MYSTIC FALLS

Damon Salvatore now free of the Ripper Virus was happily sat in The Grill sipping on a glass of bourbon. Well not exactly happily, glancing at the two seats beside him he couldn't help but sigh as he thinks about his two drinking buddies. One was dead and the other was currently acting as The Queen Slayer in New Orleans.
Downing the rest of his glass he moves to grab the bottle beside him when he hears someone pull out a chair at the end of the bar.

"Vodka on the rocks."

At the sound of the feminine voice ordering straight vodka, the blue-eyed vampire turned his head to look at the owner of the voice. Sat there at the end of the bar was a stunning woman with dark short hair just above her shoulders. As he watched her the vampire allowed himself to take in the sight of her, a tight black vest as well as black leather pants and silver hoops in her ears. She was very beautiful that was obvious enough.
Smirking slightly the vampire stands and grabs his bottle of bourbon moving to take the seat beside her, as he does the dark-haired woman turns to look at him pursing her red painted lips with amusement "What are you doing?"

"Sitting, what does it look like?" He asks throwing her a flirty grin.
Alina lets in an amused breath as she watches the handsome vampire "And what was wrong with your original seat?"

"The invisible company wasn't as good-looking."

The banshee shakes her head before looking up at him, without a word she downs her vodka and grabs the bottle he had placed in front of him pouring herself a drink.
"If you're gonna annoy me then, blue-eyed man I will happily let you pay."
Shaking his head in amusement Damon watches Alina carefully a smirk gracing his lips as she sips his bourbon with a playful glint in her eyes "Damon Salvatore." He finally tells her clicking his glass with hers.

Alina smirks brightly at the vampire before raising her glass "Ally...Ally Marks."


NEW ORLEANS

"Wait so you're leaving?" Buffy asks in disbelief as she pushes Joy's pram along through the quarter, glancing down at her sleeping little girl she then turns to look at Oz still shocked "Is that just you're thing. Jump in the Dingoes Ate My Baby van and disappear."

"Exactly." The now ginger werewolf tells her with an amused grin before shaking his head "Look I got a call from a pack in the mountains, they heard about what I did for Hayley. Their Alpha wants to give the ritual a try."
At his words Buffy couldn't help but smile, he really had grown, the way he cared for the wolves, it was such a change from the kid he had been, so scared during his transformations. He had really found out who he was and she couldn't be happier for him, even if him being so sure of himself made her just a little jealous, given she was only at the start of that journey herself. Nudging his shoulder slightly she giggles "Look at you the werewolf whisperer."

"I wish the pay was better."

At his words, Buffy smiles before laughing as she feels an arm thrown over her shoulder and she glances over only to spot Hayley next to her, with Jackson by her side. Hayley grins at her new friend watching her with a teasing smile "Looks like you're stuck with me."

"Oh no, the earth is doomed." Buffy exclaims sarcastically before laughing as they continue walking through the quarter.
Hayley smirks slightly before clapping both Oz and Buffy on the back gesturing to the beautiful city around them "Are we done with the depressing goodbyes? Good." She tells them leaving no room for argument as she turns to Buffy "Now we brought you out here Buff to show you what life is gonna be like here."

"As long as there is fried food I'm good." The blonde admits with a shrug making Jackson shake his head in amusement from beside her.

"Come on." He tells her with a teasing smile only making Buffy shake her head in amusement, the wolves had all been pretty stoaked when she had informed them of her decision to make New Orleans a permanent stay. But since then they had all been Uber nice, like scared she may change her mind and run back to Virginia.

"There is more than just great food." Jackson tells her "Now that you've got a real local to show you around the quarter what would you like to see first?" Pausing as he spots Buffy smile almost nervously he shakes his head and turns to Oz "She's gonna ask for food isn't she?"
"Yep." Oz tells him with hesitation while Buffy grins and nods happily "This Slaying business is hungry work." She argues "And I'm basically a Slayer on steroids. I'm like the flash you need to feed me at least 12 times a day."

Oz groans as he looks over at Buffy's begging eyes shaking his head he turns to Hayley and Jackson "Show her around. I'll go get the food addict something to eat."

"Thank you!" Buffy yells as he begins walking off "Make it something fattening!"

