No One's POV
Across town, in the old Lockwood property cellars, Niklaus paced agitatedly as he waited for the Bennett Witch to retrieve his original body and prepare for the spell to switch him back.
Unable to reveal himself to his family or Brooklyn and her pack, Niklaus had been left with hours to brood and reflect on his recent schemes and the subsequent results of said plans as well as the annoying meddling plots of the Mystic Falls gang.
As it were, Niklaus found himself left with an uncomfortable sense of regret, a feeling he was entirely unaccustomed to feeling in the centuries he had been alive. This of course is all due to one particular dirty blonde haired, blue eyed, 5' 2", beautiful yet terrifying powerful woman he called his best friend.
During his time under the Bennett Witch's desiccation spell Niklaus was left trapped in a spirit like form between the living world and the Other Side, an existence that was all together seemingly mundane and uninteresting.
Yet, at second glance and reflection, the out of body existence gave Niklaus perspective, and perhaps forced Niklaus to begin to face a few truths or realizations he would have otherwise preferred to bury or ignore indefinitely.
Niklaus wondered how Brooklyn was taking his supposed "death". Was she sad? Did she mourn him? Did she cry? He didn't want her to mourn him. He didn't deserve it after everything he had put her through and dragged her into. Besides, she was simply too beautiful and vibrant to be mourning over the likes of him, a monster in someone's worst nightmare.
Their last conversation had been little more than a short, tired, playful banter, and god, had he even told her that he was grateful for everything she had done for him? Did she know how truly in awe he was of her? How lucky he felt to have her in his life as his best friend? He was the "dead" one here, why was he the one reflecting on these things now? Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around?
A ringing of a cell phone interrupted Niklaus' mental tirade.
"Ah, you incessant women!" Niklaus groans in exasperation.
"Hey, mom. What's up?" Niklaus says, modulating his voice to make it sound like Tyler Lockwood's.
"Tyler, thank god. Are- are you okay?" Carol worries.
"Fine. Why? What's going on?"
"Pastor Young had me arrested this morning. The Council grilled me on your whereabouts. Tyler, don't tell me where you are, the less I know the better." Carol speaks.
"Mom, I'm okay. Relax."
"You didn't answer your phone, honey. I was so scared that you were with Caroline." Carole continues to worry.
"Why? What happened to Caroline?"
"The Council took her."
"What do you mean they took her?" Niklaus questions.
Across town, a dark van, followed by ominous looking SUVs and a few police cars cruise down the open highway, carrying several obviously unwilling hostages including newbie vampire Barbie Caroline, the youngest Salvatore, and newly turned Elena, although she had yet to complete her transition.
"Vervain ropes. Looks like Alaric outed us all to the Council." Caroline croaks miserably to an equally miserable Stefan.
Suddenly, the wheels of the van carrying them screech loudly, the van flipping over, sending Caroline flying as the van skids on its side.
Outside the flipped over van, several of the police escort cars have been demolished and one of the SUVs crashed around a pole, the form of Tyler Lockwood seen stomping ominously towards the flipped over van.
"Tyler!?" Caroline screeches in shock as the door is ripped off the hinges.
"I'm harder to kill than you think." Niklaus smirks, ripping off the ropes.
"You're alive? How are you alive?" Caroline cries in relief.
"No time. Come on, we've got to go." Niklaus urges, in no patience to play the part of Caroline's hybrid boyfriend.
While it was true once upon a time Niklaus believed he genuinely fancied Caroline, in truth now, the only reason he was rescuing her was for leverage on the Bennett Witch. If the witch did not come through with retrieving his body or the reversal spell he would have no other choice but to kill Tyler Lockwood, something that Caroline would certainly never consent to, therefore forcing the witch's hand.
In another moment, Niklaus and Caroline were gone.
"Kaylee," Brooklyn walks down the stairs of the Mikaelson mansion and into the destroyed living room, Elijah, Finn, and Aaron following her.
"Alpha." Kaylee straightens into a stand, her shoulders immediately rolling back under Brooklyn's gaze.
"Thank you." Rebekah tells the Delta of Brooklyn's pack, for once actually meaning it genuinely.
"Everything okay?" Brooklyn questions.
"Yes, I handled it." Kaylee answers with a curt nod.
"Good. Thank you." Brooklyn nods back. "There's one more thing I need to do before we can leave." Brooklyn informs, her tone all business-like and formal.
"What-" Elijah begins to question, looking concerned and worried. "Elskan, should you be-"
"I'll be fine. I need to do this…" Brooklyn tells Elijah. "Alone." She emphasizes.
