Chapter 68: My Brother's Keeper

"November 27, 2010.

I've still been staying at the Mikaelson Mansion with Klaus and Elijah – I don't want to lose control and hurt anyone, especially someone I care about. But Thanksgiving was only a few days ago, and I was encouraged to spend the day with my family and friends. Elijah said I should spend some time with the people I care about so I can remember what it is I'm fighting for, and keep hold of that human part of me. He also added that should I lose control, there would be several vampires there to stop me from harming anyone. Surprisingly, everything went just fine, and I had a good time.

What was more difficult and more surprising than Thanksgiving with everyone, was Hayley's first full moon, since I became a vampire. She was set to go to the house in Reidsville alone, and Elijah even told me that I shouldn't go. But I couldn't let her go alone. I had always gone with her. How would she get out in the morning, if I wasn't there to let her out?

Elijah volunteered to go and let her out, whereas Hayley suggested she keep the key in her cage to let herself out. Both were solid ideas, but I needed to go with her. I had always gone with her; and even more than that, I was just as vulnerable to her breaking out and attacking me when I was human, as I was now. I had powers back then to protect me, if she broke out, and now I was less fragile with the cure to a werewolf bite more than willing to heal me if I needed. Once I explained all of that, they both agreed to let me go, as long as Elijah joined us for added safety.

It turned out that going with Hayley for her full moon proved to be more interesting than any of us could have predicted. The first couple of moons I had helped her with, she had asked me not to be there to see her turn. But after hearing how much pain she was in, I proposed the idea that I be there to help take away some of the pain. Hayley had been hesitant at first, but eventually agreed to try it, so long as I left as soon as she became aggressive.

I didn't have powers to help her with that this time, but I did have the power of being there to support her the way Caroline had been there for Tyler during his first full moon. I could tell that Elijah wanted to object to the idea, but he never said anything. I guess he knew that I'd only argue with him again, until I got what I wanted.

Anyway, one of the more interesting parts of that evening were that I apparently still have my empathic abilities. Crazy, right?! One moment I was holding Hayley to give her a sense of comfort and security, and the next Elijah was me out of the cage, because the pain I was feeling from Hayley was just too much.

Now for the most interesting part. In the past her wolf would snap, and growl, and try its damnedest to break out and get to me. This time, her wolf was surprisingly docile and uninterested in me. Of course, she reacted to Elijah's presence whenever he tried to get me to leave with him. But when he backed away to test her, she just looked at me, calm as can be.

Elijah and I spent the rest of the night trying to figure out why Hayley's wolf wasn't interested in me. One theory was that, since I was still an empath, that maybe my being an anomaly still somehow tricked her wolf into thinking I wasn't a vampire. Seemed unlikely, but it was still a theory.

Another theory was that the bond Hayley and I shared had grown with my transition. My heightened emotions had caused me to be more emotionally bonded with just about everyone I cared about. Then there were the tattoos that we had gotten. The magical ink that we had gotten from Agnes and Zoie, binding us together as sisters. The tattoo had been strong enough to alert Hayley to my temporary death at the hands of Klaus that night at the school. Who's to say the magic within them hadn't grown enough with my transition to cause her wolf to somehow recognize me as someone she cared about?

The truth is, we have no way of knowing for sure why her wolf didn't care about my presence. The only theory that can actually be tested would be to seek out another werewolf on a full moon and see if they ignore me as the anomaly. But none of us are very keen on the idea; so, for now, we'll just have to accept not knowing.

Since that night, Elijah's begun helping me with my empathy powers. He's helping me to differentiate what feelings are mine, and what feelings belong to those around me. And how to fight against those other feelings and not let them control my actions; like when Rick and Anna were first teaching me how to use my empathy powers, when I was human. It's harder this time with my heightened vampire emotions, but I'll get there eventually."


Phoebe stopped halfway down the stairs to look down at her phone, as it started to ring. It was Caroline. Again. She hit the reject call button, and sent a text to tell her she was leaving the house now.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?" Elijah appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at Phoebe.

Phoebe gestured to her phone. "Caroline needs my help at the Miss Mystic Falls setup. Apparently, since I was co-winner last...Wow, has it only been nine months? With everything that's happened, it feels like it's been at least two or three years."

"There certainly has been a lot going on these past few months," Elijah admitted.

The two of them sat there for a moment taking in what all had happened in just nine months. Nine months ago, Phoebe was getting all girly and excited about wearing a beautiful dress and dancing with Damon. Nine months ago, Phoebe didn't even know who Elijah, Klaus, and Hayley were. Nine months ago, Phoebe didn't even know werewolves were real.

