NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA

Buffy groans in disgust as she follows after Klaus and Oz through the Bayou in search of Hayley, staring down at her boots she huffs. When Klaus had told her they needed to stop this truth ritual she was all for it, but what she was not all for was treading through the mud in $300 boots.

Oz chuckles from beside her "Still prefer sewers, Buff?"

"A world of yes." She laughs before shaking her head and glancing at her old friend, honestly, she was still in a load of shock about everything he had filled her in on. From his time in Africa and Tibet to the very horrifying ritual he had helped Hayley through to help her learn to control her own shifts like a hybrid.
It pretty much involved a lot of meditation, mind games. Pure torture.
And if you managed to survive all that you then had to shift on repeat for hours on end till you didn't feel the pain anything. So pure damn torture, she honestly wasn't surprised that most wolves didn't survive the ritual or wouldn't even dare to try.

"I still don't get it. Why help her, why convince her to help us, doesn't she hate Klaus?"

"She does." Klaus pipes up from ahead as they continue to where the pack should be "I'm not too fond of her either. The only reason she is breathing is because of your mutt friend here. Does his hair often change colors by the way?"
"We don't ask." Buffy snarks with a glare when he merely smirks at her she rolls her eyes and smiles playfully at him.
Oz rolls his eyes in annoyance at the hybrid, still not exactly understanding what Buffy had seen in him, sighing he turns to his old friend "When Will found out your kid was part-wolf she called me. I'd been traveling with all these pacts, all of whom are now basically worshiping at your kid's feet. When Haley called and told me she needed help tracking down her family; I found out she was basically wolf royalty so we came here while you were still pregnant. Hayley helped me and Elijah keep the witches away as long as we could. We've been protecting you and that secret as best we can. Hayley didn't just agree to this wedding because of the deal we made, it's for the pack, and for Elijah, she cares about him and she knows how much your kid means to him and his family. Her going through with this marriage, swearing her loyalty to you..."

At that Buffy freezes and waves Klaus off who rolls his eyes to continue and track down Hayley and bring her to them while Buffy turns to Oz still thrown by the brand new set of information, what the hell was she missing here? "Why would she pledge her Allegiance to me?"

Oz arches a brow as he stares at the confused blonde, and that's when it hits him, she didn't realize how much of a legend she had actually become to different factions of the supernatural world. She wasn't just feared...she was loved and worshipped, for her power and heart. The things she had done. Vampires, demons, werewolves, and witches in different parts of the world were swearing their allegiance to her in exchange for not being torn apart by her Slayers. And she hadn't even begun to realize just how important she had become to the supernatural world.
"You really don't know." He breaths, before sighing "Buffy I'll explain everything just trust me. And don't thank me either..." When she raises an amused brow he chuckles "Don't, I don't do thanks. I get all red and I have to bail. It's not pretty."


MYSTIC FALLS

Katherine groans in annoyance as she glances over at her doppelganger's human who had dragged her to a construction site he was working on, apparently, after her little jump attempt, he felt like she couldn't be trusted alone. Honestly, it was infuriating to her just how nice he was, if she was still her old self she would have snapped his neck by now, but un-luckily for her Xander at the moment was the only person in this damn town that spoke to her.

Bringing her knees to her chest she sighs glancing down at the journal he had given her to distract herself while he and the rest of his men worked on this secret project of his. Huffing she glares down at the paper refusing to believe that this was actually going to be useful, the whole concept to her was so stupid.

"Dear Diary,

So here I am, alive. Elena's nauseating boyfriend Alexander saved me from killing myself with what he called a typical epic Xander speech.

So stupid I know.

Anyway now he's got me on suicide watch. He says it will be therapeutic for me to write down my feelings...about the fact that I'm dying and there's nothing I can do about it.

Deep thoughts, mortal coil, blah, blah, blah. My hands tired."

With that Katherine huffs and rips the page from the journal and tosses at Xander's back causing the human who was currently in a white vest as he continued to work on digging up the ground to turn to her.
Xander sighs before climbing out of the hole in the ground he was in, jumping out he walks over to Katherine who merely glares at him "This is stupid. What moron rights all their feelings down?"
Xander groans in annoyance and rubs his dirty hands together wishing so much that he had not listened to his heart and helped the helpless ex-vampire "Okay journals. Big no." Pausing he thinks for a moment before an idea pops into his brain, grabbing a shovel next to him he grabs Katherine's arm and yanks her to her feet before holding out the shovel towards her.

