Hello loves!

I haven't got much to say, apart from that I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger. Now let's get on with it! I own nothing.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

It was like being dead again.

But back when Aria was trapped in Dahlia's Dimension. Back when Kol was powerless to do anything but wait until she and Freya reappeared with more news of new and obscure ways Dahlia was managing to torture them both. The mild sense of nostalgia he was feeling in the moment was cruel, yet he couldn't help but feel it twisting in his gut over and over again as he watched Aria intensely. Watching for any twitch of her hand, flutter of her eyelids, or any sign that she would wake up.

He flexed his hands to rid himself of the urge to throttle something as Davina and Cami did nothing to help her. If he had it his way, he would have woken her up the minute she was knocked out cold but then Davina would start asking questions. Questions he couldn't have her asking. Not now, at least. Not when Mikael had just escaped. Not when he knew he was probably the prime suspect in her eyes.

He was useless. And he hated it.

Yes, Aria was strong. And yes, she'd undoubtedly be fine. But she didn't have to be unconscious. Davina and... Cami, he believed her name was, didn't have to be worried that something would go wrong. She was too damn powerful to die because of a measly concussion. Her eyes were fluttering beneath her eyelids, he could see that. And he didn't even want to begin to imagine what was going on in her head, not after witnessing first-hand what Dahlia had done to her. Yes, she might have tried saying she was fine. But he could see through her lies much easier than Davina could.

Perhaps it was slightly creepy sitting outside the door to her room should any nightmares occur, but they'd come to an unspoken truce about Dahlia. He'd protect her from his aunt. And if her nightmares were haunting her, well, he was willing to admit that it was probably Dahlia causing them. She was asleep just like Freya was, and that meant that she had little to no power in the living world, but when Aria was asleep, she would have easier access to the teenage witch's mind. Dahlia could use their connection, despite it being broken, to allow her the smallest amount of power over Aria. As powerful as the Harvest Girl was, she was still young. Dahlia however, had cheated death for a thousand years whilst augmenting her power the whole time.

She'd done the same thing with Freya.

"We should get her to a hospital." Cami worried, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"She isn't getting any better." Davina agreed quietly, placing the back of her hand on Aria's forehead, "She's still not responsive. -And she's cold." She added.

He sighed and turned when Klaus appeared at the door, a wide grin making its way onto his face, "Oh. Hello, darling. Back to huff and puff and blow the house down?"

"You know, it's funny how often a person's sharp tongue can end up cutting their own throat." Klaus commented mildly, eyes narrowed.

"Klaus, he's just a kid. Give him a break." Cami sighed.

Kaleb nodded, "Yeah, she's right. You know, you may want to try a bit of lavender under your pillow. Does wonders for stuck-up pillocks with anger issues." He grinned as Cami groaned.

"Hey! Shut it." Cami admonished, glaring at Kaleb in annoyance. He grinned in response and the blonde rolled her eyes before turning back to her friend. Kaleb's head lolled to the side as Klaus spoke again.

"I promised not to kill Davina. And I've promised not to kill Aria three times now. I said nothing of this insolent sod." Klaus growled, eyes narrowing at the witch.

Kaleb's eyes followed Cami as she stood up and led Klaus outside before the smirk slipped and he turned back to Aria, worry creasing his eyebrows as he placed a hand to her forehead. She was cold. Davina walked into the room and he barely looked up even as she knelt down next to them and placed a blanket over her, copying his movements from a moment ago and checking her temperature.

"She'll be okay, right?" Davina murmured.

He didn't spare a glance up and nodded, cursing himself for the second time for helping Davina resurrect his father. The desperate tone in her voice, though she might deny it under the right circumstances, was only further proof of how young she was. How desperate she was for Aria to be okay. Well, he was desperate too. But when he thought about it, really thought about it, he wasn't entirely sure what he expected. It certainly hadn't been the girl, the witch that had single-handedly managed to resurrect an Original Vampire with only minimal help from Aria. Then again, it also wasn't someone who seemed so... so young. Davina was an enigma. And he wasn't entirely certain how to solve it.

There was a noise at the door and Kaleb glanced over to his left out of the corner of his eye; his brother was back. He turned to Davina, "I need another blanket. Thin one though… Maybe just the sheet of one?"

Davina nodded slowly, "I think I might have one in a back closet somewhere." She murmured to herself, "I'll go check." She decided, sending a side look to her friend before leaving the room and walking down the hall.