Since the last Miss Mystic Falls Pageant, several couples had grown so in love, and then fallen out of love with one another. Phoebe learned that werewolves were not only real, but actually weren't scary-looking. Jenna had become a vampire, Phoebe and Elena met their mother, their mother and father died, Rick died, Phoebe had become a vampire...all in only nine months.

Elijah decided to be the one to break the silent reflection. "If this pageant was held back in February, then why are you setting up another one so soon?"

"Oh, because there's two." Phoebe began descending the stairs once more, as she spoke. "The one in February is for Founding Families, and this one is for everyone else. They try to make it seem less separate by putting a Founding Family member in this one, and a non-Founding Family member into the other one; but everyone knows that they're separate."

Phoebe began receiving another call from Caroline. "I better get going."

Elijah began to open his mouth and speak, but Phoebe cut him off.

"I'll be fine, Elijah. You've been an excellent teacher on control, and I've been doing good. Besides, Caroline will be there to keep an eye on me, as she gives me so much work to do that I don't think I'll even notice all the tasty humans."

Elijah gave an amused smile, as he stepped aside to clear her path to the door. "Have a good day, Miss Gilbert."


Phoebe had hardly left the house, when Klaus began ordering Stefan and Elijah around. With Connor dead, they needed Matt's Hunter's Mark to grow to completion, and the only way to do that was to get him to kill some vampires. This was to be Stefan's job.

Elijah's job was to keep an eye on Phoebe, and make sure she kept control today. As far as Klaus knew, she was unaware of a cure and he wanted to keep it that way.


"There you are!" Caroline was just about to call her...again.

"I told you I was on my way," said Phoebe.

"Well, you should have been here an hour ago."

"Sorry, I had a lot to do this morning."

Caroline's eyes moved to Phoebe's neck, hoping to see her new daylight necklace. They'd seen so little of her, and so much had been going on, that none of them had gotten much of a chance to see it yet. Strangely, though, it wasn't there.

"Where...Where's your necklace?" she asked, her tone somewhat concerned. She must have something else protecting her from the obvious sun that was shining right on her, but where was the necklace she had picked out?

"What necklace?" As soon as the words left her mouth, it hit her. "Oh, my daylight necklace! I, uh, I don't have it anymore."

"What? Why not? You picked it out before you even became a vampire," said Caroline.

"I know, but...the thing is, I forgot to tell Elijah that I had already gotten one, so he got me a ring." Phoebe held out her hand to show off her daylight ring. It was a slim band, with a few stones on either side of the marquise-shaped lapis stone in the middle.

It was actually quite beautiful, and fitting of Phoebe's personality. Caroline was about to say as much, when Professor Shane called out to them both.

"Excuse me! I'm a little lost. I'm here to interview contestants."

"And you are?" Caroline asked.

"Professor Shane. He's the one that's been helping Bonnie with her magic, and helped us break the Hunter's Curse for Stefan," said Phoebe.

"That's me. And despite being absurdly unqualified, I'm apparently awarding a scholarship?"

Caroline pointed to an area of the house. "Inside the parlor."

"Just follow the scent of hairspray and world domination," Phoebe added.

Shane laughed. "Thank you, ladies." And he was off.

Phoebe didn't get it. He seemed like a nice guy. So why was everyone so suspicious of him? Damon was always paranoid, like Klaus, which made sense why he thought Shane was a threat. But what was everyone else's excuse? Albeit, it was odd that he knew so much about the supernatural world, but that didn't mean he was up to something nefarious.

Phoebe knew a lot about the supernatural world, before she became a vampire and before she knew she was a supernatural creation herself. Elena, Matt and Jeremy have known about supernaturals for a while, too. They aren't up to anything to be concerned about. So why should they be so worried about Shane?


While the girls were busy with their own chores for the pageant setup, Matt and Jeremy were doing their part for the pageant.

"So I hear you're April's date to this thing?" Matt asked, unloading boxes of alcohol from the truck.

Jeremy smirked. "Escort, not date."

"There's a difference?"

"She's one of the contestants, and she needed an escort, so I said yes," said Jeremy.

"Say it anyway you like, but that girl's got a crush on you," said Matt.

Jeremy struggled to lift a keg from the truck bed. "Okay, let's just take these, and we'll come back for the kegs."

"Hang on." Matt climbed up onto the truck's bed. "Wanna see something cool?"

Jeremy watched silently, as Matt lifted two kegs at once, as though they were a pair of dumbbells at the gym – a pair of light dumbbells. He hopped down from the truck with them, and placed them gently on the ground.