The ex-vampire arches a brow in disgust before scoffing, he couldn't actually be serious "Yeah no. I don't do dirt."
Xander merely smirks "Well, if you're not gonna write. You're gonna help. I'll even pay you for the day. It'll keep you distracted while you think of reasons to not jump off buildings." Bending down to the equipment set she was next to he grabs one of the hard hats and places it on the doppelganger's head before crossing his arms with an amused grin "Welcome to the world of minimum wage work Kat. It sucks. You're gonna love it."


WHITMORE

After covering Jessie's disappearance with Aaron by telling him that Jessie was spending the next few days with Caroline, which technically was true given Jessie was in the Salvatore's basement while Caroline was upstairs working out how much vampire blood to give him to help deal with the cravings.
Elena was now doing her best to find Damon with the help of Aaron given his connection to Wes. She couldn't help but feel guilty as she had been the one to ask for Damon's help in digging information out of the doctor; the least she could do would be to try and help him out of whatever situation had made him disappear off the face of the planet.

Following Aaron into the Whitmore house at Whitmore college, Elena frowns as she spots something on the wall something she had never noticed when she went to school here before she started at the med-school across the street. Staring at the image two faces stand out as bright as day to her "That's my dad and my uncle Hank."
Before Aaron could say anything Wes appears from the staircase and smiles over at the banshee sending a shiver down her spine and not a good one "Grayson Gilbert and Hank Summers were two of the brightest minds Augustine ever had. Grayson one of the best doctors. And Hank never failed to bring in new investors. The man knew his way around a conversation."

Pausing Wes walks closer to Elena and smirks at her making her tense "I saw what you did to Jessie. That makes you a banshee. Which means I don't need Vervain."
Elena's eyes widen in panic and she moves to attack him only for Wes to pull out a baseball bat from behind his back and smash her across the face with it.

As the wooden objects makes contact the brunette drops to the ground groaning in agony looking up at Wes she winces as she feels blood drip down her face "I will kill you." She hisses before Wes's boot connects with her face effectively sending her into darkness.


NEW ORLEANS

"Get your damn hands off me, Klaus!" Hayley hisses as Klaus continues to manhandle her through the Bayou.
Klaus merely smirks as she continues trying to pry his hands off her "Can't do that sweetheart you see me and my Slayer need to have a little chat with you." Without another word, Hayley is thrown to the ground at someone's feet.
Buffy sighs as she looks over at the hybrid rolling her eyes at his childish behavior "Was that necessary?"

"Not but it was fun." He argues before turning to look at Oz who was glaring at him, the hybrid pays him no mind and merely smirks "Why don't you go keep your little mate Jackson company. Off you pop." He suggests but it was very clear that it was more a threat.

Oz couldn't help but scoff "Like I'd leave Hayley with you...Buffy..."
Buffy groans as she helps Hayley back up to her feet before running a hand through her long blonde locks turning to Oz she clenches her jaw, she really didn't want him to see her like this, because this conversation with Hayley was going to go one of two ways and she didn't want him to see that "We're just gonna talk. I promise."

"I'll be fine." Hayley assures him, the elder werewolf hesitates before nodding and walking away while Buffy turns to the werewolf she knew very little about. Honestly while grateful for everything Hayley had done, she didn't know this girl all she had heard were stories, the one time they had met it hadn't exactly been pleasant.

"Haven't seen you since the Miss Mystic Pageant." Buffy says with a small smile "I didn't realize that since then you'd been hit on the head do many times that you had pretty much lost all sense."
Hayley couldn't help but gulp slightly, she had never had a conversation with Buffy, and given the stories she had heard Buffy was either the nicest person or she would torture you within an inch of your life, and right now the werewolf was thinking she was probably leaning more towards the torture side of the Slayer.

"Look, Buffy—"
Before the werewolf could utter another world the hybrid cuts in "Are you seriously considering this preposterous truth-telling idiocy?"
Hayley sighs as she turns to face the vampire "Actually I'm kind of on the fence."

"Then get off it." Buffy warns her taking a step closer to the werewolf, as much as she loved Oz, she loved her daughter more and she would not let anything come in the way of her daughter's safety "She is our daughter." The blonde reminds Hayley gesturing between herself and Klaus "This is not your secret to tell Hayley. Look no matter how many times Oz sings Hayley praises, all I know about you is that you helped unsire a bunch of hybrids for Shane who tried to kill me, then took off out of town. Look..." The blonde hesitates for a moment taking a deep breath trying to reign in her panic and worry which right now was mixing with anger and rage, which never led to anything positive.

Running a hand through her hair she looks at the werewolf desperately "Look I am so thankful for everything you have done to help us keep Joy safe. But this...it can't come out. I won't let it. I will not have Joy in more danger than she already is."

