good thing.

"Careful, love," he whispered. "Before I take you behind the hedges and have my wicked way with you."

Josie felt a spike of desire rush through her at his words.

"Dude, that's my sister," said Jeremy, who had finally noticed that the bow was limp in her hands and Klaus' arms were around her, his face buried in her neck.

Jeremy's words were like being doused with cold water. Josie stepped away from Klaus and held the bow up again.

"Sorry, Jer," she said, turning toward Klaus. "Can we shoot now?"

Klaus just smirked and began helping her adjust her stance, this time from a comfortable distance.

After a few hours of shooting, Elijah came and reported that while the Bennetts weren't having much luck, Esther and Finn were still in the house. Josie gently suggested Kol might be able to help the Bennetts, since he knew a lot about magic. They agreed and Kol left for the Lockwoods, hopefully to disrupt Esther's link to the Bennetts.

Elijah had asked the staff to bring a picnic lunch for them and so Elijah, Klaus, Josie and Jeremy enjoyed a nice lunch sitting on blankets in the target area.

Jeremy, like Josie, was fascinated when Klaus and Elijah started talking about their past.

"Jackson Pollock was a drama queen?" Jeremy repeated in surprise.

"Well, what does one expect with all the jumping about he did just to make one of his silly paintings," drawled Elijah, clearly unimpressed. "It was Niklaus who insisted we meet him."

"Fortunate I did," countered Klaus. "He died in a car accident not a year after we left New York."

"Yes, quite the tragedy," said Elijah, though clearly he thought it was anything but.

"He's supposed to be one of the greatest artists of the modern day," said Josie. "Even I've heard of him."

Josie respected and appreciated Klaus' interest in art, though her own appreciation was much more casual.

"He is, Jo," said Jeremy. "His paintings go for millions. And they're impossible to fake."

"Art is more than dollar signs and authenticity, Jeremy," said Klaus. "Jackson was a tormented man, an alcoholic for most of his life. He flung the paint upon the canvas, not caring where it ebbed and flowed. The colors blurred and chaos ensued... In the end, he became his paintings."

Josie reached out and grasped Klaus' hand. He was just so passionate. Whether it was destroying his enemies or creating a beautiful work of art, he did it with everything he had. It was one of the things she liked most about him.

"It's so cool that you met him," said Jeremy. "I've never even seen one of his paintings in person."

Klaus smiled. "Perhaps a trip to the Guggenheim? You've been saying you'd like to go back to New York, love."

"Well I liked the bagels," said Josie, smiling.

"I dig bagels," smiled Jeremy.

At that moment, a number of the hybrids appeared. Apparently, Elijah and Klaus had promised to spar with them. Josie and Jeremy watched as Elijah and Klaus sparred with the hybrids and, once, with each other.

It was more appealing that she thought it would be. Without the mess of killing, it was kinda hot. She considered telling them that maybe they should take off their shirts (you know, to avoid ruining them), but she thought they might take it the wrong way.

A few hours later, the hybrids left, leaving Josie, Klaus, Elijah and Jeremy alone once again.

"I didn't get a turn," said Jeremy, shaking his head.

Josie frowned. "It not exactly a fair fight, Jer."

"It's never a fair fight," he countered. "We don't all have Original Hybrid bodyguards."

"Anna isn't exactly helpless," said Josie, shaking her head.

"Exactly," said Jeremy. "I want to hold my own."

Josie opened her mouth to protest, but Elijah cut in.

"Then I challenge you," said Elijah, giving a little bow.

"Alright," smiled Jeremy. "Let's do this."

Josie sighed, realizing he wasn't going to be deterred. She'd taken a few lessons in basic combat from one of the hybrids, Dave, who was ex-military, but as Dave (and every other vampire had ever told her), even newbie vampires were so much faster and stronger than humans, it was nearly a pointless exercise.

Josie knew resourcefulness and quick thinking were much better tools against vampires than trying to take them on physically.

"No vampire speed or strength," said Josie, crossing her arms.

"On my honor," said Elijah, tilting his head.