"How did you do that?" Jeremy asked.

"It's weird. Ever since I was 'awoken' as a Hunter, I've had all this energy, like all the time," Matt replied.

"You should really talk to someone about this. I mean, look what happened to that Connor guy. A by-product of all this energy was a strong desire to kill vampires – all vampires. And in case you haven't noticed, my sister, your best friend, has just become a vampire."

"Hey, I would never hurt Phoebe, she's my best friend," Matt assured him. "I'll be fine."

And he meant it...until he woke up that night with a freshly whittled stake in his hand, and having just dreamt that he killed his best friend...


The next morning, Matt told Jeremy about his dream and the strange late night wood carving. Jeremy suggested he tell Phoebe. If not to get her help, then to protect her. She needed to know that being alone with him might not be the safest thing, for either of them.

Matt promised to tell her, just not today. She's been through a lot lately, and he wants to give her one normal day, before dumping more supernatural drama on her.


Phoebe stood in front of the full length mirror in her room at the Mikaelson Mansion. She wasn't admiring her dress as much as she was examining her back through her unzipped dress.

"Admiring yourself?" Hayley asked coming out of Phoebe's bathroom. "Seems a little vain for you."

"No. I was looking at where my scars used to be," she said.

Hayley's stomach knotted up at the memory of that night. Phoebe's screams as Jules tortured her. Hayley shook her head, trying to remove the image from her mind, like an etch-a-sketch. "You must be happy that your transition healed them."

Phoebe shrugged. "Yes and no. Sounds weird, I know, but behind every scar is a story – a story of what helped shape you into the person you are. When scars become invisible, it's hard to know that any exist. When you can see them, you know there's a story – a reason – even if they don't wanna talk about it. I'm not saying I miss them, but they reminded me that there was a reason for why I'm tougher than I used to be. I mean, I think I'm tougher. I feel tougher."

"Well, I didn't know you before that night, but I would guess from the way everyone else talks about you that you are tougher," Hayley replied. "You're also one of the most compassionate people I've ever known, but you do have your limits. The people who know you, already know that. As for any strangers, they don't need to see your scars to know that. The only person that needs to know your 'story' is you. And you don't need scars to remind you of it."

Phoebe smiled as Hayley helped her zip up her dress. "I guess it didn't really matter, anyway. It's not like I ever really wore anything that showed off my back."

"Not really your style," Hayley agreed.

There was a knock at the door. It was Elijah.

"You two look positively beautiful," he complimented. "Shall we get going?"


It was shady, very shady, and Matt knew he probably shouldn't be doing it, but he did it anyway. When Stefan texted him to meet him alone, and not to tell anyone, he felt it in his gut that this wasn't going to be good. His suspicions were confirmed, when Stefan presented him with a new vampire to kill.

Stefan had spent the previous day looking for the perfect candidate to turn for Matt to kill, until he found one. A murderer recovering from injury at the hospital, whose only regret about what he'd done, was that he'd been caught.

It still felt wrong to Matt, especially considering how his Hunter side was starting to rear its ugly head in bad ways. This was only bound to make it worse. But he did it anyways, and his tattoo spread...so did his desire to kill vampires.


"I can't believe that I won." Hayley picked up the winner's tiara sitting on its plush pillow, and placed it on her head. "I just want to thank the judges for seeing past the fact that I'm a raging bitch."

Phoebe resisted a laugh. "Okay, first of all, you're not a raging bitch. You're just the right amount of bitch." She took the tiara from Hayley, and put it back on its pillow. "Secondly, you don't wanna play with this thing, because those girls will cut you. They have nails."

"I have claws," Hayley countered.

"And my money will always be on you, in a fight. But for today's purposes, I have to at least pretend to care about this stuff."

"I can't believe you even entered in this pageant. It doesn't seem your style," said Hayley.

"It's not," she confirmed. "But before my aunt died – the one that raised me – she entered me into it. She said I should be more girly, like Elena. Not in those exact words, but that was her basic point."

"Well, I know a certain someone who would love to disagree." Hayley gave a knowing look at Elijah, as he returned to the pair with drinks.

"I should go find Caroline. It's almost time to introduce the contestants," she said, as she began walking away.


After introducing the contestants, Phoebe was supposed to hang around and watch them all do that silly dance that Phoebe and Damon did nine months ago; but Phoebe didn't want to be here, much less have to parade around like Caroline wanted her to.

"You look bored out of your skull," came a voice in her ear. Phoebe didn't have to turn around to know it was Klaus.

"I am," she said. "I'd rather be suffering from a werewolf bite than be here."