Smiling Buffy turns to continue walking however as the three walk past a street musician Buffy couldn't help but feel a shiver go up her spine at the tune the violinist was playing. It was like those notes were digging at the back of her brain, she was almost positive she had heard it before, she just couldn't place where.

Stopping in her tracks she turns to the two werewolves "That song...it's digging at me, either of you know it?"

Both wolves frown shaking their heads and the three glance back at the violinist only to spot her staring at Buffy "Okay creepy." The blonde whispers before pushing the stroller to keep moving forward.

However as they continue to walk Buffy couldn't stop the bad feeling in her gut, turning her head as she feels eyes on her she quickly spots a waiter by one of the cafe's writing on the menu chalkboard. He was looking straight at her...but the more disturbing thing was what he had been writing on the board.

'A Promise made is a debt to be Paid'

"Something is wrong." The blonde whispers to the wolves who quickly move, both of them standing on either side of Buffy protectively.
Clenching her jaw Buffy freezes as a middle-aged man approaches her with flowers in his hands "Flowers ma'am? A gift for the child."

Buffy clenches her jaw forcing a fake smile on her face as she faces him "Not a flower person."

"Are you sure?" He asks tilting his head at her before smiling "Black Dahlia's are in bloom. They're quite lovely."
Hayley quickly moves in front of Buffy blocking her and Joy from the guy's view "She's good."
Jackson quickly tries to move Buffy and Joy past the guy who continues to try and block their path, however before he could the man quickly finds himself with a hand around his throat.

Klaus' hand.

The hybrid glares up at the man's whose eyes were now pure white "Show yourself, witch."
Buffy takes a shaky breath and moves to reach for the scythe only to have Hayley grab her hand, moving to look at the wolf her eyes widen as she spots her eyes a milky white. Shoving her hand off her she pushes Hayley away from her causing the possessed werewolf to stumble drawing Klaus' attention.

"I am here." Hayley tells them before Jackson gasps his eyes now flashing the milk-white as he turns to look at Buffy who currently had Klaus moving over to her side "I am everywhere. And I intend to take what is mine."
Buffy sighs and glances at Klaus as Hayley and Jackson now free of Dahlia's control frown in confusion, Buffy merely takes a shaky breath glancing at the hybrid in slight panic "She's here."

Klaus couldn't help but clench his jaw at her words, it seemed they were officially out of time "Dahlia."


JUST OUTSIDE OF MYSTIC FALLS

After another round of Sloan ripping into his mind Stefan groans as his body finally returns back to consciousness. Moaning in pain he adjusts in his seat as he opens his eyes only to frown in confusion as he looks around the unfamiliar location, they had clearly moved him when he had been passed out because this wasn't the abandoned railway station.
"We moved." He mumbles before looking up at Sloan as she walks over to him "Why?"

"They don't call us Travelers for our mileage points." She tells him with a roll of her eyes.
Stefan sighs in annoyance before finally taking a proper look at his surroundings, there was something so familiar about it "I know this place. We're right outside of Mystic Falls."

"Trust me, I'd rather be at the beach now, but this is where we're supposed to meet our fearless leader."
Stefan nods at her words as he tries to remember back to the information he had about their leader "Markos right?" When she merely nods he arches a curious brow "You said he wants our blood. Why?"

Before she could respond the sound of Stefan's phone ringing cuts through the air, grabbing his phone from the vampire's pocket Sloan brings the phone to her ear "I hope you're calling to tell me the doppelgangers dead."
"Your stupid doppel-visions gave us bad information." Caroline hisses through the call "Put Stefan on the phone."
Sloan frowns in confusion before putting the phone down on the broken car next to them and putting it on speaker.

"Caroline, what happened?" Stefan asks.

"Tom's been missing for months. Is there any other things you noticed in your visions? Any small details that could maybe help us out?"

Stefan sighs thinking back to those torturous flashes he had of his human doppelganger "No, I can't remember anything. After the spell happened, it's like I blacked out."

"The link connects us to the doppelganger's mind." Sloan tells them as she moves behind Stefan putting her hands inside a bucket "If we're seeing old memories, that means we have to go deeper."


NEW ORLEANS

Buffy groans as she sits in the dining room with Rebekah and Klaus while Freya was stood off to the side. Buffy runs a hand through her hair in exhaustion as she looks at the hybrid, he had been screaming and yelling for the past 10 minutes. Honestly, she couldn't help but worry that his head was going to pop by the way it was turning bright red and that vein in his forehead was bobbing.