He handed Jeremy a sword, taking no weapon for himself.

Jeremy looked unsure at first, but as he lunged for Elijah again and again, he quickly gained confidence.

"Your brother's not bad for an amateur," whispered Klaus, sliding an arm around Josie's waist as they watched.

Josie nodded, wondering if it was Jeremy or some innate potential hunter thing.

After a few minutes, Jeremy nearly got Elijah in the arm. Elijah retaliated by knocking the sword out of Jeremy's hands. Jeremy grinned, running toward the sword, ducking under Elijah's arm and grabbing it by the hilt. Then he pivoted and, just as Elijah was turning around to face Jeremy, Jeremy brought the sword up and managed to nick Elijah's leg.

Elijah smiled and offered Jeremy his hand.

"Not bad," he said, helping Jeremy up.

Klaus gasped at that moment, moving his hand to his own leg.

"What's wrong?" asked Josie.

Klaus removed his arm from around Josie's waist and ripped a hole in his pant leg. There, to everyone's horror, was a wound identical to Elijah's. It healed in an instant, but the implication was clear: somehow, someway, the siblings (or at least Elijah and Klaus) were linked.

"How is this possible?" asked Elijah. "Rebekah told me of your successful test this morning."

"You haven't had any more champagne," said Josie in confusion.

"Such a narrow view," said a voice from the hedge.

Klaus, Josie, Elijah and Jeremy looked up and saw Esther standing there with Finn.

Esther raised her hand and Finn immediately fell to his knees, gripping his head. Similarly, Elijah and Klaus were soon gripping their heads in pain.

"After last night I suspected my censor spell no longer held sway," said Esther. "You didn't even consider that I had other intentions for our shared breakfast."

So that's how she'd linked the siblings, through their breakfast that morning. She must have laced the food with leftover champagne. Fucking bitch.

"Stop it!" screamed Josie as Klaus and Elijah growled in pain. "These are your children. Stop hurting them!"

"I am only trying to save them," said Esther. "I will honor my promise to you, Josie."

She turned her gaze to Klaus and Elijah.

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you, felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Tonight, it ends."

There was a flash of light and then Esther and Finn were gone.

Klaus was on his feet immediately, pulling out his phone the next second.

"Kol," he said into the phone. "We're all linked as you're no doubt aware. Turn the older one now."

Then he hung up.

So Abby was going to be in Kol's sireline. That was interesting.

"What the bloody hell happened?" asked Rebekah, who had just appeared.

"Your mother," said Josie, shaking her head.

Elijah and Klaus quickly filled Rebekah in on what had happened.

Josie felt awful. She was the one who had insisted they try and give the Bennetts time to disrupt their link to Esther without turning Abby. Now, they were in the exact same place they were in the original storyline: the siblings were linked and Esther and Finn were gone.

She wondered if Klaus was right about Esther messing with Josie and Kol. Josie had been so worried about facing Kol at breakfast, she hadn't given much thought to Esther's motivations beyond the obvious. Klaus had been the same.

"So we're all linked together, but Mother no longer has the power to turn us mortal," said Rebekah in summation.

"Yes," said Klaus, looking at his phone. "Abby Bennett is dead. Kol just turned her."

"How do we become unlinked?" asked Rebekah.

"We need blood from each of you and a witch," answered Josie.

"Still one Bennett witch left," said Klaus.

"Finn's blood will be more problematic," said Elijah.

"Can't you just do a locator spell?" asked Jeremy.

Elijah shook his head. "Mother and Finn are no doubt cloaked. They knew they were departing when they came to confront us. All that power… I would not be surprised if she used a teleportation spell to leave."

"She'll know we severed the link between her and the Bennetts," said Josie. "I would guess she and Finn will be gone from Mystic Falls soon, if they aren't already."

"An old-fashioned man-hunt," smiled Klaus bitterly. "One does love the classics."

Josie sighed. "Without all that power, it's going to be hard for her to turn you guys human again. Or even just straight-up kill you if that's what she wants now."