Klaus laughed. "Come with me, love. Let us see if we can salvage this day for you."

Phoebe glanced over towards Caroline and the contestants who were just beginning their dance, then back at Klaus, who was holding a hand out to her. Phoebe took Klaus' hand, and they bolted towards the lake.

Damon watched the contestants dance, and thought back to when that was him and Phoebe. The fun they had, when they were practicing; going to see Agnes and Zoie about a dress for her, how beautiful she looked in her dress...how in love they were.

He looked around the crowd for her, but couldn't find her. He saw Hayley and Elijah, but no Phoebe. Elijah was staring off at something in the distance, and Damon followed his gaze. There was Phoebe; walking away from the pageant, hand-in-hand with Klaus.

Damon's jealousy flared. He needed to get away from the crowd, before he did something he shouldn't. Lucky for him, he found a distraction. Unlucky for Shane, he was the distraction.


"Caroline is going to be so angry, when she finds out I bailed," said Phoebe.

Klaus laughed. "She seems to have it all under control on her own. Honestly, I don't know why she needed you at her side."

"Beats me," said Phoebe sitting down on a bench by the water.

Klaus began opening the champagne he had snatched up on their way there.

"You know, I never thanked you for what you did for Stefan the other night," she said. "For using your wolf form to help me find him."

"No need to thank me, love. I remember what it was like, suffering that awful curse." He handed her a glass of champagne. "I wouldn't wish it on anyone."

Phoebe took a sip of her drink, then paused to think. She'd been trying to find a way to bring up the subject more delicately, but there wasn't time and Phoebe never liked talking in riddles or subtle hints like everyone else seemed to.

"I know about the cure," she said bluntly.

Klaus stopped mid-sip of his own drink. "I expected you'd find out eventually. Not much gets past you."

Phoebe smiled a little. "Would you ever take it?"

"Now, why would I want to cure myself of being the most powerful creature on the planet, hmm?"

Phoebe wanted to argue that she was technically the most powerful creature on the planet – she was created to kill Klaus – but she no longer had her powers.

"You've been alive for a thousand years. There's never been a moment when you missed being human?" she asked.

Had it been anyone else, he'd have said 'no'. But this was Phoebe asking, and he'd always been honest with her.

"Once," he admitted. "I was on a trek in the Andes, and a hummingbird flew up to me and just hovered there staring at me. Its tiny heart was pattering like a machine gun..."

Phoebe smiled at the image in her head.

"And I thought, 'what a thing.' You know, to work that hard every day just to stay alive, to be constantly on the verge of death. And how satisfying every day must be that it survived...And that was the only time I thought about being human."

Phoebe didn't know what to say. It was a beautiful story that painted a beautiful picture in her mind. Luckily for Phoebe, though, she didn't have to think of something to say, because Matt texted her. He needed to see her inside, ASAP.


"Where have you been?" Phoebe asked, as she entered the room.

Matt sat there playing with one of the stakes he had whittled himself in his sleep.

"What are you doing with that?" Phoebe asked.

"Connor was right." Matt rose to his feet. "All I can think about is killing vampires."

"Matt, you're nothing like Connor," Phoebe argued.

"I wanna believe that, and I know I don't wanna hurt you, but everything inside of me is telling me to drive this stake through your heart."

"I'm still me, Matt. The same Phoebe you've always known."

"But you're not the same Phoebe, you're a vampire," said Matt.

"And before that, I was an empathic elemental. I've never been truly human." Phoebe moved closer and took her friend's hand. "It doesn't matter what species I am, I'm still me, Matty-cakes."

He appeared to be calming down for a moment, but that turned out to be a trick. Matt raised his hand to touch her face, but jammed a hidden stake into her throat, so she couldn't call for help. He was just about to drive another one into her heart, when Jeremy showed up with Stefan.

Stefan told Jeremy to get Matt out of there, while he took care of Phoebe.

Phoebe tried to take the mini stake out of her neck, but it hurt so bad...

"Let me do it, let me do it," said Stefan. He quickly, but gently, removed it.

Tears welled up into Phoebe's eyes. Partially from the pain of being stabbed in the throat, and from how Matt had looked at her.

"I'm so sorry, Phoebe, this is my fault," said Stefan.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm starting to think that when a Hunter kills a vampire, their urge to keep killing gets stronger," he explained.

Phoebe put two and two together. "He's been with you this whole time. You took him to kill vampires, didn't you?!"

"We need the map to get the cure."

"The cure..I only just found out about the damn thing, and I'm already sick of hearing about it. Screw the cure! It isn't worth losing my best friend over. It isn't worth him losing his humanity over. Either find another way to get it, or just forget about it altogether. Either way, leave Matt out of it, from now on."