Hayley couldn't help but feel sympathetic as she stares at the blonde she could see the desperation in her eyes, the need to protect that one little girl. But she needed to make both hybrids realize that this would not endanger their daughter but in-fact make her untouchable. But the idea of convincing two stubborn hybrids seemed less effective than talking to a brick wall "Except it's not that simple." She argues focusing on Buffy hoping she would understand more "I have spent all year with Oz and Elijah doing everything I can to protect your child. Oz told me what Finn did. He's growing more powerful by the day. Right now he controls over half of the wolves. This marriage could change that."

Klaus merely glares at the werewolf not believing a word of this, he didn't trust Hayley nor did he trust Oz or the rest of those damn wolves, especially when it came to protecting his and Buffy's daughter "The outcome of your strategy is not worth the risk it imposes on Joy." Pausing Klaus turns to the blonde who was now pacing back and forth as different thoughts argued through her brain "Tell me you're not buying this Luv?"

Buffy clenches her jaw before turning back to face Hayley who had an almost hopeful look on her face "I don't trust you."
"I'm not asking you to." Hayley argues "I'm asking you to trust Oz. This marriage was his idea. He trusts both Jackson and me. Buffy think...you wouldn't just have an army of Slayers but you could have a whole army of super wolves who could protect Joyce as one of their own."

Buffy had to admit it was a tempting idea, having wolves who would do anything to protect Joy and a long time ago she probably would have jumped at the idea but that was when she was a different person. There was no guarantee that these wolves would swear their loyalties to her and Joy as Oz had said, they could turn on them in a heartbeat, and given how many times she had trusted the wrong people she was more cautious now. Even more so when it came to her daughter.
"Oz said your wolves would pledge allegiance to me, yet I don't even know what the hell that means! How am I supposed to trust that this will work when I have no idea what the hell Oz is talking about?!" She argues as she steps closer to Hayley the confusion very evident on the blonde's face, which was clearly making her angry and frustrated by her lack of knowledge on this.

"It doesn't matter." Klaus argues as he turns to the blonde with a serious look on his face "Joy doesn't need a wolf army. We'll protect her ourselves." Pausing he turns to glare at the werewolf in front of them "I don't understand why my brother insisted on letting you lurch around our family affairs, the only people that can protect my daughter is myself and her mother. And we'll have an easier time of it without you running off sharing secrets...secrets which I remind you are not yours to share...with every motley member of your brethren."

Hayley stares at him dumbfounded before shaking her head and glancing at Buffy in disbelief "Of all people you breed with this?"
Buffy opens her mouth to argue before thinking about her question, shaking her head she shrugs "Let's not get into my bad love-life decisions otherwise we'll be here for eternity going over my clear obsession with serial killer vampires." Shaking her head Buffy steps closer towards the wolf staring her dead in the eye "My daughter is not some bargaining tool. So tell me exactly how this helps us...I like you Hayley but if I don't like your answer I will snap your neck if I have to."

Hayley gulps slightly but while yes she feared the blonde she couldn't exactly say that she wouldn't make the exact same threat if she was in the Slayer's shoes "You could bring her home. You had what three months with her before you sent her away? And now she's almost a year old and you still don't have her. You could bring her home. Buffy, Klaus you have to at least consider this."

At Hayley's words, Buffy visibly freezes as the idea of actually being able to have her daughter with her again fills her brain, no more sending her away, no more missing all the little moments. She wouldn't miss Joy's first steps or her first word because she would be there to witness them.

Klaus frowns before turning to Buffy his eyes widening as he spots the look on her face, the glassiness of her eyes, he could see it all, she wanted to hope so badly that this will work and while he wanted their daughter home with them too, this wasn't an option they could take.
Placing his hand on her shoulder he turns the blonde towards him forcing her to look him in the eye "Buffy...we can't."
At his words, Buffy takes a shaky breath wishing so bad that this could work but every time they had trusted that Joy would be safe she was put right back into danger. Blinking back her tears she sighs and turns back to Hayley "No. She is our daughter...it's our choice. So cancel this wedding now."


CLEVELAND, OHIO

Willow takes a seat opposite Stefan in her spare bedroom watching as she carefully places three stones in front of him.
"So what is all this?" He asks as he glances at the white, purple, and red crystals in front of them, he didn't exactly remember this being apart of the ritual when Willow sent him into Buffy's head all those years ago in Sunnydale.
Willow smiles sweetly "It's different because you're a vampire." She explains while now if she tried to go into Buffy's mind she wouldn't be able to due to her hybrid nature when Buffy was just the Slayer it had been easier "Your mind has more barriers. The white crystal gets me in. The purple helps me center to you...the red is a last resort; if you get stuck. And trust me it's not pretty. So try not to get stuck okay?" She asks her voice ever so sweet that it slightly terrified him.