It was her only consolation. In the original storyline, Esther had turned Alaric into an Original Vampire and armed him with an indestructible white oak stake. Here, Alaric had only used the ring twice and wasn't going crazy. Plus, they had just destroyed the last of the white oak. So they had some time to find Esther.

They all walked back to the house, talking through strategies of how to find and defeat Finn and Esther. Despite how the day had ended, Josie was pleased that all the siblings were working together and none of them had the intention of leaving Mystic Falls and splitting up as they had in the original storyline, not even Kol, according to Klaus.

Josie and Jeremy stayed for a while and helped the siblings make plans for their search. Klaus was in his element, plotting and scheming and Josie could tell he was glad he had the rest of his family with him.

Even when Kol came back, Klaus welcomed him back and Kol, to his credit, barely glanced at Josie before joining the group's discussion. Josie was glad they seemed to be willing to forget their earlier altercation in order to conspire against their mother together.

After a while, Josie and Jeremy had to leave.

"We need to get going," said Josie. "Jeremy has a date with Anna and I'm having dinner with my friends."

Klaus nodded. "Have fun, love."

Josie smiled and gave him a kiss. Jeremy and Josie said good-bye to the Mikaelsons and left.

After dinner with her friends, Josie came home and found Elena and Jenna eating ice cream from the carton in the kitchen.

"Hey Jo," said Elena. "Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough?"

Josie nodded and Elena handed her a spoon.

"We out of bowls?" asked Josie, smiling.

"Salvatore problems," said Jenna, rolling her eyes.

Josie frowned. "What happened?"

"Damon thinks loving someone means controlling them," said Jenna, before Elena could say anything.

Elena sighed and told Josie what had happened at the ball last night. Apparently, after the dance, Damon had found Elena drinking the special magic-muting herbs and figured out the plan for her meeting with Esther. Damon had, of course, tried to stop Elena, and so she had conspired with Stefan to snap Damon's neck. Once he awoke, Elena had already met with Esther and Damon was angry with both Stefan and Elena.

"Did you see him at all today?" asked Josie.

"I was at the Grill with Care, getting lunch to take to Bonnie and Abby, and Damon was already drunk," said Elena, sighing. "He said he couldn't believe I was running errands for the Originals."

Josie rolled her eyes. "Does he hear himself when he talks?"

"It gets better," said Jenna, taking another scoop.

Elena continued. "Mason Lockwood overheard Damon and Damon decided to pick a fight with Mason by insulting Klaus, you and Rebekah. I think Mason would have bit Damon if Stefan hadn't intervened."

"Wow," said Josie, shaking her head. "Damon seemed so much better last night at the ball."

"Once a jerk, always a jerk," said Jenna. She turned to Josie. "Don't think I approve of your choice in men either."

"We can't all be dating our dream guy, Jenna," said Elena, tilting her head.

"Speaking of… did Alaric tell you where he's taking you next weekend?" asked Josie.

"It's a surprise," said Jenna, her eyes lighting up.

Elena, Josie and Jenna continued eating ice cream, trying to guess where Alaric was taking Jenna for their weekend getaway.

It was nearly midnight and Josie was just climbing into bed when her phone beeped. It was Klaus, wondering if she was still awake. She wrote back in the affirmative and it was only a minute later that he was in her bedroom.

"Hey you," she smiled, giving him a kiss. "How was everything?"

Klaus pulled her down on the bed and explained everything he and his siblings had planned. Who would look where, how, etc. Klaus was confident they'd find Esther and Finn soon. Despite how the day had turned out, Josie was happy the Miklaelsons were working together, mostly because Klaus had this little smile on his face every time he said the word 'we' to refer to himself and his siblings.

The only thing she did not like were some of his plans for the hybrids, mainly that she and Elena were going to be given 24/7 protection.

"You think Finn or Esther will come after us?" asked Josie, confused.

"I'm not taking any chances," said Klaus. "Not with your safety."

Josie sighed, even if it made sense. Her visions could be a key weapon against Esther. And Elena's doppelganger blood put her at risk too.