Phoebe rose to her feet, and left to get cleaned up, before someone saw her like that. And before Stefan could argue back.


It had been a long day for Stefan, and all he wanted to do right now was drink. So he sat with Hayley, Jenna, and Elena at the Gilbert House, and did just that. They all discussed the events of the day, Jeremy moving in with Matt to try and help him get control over his Hunter side, and how Phoebe was feeling about her best friend trying to kill her.

"The sooner we find this cure, the better," said Elena. "Just look at all the trouble she's had since becoming a vampire."

"Do you really think she'll take it?" Jenna asked.

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Because survival wasn't her only reason for becoming a vampire. Sure, that was her initial reason for it, but the more she thought about it and planned for it, the more she came to like the idea," said Hayley. "Phoebe wants to be a vampire."

"Yeah, but look at all the problems she's had since becoming one. The only way she can feed is from a live human. If that's the only way she can feed, then it's only a matter of time before she kills someone," said Stefan.

"I don't think she will," said Jenna.

"How do you know?"

"Because she's learning from Elijah," said Jenna. "Not Damon, not Klaus, Elijah. Most vampires don't really have anyone to teach them control. Caroline had Stefan and Anna, and look at her now. The only person she's killed was before she even knew what was happening to her. So why is it so hard to believe Elijah can be a good sire to Phoebe?"

The words hit Hayley like a brick. "A sire...Oh, my god, that's it!"

"What's it?"

"Phoebe. The reason she's having so much trouble with her transition. It isn't because she's the Anomaly, it's because she's sired to Elijah."

Everyone shared a look. Could this be true?

"Is that even possible?" Elena asked Stefan.

"It's exceedingly rare – one in a million – but it happens." Stefan turned back to Hayley. "What makes you think she's sired?"

"While you were all arguing over what the best way to teach her to feed was, she was in her room talking to Elijah. She told me he scoffed at the idea of the bunny diet, and told her that she'd never be able to keep it down. That as a new vampire, the only thing she'd be able to eat was a live human feed. Nothing else would taste right to her."

"So when she couldn't keep animal blood down..." Jenna began.

"That wasn't because she needed time to get used to it."

"And when she tried to drink my blood..."

"It didn't taste right, because Elijah said only a live human feed would taste right to a new vampire," said Hayley.

"But, wait, if Elijah told her that she wouldn't be able to do it, then how was she able to even try it?" Elena questioned. "Wouldn't she have turned down the bunny diet and gone straight to humans, like Elijah said?"

Hayley shook her head. "Before he told her that she wouldn't be able to stomach it, he asked her what she wanted. He wanted her to be honest with him in how she wanted to approach this. She honestly wanted to try the bunny diet, so he let her do it."

"I don't know, it seems kind of thin," said Stefan.

Hayley tried to think of another example.

"She is always worried about what Elijah will think of her," said Jenna.

"That doesn't mean she's sired to him," Stefan dismissed.

"How about the memorial?" said Hayley. "When she called Elijah, he told her not to leave the bathroom until he got there, and when you guys tried to get her to leave she couldn't."

Stefan still didn't seem convinced. "Yeah, and he told her not to go into the Grill when Connor was holding Matt and Jeremy hostage, but she still did."

"Actually, he told her that she couldn't go in with you," Jenna noted. "She went in after you."

"The memorial." Elena's face said that she was coming around to the idea at her own thought. "She was starting to lose control, when she smelled April's blood; but Elijah told her to control herself and resist the blood, and she did. What new vampire, who hasn't been able to keep any form of blood down, is going to be able to control themselves around fresh blood like that?"

"None," Stefan admitted.

"Not unless their sired."


I want to thank you all for your kind words, understanding, and patience; it's meant more than you know. My family did take quite a hit from back to back hurricanes, but they are safe and alive, which is what matters most. With that comfort in mind, I think it's safe to say that I can get back to writing Phoebe's story once again!

I think what relit the spark was going back and rereading this entire story. It refreshed what I'd done, reminded me of things I'd forgotten I'd written, and gave me new ideas. Speaking of which, I have a HUGE surprise for you all, this season, and I'm not talking about sirebonds or Matt being the Hunter. It's something I don't think any of you will see coming.

Just one more season (give or take a few extra chapters I've added for this season) before the Originals begins. How will Phoebe balance the two? Who will be Hope's mother? Let me know what you guys think will happen next. Let me know what you hope to see happen in the future. And once again, thank you for your patience and understanding.