The vampire exhales softly before nodding and closing his eyes as Willow speaks "Okay..." She whispers "Open your mind to me. And when I count back from 5 we're gonna be in the one place that is keeping your mind so trapped. 5, 4, 3, 2...1"

With that Stefan's eyes slam open only for panic to fill him as instead of being sat on a wooden chair in the witch's spare bedroom he now found himself trapped in a tiny room barely a foot in length, he couldn't even move around more than a step or two. As his breathing starts to become panicked he glances around the metal-encased room terror filling him with every breath as flashes of being trapped in that case fill him "Willow!" He screams as he slams against the metal walls before his eyes widen as he feels something cold at his feet, looking down his eyes quickly fill with terror and panic.
He couldn't help but begin bashing against the walls desperately as water begins to fill the room slowly reaching his ankles "Willow!"


NEW ORLEANS

"Buffy, you need to listen to me!" Hayley argues knowing that arguing with Klaus was pointless, nothing would get through that thick skull of his, but Oz had never done anything except sing the blonde's praises and she could see that Buffy was having an internal debate with herself about this.

"I understand that she is your daughter..." Hayley starts focusing on the blonde completely ignoring the other hybrid who was clearly getting angrier by the second "...Buffy, me, and Oz have sworn loyalty to you and your daughter. We have fought witches to protect both of you. Because we respect you..."
Pausing Hayley's eyes land on the vampire hybrid a hateful gaze filling her eyes "But you...it was your mother who tried to kill your daughter. Who knows what your equally psychotic brother is up to. The only reason that the wolves are even considering this, is not because of you! It's because of her!" She exclaims turning back to Buffy whose eyes widen in shock as she stares at Hayley in disbelief "You have protected wolves from hunters, you have saved the freaking world. We are pledging loyalty to someone who is not a wolf because of you...Joyce is the daughter of Buffy Anne Summers, your name comes with respect because of all you have done in the supernatural community but it doesn't change who her father is. Joyce may be the daughter of The Slayer but she is also the daughter of Klaus Mikealson...the hybrid killer with a thousand enemies."

As Klaus' face falls slightly at Hayley's words knowing that just by Joyce being his child he had forced thousands of enemies upon her Buffy's jaw tightens and she grabs Hayley by the throat before shoving her pinning her to the ground.

"Don't." Buffy hisses glaring down at the shocked wolf, while yes Hayley's words may ring true, it didn't change the fact that Hayley had no idea just how much both she and Klaus had done and given up to protect Joy.

"Buffy!" Another voice yells causing the blonde to turn only to spot Oz staring at her in shock, clenching her jaw the blonde ignores her old friend and turns back to the wolf who was staring at her with wide desperate eyes "You cannot begin to understand what we have done for our daughter." She warns before releasing the wolf as Klaus places an arm on her shoulder pulling her back, while he may enjoy the sight of Buffy attacking someone merely for their words about him he also knew killing the werewolf Queen in her territory would only lead to a bloody battle that they didn't have time for.

Hayley sighs and coughs as she finally finds herself able to breathe again, allowing Oz to help her back up she turns to Buffy "Don't let his paranoid antiques keep you from seeing that this wedding can help your daughter."

Oz nods in agreement as he turns to look at Buffy still a little in shock, he had never seen her like this, the Buffy he had known so long ago wouldn't be this paranoid, it could only make him question what kind of horrors she had witnessed since their last encounter to get her to this point "Buffy, your daughter could come home. The wolves will be on your side."

"The wolves cannot be trusted!" Klaus exclaims glaring in-between the two wolves "She is our daughter. We make all decisions regarding her safety. Let's not pretend your pledging loyalty to Buffy for her and Joy, you are doing it because by being the first pack to do so you become the most feared pack in the bloody world. The pack with The Slayer on their side!"

Buffy groans as everyone continues arguing about her child's safety and the decisions that should be made, she was sick of it "I almost killed my best friend to protect my daughter!" Buffy screams drawing their attention as she tries not to think too hard about when she had attacked Bonnie to try and protect Joy from being used by Silas "I have turned my back on a lot of people to keep her safe! Nik killed his own father to protect her! We spent months apart from our child from each other to keep her safe!" She yells tears streaming from her face making all of them freeze, honestly Buffy was just so sick of it, it seemed no matter how much they gave up, how much they fought they were constantly at odds with threats.

Rubbing her eyes Buffy wipes the tears from her face before she exhales softly as she turns to Oz "I know you think this wedding can work...but...the only person I trust with my child's safety...is Nik. And while I'm so thankful for what you've done Oz..."
Slowly Klaus sneaks up behind both wolves and slams their heads together knocking them both unconscious, as they drop to the ground he turns to Buffy, both of them having the exact same thought "We don't trust Jackson."