Part 7

It was the three longest seconds of Hope's life.

She could cry out and do nothing more; her mother's grip was like iron on her arm as they watched Leah's hand disappear through fabric and skin and bone. Only Sankar with his professional detachment was able to recover fast enough to prevent a premature tragedy.

He snapped his fingers and Leah slumped forward, a rag doll posed in a single terrifying moment. She had been rendered unconscious so quickly her hand was still buried between her breasts; the witch had to slowly – carefully – pull it forth to make sure her heart didn't come out with it.

Hope didn't breathe the entire time he operated. It wasn't until Sankar nodded the all clear that she dropped her hands from her mouth.

"Did you...is she...?

"We'll let her rest for a while," he said standing, "but her body's already healing itself."

The relief Hope felt nearly knocked her off her feet. She sank onto the armrest and stared down at Leah, once again out cold on the couch.

She immediately took back all the doubts she'd had about the witch.

"Thank you, Sankar," Hope told him breathlessly. "Thank you for saving my friend."

"I am not a miracle worker. It is only temporary."

"But whatever you did. You just saved her life."

"What exactly did you do?" Hayley asked. Her question, for once, lacked suspicion and was bursting with genuine concern. When it came to Leah she wasn't completely heartless, so it bothered her to no end that Hope had written her off as such. She was a mother after all, not a monster.

"And is she going to be alright for now?" she added in earnest.

"I've put her under," Sankar explained. "It will buy us some time."

"And you couldn't have knocked her out sooner? Like maybe before she tried to axe herself?"

"Leah was resisting the influence of magic without discretion. She was blocking me as much as Mikael. I needed her to give in to both."

"Then that's one hell of a chance you just took," she warned him.

"A close call, yes. Fortunately, Mikael has no power over Leah in this state."

"But why would he do this to her? What is he trying to prove?"

"I'm not sure. What I do know, however, is that he will likely try again."

Hope shook her head, rising from her seat with angry determination.

"Then we won't give him the chance. You all may not let me out there to fight Mikael, but I'll be damned if I let him win. So, tell me how I can help, Sankar, and I'll do it, because we're going to set Leah free tonight."

/

"Keep your toy for now," Mikael postured grandly. "You won't dare use it against me. Shall I demonstrate why?"

"Was that a rhetorical question?" Klaus sneered. "Or is this simply another desperate attempt to buy some time before I decide to see if you can still talk without a head?"

"You never change, do you, Niklaus? You bark and bark and never do bite. But if you still think I am bluffing - call it. Call her - that bitch of a hybrid always at your heel, the one who looks after your whelp. Let her convince you of my power."

"What have you done?" Elijah asked horrified.

"I've simply requested your little pet bring me a heart. Now we shall all witness how truly well she fetches."

Instantly Klaus' defiance evaporated into dread. His jaw was clenched so tightly no words could come out since his heart was stuck somewhere in his throat.

Hope.

Hope was with Leah.

He scrambled to retrieve his phone and couldn't even look his brother in the eye as he raised it to his ear.

The call connected.

"Klaus?"

"Hayley."

On both ends it was clear something had happen. They spoke barely above a whisper, hushed with great hesitation; it was like conversing at a funeral with the widow in the room.

The air was filled with the oppressive weight of foreboding.

"Klaus, where are you?"

"Don't ask questions," he warned her. "Don't speak unless to answer - do you understand?"

"Klaus, what's going -"

"Do you understand, Hayley?"

A beat.

"Yes."

"Is Hope safe?"

"Yes."

Thank the bloody Lord.

"And Leah?"

A moment of silence. Elijah's heart felt like lead in his chest.

Klaus asked again for him.

"And Leah, Hayley? Tell me! Tell me what she did."

"She...she tried to rip her own heart out."

Tried. Five letters had never made Elijah so emotional. His relief was like cold water thrown onto a fire; instantly all his rage sputtered into abject resignation. As long as Mikael had this control over Leah, he had won without lifting a finger.

Klaus was still on the line, but he had heard all he needed to hear.

"Don't leave that hotel for anything. And protect Hope - by whatever means necessary. Tell me you understand what that means, Hayley."

"I do – and I'll do it, Klaus."

He ended the call only to confront the look of betrayal on his brother's face.

/

Sweeping away the remnants of the locator spell, they laid out Leah in the kitchen. Hope had her legs, Sankar her shoulders, and together they set her gently down on the center island.

Hayley returned from down the hall where she had taken the call in private. She had wanted to give her daughter some space after the earlier tension and was glad she had; Klaus' mandate was still in the forefront of her mind and the last thing she wanted was Hope knowing she was under orders to kill Leah if necessary.

Not that it was ever going to come to that. She had only really agreed because Klaus had sounded like the world would end if she didn't say yes. Wherever he was, it was clear he wasn't coming back anytime soon. How had he even known to ask about Leah?

Had Elijah been with him? Had Philippe?

Had Mikael?

"Mom, are you going to help?" Hope called over.

"What do you need me to do?" she jogged up.

"Move some of this stuff out of the way. We're tripping over everything."

The kitchen was still a disaster. There were smashed plates under their feet and everything else one finds in cabinets was not in the cabinets but littered the floor.

Once they had cleared some space, Sankar was better able to get to work. He stood at the short end of the island, hovering over Leah as he set his hands once more on either side of her head.

"What are you looking for?" Hope leaned in.

"Confirmation. To break her bond to Mikael we must sever the magic linking them."

"So what do you have to confirm?"