"Isn't that the point of a fortress?" Klaus exclaims, "It does a better job protecting you...when you stay within its walls."
At his words, Buffy arches a brow "You done? Or you gonna keep screaming till your head goes pop?" When he merely glares at her she shrugs "Okay fine, as much as I would love to see that can we get to the planning portion of this lecture?"

At her words, Klaus slams his hands against the table and stands turning to the mother of his child "What I would like to do is take a strong leash—"
Buffy cuts him off by stabbing the stake end of the scythe into the table before looking over at him with a deadly look "Finish that sentence Nik, I dare you."
As the two hybrids, glare at each other Elijah walks into the room and sighs "Children, please. Niklaus, your ire is justified however Buffy is quite right." At his words, Buffy grins playfully at Klaus "Told you so. Two points for the Slayer."

"Buffy could you not?" Elijah begs, knowing that having his brother and Buffy infuriate each other was just going to delay their ability to figure out what to do next.

"We need to find a new strategy." The elder tells the group before turning to look at Freya who was pouring herself a cup of tea "Freya, if you please."
Freya sighs before glancing in-between Buffy and Klaus "This spell you described. Dahlia calls it 'kenning.' Using proxies to watch her enemies from afar. But I've never seen it done on quite this scale."

Buffy groans and yanks the scythe out of the table spinning the blade in her palm as she thinks "Great, you know I have had the whole creepy stalker thing before but this is a bit much even for me." Sighing the blonde turns to Freya watching her curiously "Any chance we can turn her into a toad or something?"
Freya shakes her head trying not to smile at Buffy's words, as she focuses on their issue at hand, "Unfortunately it's not that simple. Dahlia is too powerful for parlor tricks but the good news is I know a little about her magic." Pausing the witch grabs a tray with five cups of tea on it and places it on the table "This tonic will at least prevent her from using any of us."

Rebekah was quick to grab herself a cup of tonic however when she realizes she was the only one she glances around the room "Well, come on. Should work like a charm."
Buffy groans before grabbing her tonic and smelling it "Ew." She groans before looking at Freya "Will it still work if I put it in a milkshake, or with bourbon, cause it smells like my sister's cooking."

Klaus who had still refused the tonic that his brother was holding out towards him shrugs "Yes well I prefer biscuits with my tea."
Buffy rolls her eyes slightly before looking down at the tea once more and glancing up at Freya "I'm almost magic proof can't I avoid the smelly tea?"

"While your resistance is strong when one has enough magic they can break through that with enough force." Freya tells her making the blonde sigh before taking a sip of the tea trying not to groan "Yep I'm more of a coffee girl."

"Our minds are far too strong..." Klaus argues as he moves to stand at the head of the table glancing in-between his siblings and Buffy "...to be invaded by kenning spells. No, what we experienced was a test. Dahlia's watching to see how we respond to aggression. She's preparing for battle. My guess is sooner rather than later."

Buffy sighs as her hands tighten around the scythe leaving red marks on her skin from the harsh grip, turning to the father of her child the blonde couldn't help but clear her throat "She's watching us...she knows we have armies...not just the wolves, but she knows one phone call and this city is swimming in Slayers." Groaning the blonde leans her head back against the cold concrete of the wall "And I have a feeling she doesn't care."
Elijah couldn't help but nod in agreement with the Slayer while most would run knowing that amount of power they had at their side, Dahlia was determined, which made her more dangerous than any army "Given the immense nature of her power we simply have no idea what to expect. What we need is to create a new stronghold, something that Dahlia knows nothing about. A sanctuary from any witchcraft."

"That's a fine strategy." Freya pipes up from her place "I offer another. We could use Jackson or Hayley to trace her magic back to its source. Find out exactly where she is."

At her suggestion Elijah and Klaus both turn to Buffy who clenches her jaw and tightens her hold on her weapon, she was really asking a lot of these wolves "Okay. Whatever it takes."

With that Klaus claps his hands together drawing everyone's attention "Good, then it's settled. Off you pop to your respective tasks. Me, I've always been of the opinion that the best defense is a good offense. So I'm gonna find a way to murder that godforsaken witch." Pausing the hybrid's eyes land on the blonde "You are not to leave the compound, she is after you and our child. The safest place for you is here."