"Of course," Elijah finally sighs with some reluctance still in his voice, sensing that Brooklyn would just argue more if he pressed further.
"I'm not some princess that needs rescuing all the time, Elijah." Brooklyn reminds before she launches herself out of the French doors, phasing mid-leap, four paws landing on the ground before they thunder off towards the forest line.
"They're gone. Please tell me you have something. Anything." Damon asks, righting several things in the Salvatore Boarding House.
"I can't. The Council locked Carol and me out of our offices. Files, computers, everything." Sheriff Forbes explains.
"So, the Mayor and the Sheriff never contemplated a backup plan, Liz?" Damon snarks.
"Damon, relax. When Caroline called to say she got away, did she know where they were planning to take her?" Meredith calms, directing her question to Sheriff Forbes.
"No. Just that she was in some van in the middle of nowhere and she managed to escape." Sheriff Forbes shrugs.
"Perfect. We've narrowed it down to nowhere." Damon snarks again, clear frustration in his voice.
"Hey, is Elena here?" Matt asks, walking in the door.
"In what world are you the one that gets to live!?" Damon snarls, rushing at Matt suddenly, taking him by surprise and shoving him against the wall in a choke hold.
"Damon, stop! It wasn't his fault!" Meredith screams, trying to no avail to get Damon to release his hold.
"Let him go, Damon! Now!" Sheriff Forbes yells, chaos erupting in the house.
"Yes Damon, I'd suggest letting him go. Not that you really have a choice in the matter. I'm not exactly in the most patient of moods right now and I need some answers, which you will give to me." Brooklyn says in fake sweetness, eyes flashing gold as she throws Damon off Matt, strolling casually into the mayhem that is the Salvatore manor.
"You." Damon snarls, flashing upright, preparing to lunge, but in another moment thinking better of it and refraining.
"Good choice. Maybe you aren't as stupid as you look." Brooklyn snarks with smug superiority, turning to look at the two women who stare at her dumbfounded and a little wary.
"My apologies. How rude and inconsiderate of me. I don't think we've had the pleasure of meeting yet. My name is Brooklyn. I'm a close friend to the Mikaelsons. And you are?" Brooklyn introduces sweetly and with a smile, offering a hand to Sheriff Forbes.
"Sheriff Forbes." Sheriff Forbes introduces, looking obviously uncomfortable at what was happening as well as confused and cautious.
"Dr. Meredith Fell. I work at the hospital." Meredith introduces, offering her hand next, looking just as uncomfortable and cautious.
"Great, now that we're all one big happy family. What do you want?" Damon hisses.
Matt was trying his best to make himself invisible in the situation.
"Several things. Some of which I won't get. But I'll settle for asking what happened at the Mikaelson mansion. Your reeking scent is all over the mansion and there is vervain soaked wooden bullets embedded in the floor. If it wasn't for Kaylee, I suspect that what happened to your dear Elena would have also happened to Rebekah. So, what the hell happened?" Brooklyn sasses back.
"And why should I tell you?" Damon snarks back, copping an attitude.
"Because number two on things I want to do today, is to kill you. So don't temp my control right now Salvatore." Brooklyn hisses, her eyes darkening with anger.
"I'm guessing the same thing happened at the Mikaelson mansion as here, am I correct, Brooklyn?" Sheriff Forbes intervenes diplomatically.
"Yes. More or less." Brooklyn answers, casting a brief look around the Salvatore manor.
"Then it has to do with Pastor Young." Sheriff Forbes answers, still uncomfortable with sharing information with someone that Damon clearly dislikes and she knows nothing about.
"I can see I won't be getting much help here. Either way, I heard enough to know the situation is something I could care less about. This is your problem. And, you have about as much information as I care to know. I do not care about this town nor do I care about helping you. So, with that said, Dr. Fell, Sheriff Forbes, it was nice to meet you. If only it were better circumstances." Brooklyn finishes, turning to look at Sheriff Forbes and Meredith with a respectful nod.
"And Damon, a pleasure. Truly. Now, as for the reason I'm here…" Brooklyn smirks, her eyes dancing with some sort of hidden glee. "It was a pleasure really. But, shouldn't you have known to keep this somewhere safer… Someone could just… I don't know, waltz in and take it…" Brooklyn's smirk becomes more pronounce as she summons the White Oak stake with her magic.
"Why, you bitc-" Damon snarls, moving to lunge at her.
"No, pay back is a bitch." Brooklyn waves her hand, effortlessly throwing Damon through a wall and snapping his neck before turning on her heel and exiting the Salvatore Boarding House.
A double update because the last chapter was short.
Also, this story is almost COMPLETE! Can you believe it!?
Polkadottedgiraffe11