"The quickest way to do that...which appears to be the only way."

He stood back, his examination concluded. There was a disquieting crinkle in the corners of his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Hope asked worried. "What did you find?"

"This bond, between your grandfather and your friend, it is more than just a link. It is a lifeline."

"And what does that mean?"

His silence was deliberate.

"We need to wake her up," he said suddenly.

Knowing what she did, Hayley had to step in.

"You wake her up, she's fair game for Mikael."

"Yes, I am aware. And there is also the possibility I won't be able to put her under again. But the conversation I need to have with all of you is too important for her not to be a part of it."

"A conversation? About what?"

Again he didn't answer, but snapping his fingers Leah's eyes fluttered open.

"Hello again, Leah St. Ann."

She was staring at the ceiling, completely calm, completely still. When she frowned it was more of a pout.

"I think that's a fork digging into my back."

Hope left herself smile - she knew that sarcastic tone.

Leah was back.

"You're okay! Leah, you're okay!"

"Am I?" she winced, raising herself onto an elbow. "I feel like hell. Whoa, whoa, what happened?"

Looking down, she had noticed her blue button-up was now red. Touching the spot over her heart gingerly, her memories started to catch up with her.

"Oh my God."

"Leah, calm down, just breathe."

"No, no, not breathing. Panicking. Oh my God. Holy shit."

"Leah, please, calm down! Sankar's here to help you."

She passed her eyes from Hope to Hayley to the only one she didn't recognize.

Immediately at least.

"I remember you..."

"Good," the witch nodded, skipping past formalities. "What else? How far back into the day can you recall?"

It seemed like an odd question until she actually gave it a try. Everything was fuzzy and some memories were simply not there.

She did, however, remember Elijah in the alley. Vividly.

"No...no, what did I do? What did I do?"

"We don't have time to dwell," Sankar said. "I only ask because I need to know if your link is currently active. Only when it is can you remember what he's forced you to do."

"My what? Wait - who?"

"Mikael," Hope squeezed her hand. "Leah, the witches of New Orleans linked you to Mikael. It happened when they used you to resurrect him on my birthday."

"Those words did not just come out of your mouth."

"It's true," Hayley threw in, speeding this along, "so it's in everyone's interest that you listen to the good doctor here and let him break your link."

"Especially," Sankar revealed, "if Mikael's life is linked to yours more literally than we had assumed."

/

Elijah stood between Mikael and his brother. In that moment it was impossible to know whom he hated more.

Klaus was not looking forward to fighting a war on two fronts.

"Peace, brother. It had to be done."

"Peace? You just signed the warrant for Leah's execution!"

"I can't let her kill Hope," he defended himself.

"There are other solutions than murder, Niklaus! Other options -"

"We are well past the point of options, Elijah!"

In the ringing silence that followed, the alley began to echo with the sound of Mikael's hollow applause.

This was rich theater.

"If only we were in Philadelphia, how deliciously ironic this would be!"

In a flash, Elijah had him against the wall, fangs bared, stake raised -

"Strike and she's dead," was all Mikael had to say.

The stake fell from Elijah's hand as he slunk back wretchedly.

"And the other weapon, drop it."

Klaus watched in tense silence as his brother pulled the silver dagger from deep within his jacket. It clattered to the ground as Elijah dropped it, grinding out his words like broken glass.

"Are you satisfied, father, with your victory?"

"You can't possibly imagine," Mikael grinned.

/

Leah felt a headache coming on.

"Are you trying to tell me the reason I've been going Memento for weeks is because I'm a walking, talking vessel for magic?"

"Residual Harvest magic," Sankar nodded.

"No, I was done with that. That entire freak show was shut down years ago. No way, I don't want this. Get rid of it. Take it out - remove it."

"It's not that simple."

"Yes, it is - you just said. Remove the magic, remove the link. Boom, done. I'm free - no longer a slave to some psycho who wants me to kill everyone I care about... everyone I love."

She was still gripping Hope's hand but her thoughts were now on Elijah. Tonight was really giving last night a complete run for its money. It didn't help that everything that had happened in Elijah's suite was the last sure thing she remembered; all that anger now seemed like wasted emotion.

All those hours just seemed like wasted time.

Leah felt nauseous. She wasn't sure if it was because she was remembering what her own heart had felt like in her hand or the fact that Elijah was somewhere out there now in those dark streets injured and poisoned and hunted by Mikael.

"Sankar, I swear to God, get this fucking magic out of me."

"It's not that simple."

"Why do you keep saying that? It is - you either can or you can't."

"Leah, you were born with that magic inside of you. The magic of the Harvest is as much a part of you as the cadence of your voice or the color of your hair. In fact, there's a chance it has absorbed even the magic of the transition that turned you into a hybrid. Your immortal life may be dependent on this decision."

"May? You're not even sure, are you? You don't even know!"

"We don't have time to know. We have to guess and go from there."

"If you're talking about my life, then trust me we have time."

"Not if Mikael has found the others," Sankar said gravely.

No one had even thought it possible for him to become any more serious.

"Leah St. Ann," he started up slowly, "there is something you need to know, and I say it in the presence of everyone here but in the end the choice will be yours. Mikael is not simply linked to you, his entire existence is bound to yours by the magic that is inside of you. Therefore, if I remove it from you and break the bond, I break his lifeline - with consequences that I cannot for certain say. But I am certain that if I do not, Mikael will live on, as long as you shall live, and he will not be able to be killed - not even by the White Oak stake."