Josie nodded. "Elena's not going to like it… I don't like it."

Klaus sighed. "Promise me you will not attempt to subvert them."

Josie bit her lip, knowing he was referring to the fact that she'd ditched her bodyguards over the summer once in New York.

"Yeah, okay."

Klaus sat up. "I'm serious, love. My mother is ruthless when she puts her mind to something. If something happened to you…" he trailed off.

"I have my necklace," said Josie. "I'll be fine."

"A powerful witch can unspell an object," said Klaus, sharply. "And it is not only death you need fear. You must be careful."

Josie nodded, a little taken aback by the seriousness of his tone. He did seem genuinely worried about her safety. It was kind of sweet. It was these types of conversations she hoped she wasn't misinterpreting when she thought he might actually care about her.

"I will. I promise."

Klaus smiled, then wrapped his arm around her more tightly.

"I won't let her hurt you," he whispered. "I'll never let anyone hurt you."

Josie smiled and ran a hand down his chest, dipping her hand under his shirt to feel the smooth skin of his stomach.

"You could have been made mortal tonight," said Josie after a long pause.

"Disappointed?" asked Klaus.

Josie shook her head. "What? No… You don't want to be mortal. I respect that. It should be your choice. Especially since you didn't get to decide the first time."

Klaus tilted his head, not saying anything.

Josie frowned, wondering if he didn't believe her. "I told you before your other face doesn't scare me. I don't care that you're a vampire. Or a werewolf. I like that you're different. Like me."

Klaus smiled at that. "You are unique, my love. Is that why you do not wish to turn? You're afraid you might lose your visions? Just as witches lose their powers?"

Josie laughed. "That only makes it more appealing, not less."

Klaus raised his eyebrows. "You're serious."

"Yeah, maybe, I don't know," said Josie. "I'm happy when I can help. When I can save people. But sometimes saving one person means letting another die." She sighed. "It's not a choice I ever wanted to make."

Klaus placed a small kiss on her forehead.

"I think you are perfect as you are," he said softly. "But if you wish it, I can turn you."

Josie blinked as his words sank in. "You would do that?"

He couldn't be serious. Even though she didn't work for him anymore, he still benefitted greatly from her visions. She'd made it clear she would never use them against him and his family. She couldn't believe he'd be willing to risk her losing them.

"Yes," he said, looking into her eyes. "Do you want to be a vampire?"

She didn't, but didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying it.

"I understand the benefits," she said instead. "But then there's the dying part. And the heightened emotions. Not to mention daylight."

"I'd get you a daylight ring," he cut in immediately.

"Right," said Josie, nodding.

"And I would help you through everything else," he said. "If that's what you want."

Josie sighed, trying a different tactic.

"I don't think we should risk losing my visions at the moment. With everything going on."

"Of course," said Klaus, nodding.

She felt bad when she thought she saw a small flicker of hurt cross his features, but figured she had just imagined it. It's not like she had never thought about becoming a vampire. But she was only seventeen and she still dreamt of going home eventually (though she had to admit the thought of leaving this world was becoming less and less appealing). Most importantly though, in her heart of hearts, she knew that the only reason she would ever want to live forever was if she found someone to share eternity with. What was the point otherwise?

She smiled as Klaus rolled over so he was on top of her. When he bent down to kiss and nuzzle her neck, she wondered if she would ever get tired of being with him, even if they had eternity.

A/N: So Esther's going to be around for a little longer (I have a bit of a twist in mind for her), but hey, all the siblings (save Finn) are working together, so that's something! I prefer my Mikaelsons a little more united than we're used to seeing. Those were my favorite parts of TO, honestly.

Also, I hope it makes sense that Josie's feeling somewhat insecure about her relationship with Klaus. I think, as readers, we can see all the ways he shows that he cares about her, but being in that situation, without hearing the tangible words, it's easy to have doubts and thinking she's reading too much into everything. It's escalating because she realizes she's starting to fall for him and is afraid he doesn't feel the same way.