Buffy couldn't help but groan in annoyance "Great. House arrest, Woohoo."


WHITMORE

Elena smiles happily as she feels Xander's arms tighten around her waist as they enjoy their lazy day in bed, it was these small moments that made life worth living. After all the pain and suffering of the past few weeks, it was nice to be able to lay in their little bubble outside of the supernatural world.
However, Xander being Xander quickly ruins that moment by saying the wrong thing "You have to talk to her." He tells her as he spots the photo of Buffy and Elena on the nightstand "We've everything going on right now with Dahlia, she needs her sister."

Elena sighs in annoyance before sitting up and leaning against the head of the bed as she watches her boyfriend "She wouldn't be dealing with all of this if it wasn't for Klaus."
Xander groans and moves to sit up, looking over at her he couldn't help but sigh, he knew Elena was terrified at the idea of Buffy not being a permanent feature in their lives, especially after what happened when Buffy had been taken and she hadn't seen her for a year.
However, as much as he loved Elena she was clearly ignoring a few facts here, Buffy couldn't just expect Klaus to be okay with her moving back here with Joy full time, just like she wouldn't be happy if Klaus kept their daughter in New Orleans all the time.

Buffy was a mother now, she had more responsibilities than the rest of them combined "Elena, it's not just about the fact that Klaus is the father of her child. Buffy has an entire pack of werewolves in New Orleans who need her, she is figuring how she is supposed to be a Queen. What did you expect, her to move back here with Joy and just pretend that everything is the same?" When she clenches her jaw and shakes her head refusing to acknowledge his words the human sighs before standing.

Leaning over he kisses her forehead before picking up her phone and handing it to her "Maybe if you actually listened instead of trying to be big sister, you'd maybe understand the pressure she's under. Buffy's not like us...her life was never gonna be here...and Elena I love you, but if you don't accept that and you ask her to choose...you'll lose her."
With that, the banshee watches as her boyfriend exits the room heading to the bathroom. While everything he had said made sense in her mind, she was still struggling to accept it. Buffy had always been there, been the one whose shoulder she could cry on, the one that saved their lives again and again.

How could they survive without her?

Glaring down at her phone her finger hovers over her sister's name however as she moves to press call her phone begins buzzing with an unknown number.
"Hello?" She answers as she climbs out of bed pulling on her robe.
"Miss Gilbert, sorry to disturb you. This is Dean Trevor from Whitmore. We need to set up a meeting regarding your brother Jeremy's position in our school. At the moment he's on his last strike."

At his words, Elena's eyes shoot up in confusion, what the hell had Jeremy done now!?


NEW ORLEANS

"Hold up." Buffy tells Jeremy as he finishes filling her in on the chat he had with Bonnie's new witch train-y Liv, who had turned out to not exactly be a newbie witch. Bouncing Joy up and down in her arms she blonde shakes her head in disbelief.
"So...because you're one of The Five...you're basically an anti-possession stamp?"

"Pretty much. Cool right?"

Buffy snorts in amusement as she moves through her bedroom, having learned very quickly that when Joy was fussy that the best way to calm her down was to keep moving until she got sleepy. Honestly, with the travelers being big with possessing her siblings she was very much pleased with this new information. "Well, I'm glad we won't have to stab you with a magic knife anytime soon."

Jeremy lets out a small laugh before continuing "Liv told me that the travelers were up to something big and they're on their way to Mystic Falls."
Buffy arches a brow in confusion as she moves over to the window glancing down at the city below her "What is it with Mystic Falls? I told you it was basically a rip off of a Hellmouth. Sunnydale 2.0."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it your always right."

Buffy couldn't help but grin at his sarcasm "And don't you forget it, little brother. So break it down to my mom-mode brain...why are they coming?"

"Elena." He reveals making Buffy tense slightly wishing she could be there to help protect their sister but she needed to protect her daughter from Dahlia. That was the most important thing right now.
"Liv, wants my help figuring out what the travelers are up to...or at least she did. I'm on it though...and before you say anything I'll be careful."

Buffy sighs before moving into Joy's room and placing the now sleepy girl down, moving away she leans against the wall worry filling her entire body "Keep me updated."

With that she hangs up and moves down the hall towards Hayley and Jackson's room, grabbing the leftover tonic that Freya had made on her way. Knocking on the open door she leans against the wooden frame smiling at them "Hey under house arrest Slayer here and bored." She says causing the couple to turn towards her. At the look on their faces, Buffy steps into the room and frowns in worry "What's up? You guys look not of the good."

Jackson sighs and looks up at the blonde as she moves to stand opposite the two of them "That witch got in our heads. We could've hurt you or the baby."
Buffy inhales tightly as she looks at the guilty looks on their faces, sighing she brings the tray over to the two of them handing them both a cup "Freya said this will keep her from getting in again. Just warning...it's way gross. So hold your nose." She says sweetly watching as the two of them take their drinks.

Hayley lowers her cup before turning to Buffy as she rubs her hands together nervously "We could feel her, Buffy."
Jackson nods in agreement as an almost terrified look covers his face "She's nothing but darkness."

Buffy takes a shaky breath before rubbing her forehead and straightening her back as she thinks about his words. Honestly, it terrified her just how close Dahlia had managed to get to them, this woman was pure evil...she would stop at nothing that was as clear as day.
Running a shaky hand through her hair she offers them both a comforting smile "If there's anything I've learned in my 9 years fighting the forces of darkness. Is that there's one thing more powerful than evil...and that's us. So yes, this is going to be hard and violent but we'll take her down."
With that she offers them both a smile before groaning as her phone starts ringing, looking down her eyes widen "It's Nik, I gotta take this." With that, the blonde quickly leaves the room leaving the pair to riffle through their own thoughts.

As Buffy disappears Jackson turns to Hayley, an idea forming in his head as to exactly how they could protect their Queen and Joy from Dahlia "I say we take Buffy and Joy, the pack and we leave town tonight."
Hayley's eyes widen in shock and she quickly moves to their door shutting it to make sure no one was listening in, turning back to face him she shakes her head "We can't just run from our home, Jack. Buffy's right we can beat Dahlia."

Jackson sighs looking at her desperately "You are the only one that could convince Buffy that what's best is running. She won't do it. But...she is our Queen for the supernatural community to thrive, for the wolves to survive, she needs to be safe and so does Joy. They're not here. Running isn't a sign of weakness. It's what wolves do. I know every inch of that Bayou, our there we're the predator. We can keep them both safe. At the very least it'll buy us some time. Figure out a way to get rid of Dahlia for good."
Hayley watches him closely as he speaks, as much as she wanted to keep Buffy and Joy safe she had spent enough time with Buffy to know how strong the bond was between The Slayer and The Hybrid. Buffy wouldn't just take their daughter and run.

"Buffy isn't going to leave Klaus behind. The Mikealsons are her and Joy's family. If I suggest this and she doesn't agree, my position as her Advisor...she won't trust my judgment, and then where does that leave us?"
Jackson scoffs and stands pacing back and forth "Yeah and who else is in that family? Dahlia! Buffy is a General yes, and a Queen...but this is not a war she should have to fight. What if she dies over this 1000-year-old battle? We promised to keep her and her daughter safe. That's what we need to do."


Buffy clenches her jaw in anger as Klaus finally finishes explaining what he had asked Davina to do and to say she didn't agree was an understatement. Honestly, if Klaus was here right now she would probably throw him out the window for even suggesting this "What in the world made you think that meeting Mikael would be a great idea! Were you dropped on your head as a child!"

"Luv, as much as I would love nothing more than to kill my father again...Mikael knows full well the threat we face. Dahlia took his favorite child, at this point we have common ground."

Buffy groans and leans her head against the wall, she didn't like this, all these panicky thoughts were running through her head right now. Mikael had terrified Klaus for over 1000 years for good reasons, he could kill him especially if Klaus was with him alone.
"I should be there with you in case he tries anything. Last time Mary was there and..."

"You're safe where you are." He argues "The most important thing is keeping you and our daughter out of Dahlia's grasp. I can handle my bastard father for a simple witch hunt."

Sighing Buffy turns around pressing her back against her bedroom door and slowly lowering herself to sit down on the ground, pressing her head back against the door she takes a shaky breath "Just be careful. And if you kill him...I wanna see."

"I'll make it a whole show once he is no longer of use."