Once Kaleb was sure she'd left, he turned back to Aria as Klaus began talking,

"You've got a way with words." The Hybrid observed.

"Well, I've travelled." He said simply, sending a fleeting look to Aria, searching for any discomfort before he stood up and walked closer to Klaus, but far away enough so that Klaus couldn't reach him, despite knowing he couldn't get inside without an invitation. He wouldn't take any chances.

"You seem to have crossed continents to order to weasel your way into Aria's good graces, thereby meddling in my family business. After all, she is technically my granddaughter." He said, smiling, despite the slight shudder that ran through him at his words, "Strange, isn't it?"

Kaleb smirked but stayed silent. He knew exactly what was coming and only prayed neither Aria woke up nor Davina entered the room.

"Unless it's your family business." Klaus said, tone dropping in suspicion, "You know, ever since my mother and Finn, I was wondering when you might make an appearance, Kol."

Kol laughed and bowed dramatically to Klaus, "Then the jig is up! Hello brother!"

The grin slipped from his face at the light that had suddenly appeared back in Klaus' eyes. He hadn't seen that look in… a long time. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Klaus looked over Kol's new body, a strange look on his face before he sighed, eyes closing ever so briefly before he made eye contact with his brother again, nothing short of relief back in his eyes.

"It's not that I begrudge you hitching a ride back to the land of the living. It's just that you're making all the wrong friends, brother. Even the girls-" He gestured inside, "Are a little questionable. Though it is clever befriending Aria, she certainly has all the friends in the right places. But, I have half a mind to show you just how wrong you are."

Kol continued smirking and leant closer to Klaus, "But you're not going to do that, are you? Because your little blonde friend told you to leave me alone." Klaus chuckled and Kol's smirk widened, "I'm curious, does she take one of those little baggies out when she takes you for a walk?" He wondered as Klaus's eyes narrowed dangerously and his voice raised.

"Cami? I changed my mind, I am going to kill him after all."

Kol smirked at him, expression only fading slightly when Cami didn't respond. He watched as his brother backed away from the door and walked in the direction he assumed their car was.

"What's gone wrong now?" He murmured to himself.

~*•°•*~

A good ten minutes later, Kaleb watched over Aria as he sat on a rocking chair, hands folded into an arch as he rested his chin on the top of his hands and searched her face, Davina nothing more than a shadow in the corner of his vision. He was only focused on his Little witch who currently, looked like she was at Death's door.

He turned slightly when he heard Klaus appear back at the door, "One of you wake her up. Tell her to get Mikael back here, now. Or how about Davina does it?"

Before Davina could answer, in what would surely be a negative response for the one reason it was Klaus who was asking, Kaleb spoke first, "Well, let me… let me think about that." He tapped his chin thoughtfully and turned his head slightly, looking at Aria, "She still looks a little pale so… no. I'd rather she not die on me just yet."

Klaus glared at him furiously.

"In fact, you should probably get going, Nikky. Big scary bloke, uh, Mikael is it? Well, he's probably jonesing for a restorative snack about now. It'd be a shame to find - uh, Cami, is it? - nothing more than a bloodless husk." He shot back, playing dumb because of Davina and lowering his voice so the witch in question wouldn't hear his last words.

"We're not done here, you and I." Klaus growled. Kaleb simply smirked and watched as Klaus vanished. He heard Davina excuse herself for a moment though he didn't care to remember what for and stood up. He took a pillow from his chair and walked over to Aria, placing the pillow under her head before brushing some stray hair behind her ear.

"It'd be really useful if you woke up about now, Little witch. I kicked a few familial hornets' nests, and we really need to scarper so that you're safe from Mother. Now she wants you too." He murmured softly, eyes searching her face for any trace that she might wake up.

He heard his phone ring and quickly glanced down, seeing it was Finn but silenced it, pocketing it and looking back to Aria nervously. It wasn't good, her being knocked out cold for this long. Though he took comfort in the lack of pain on her face. Before he could worry any longer, even though he'd deny it, his nose began to bleed. He wiped the blood away as his phone rang again and, with an annoyed sigh and glance to the direction Davina had gone, walked out onto the porch to answer it,

"Did you have to do that?" Kol snapped.

"I despise voicemail." Finn drawled from the other end, "Do you have the White Oak stake?"

Kol looked around anxiously to make sure no one could her before answering, choosing his words carefully as always, "Hit a bit of a snag, truthfully."

Finn chuckled, "Is that what you would you like for me to pass along?" He asked dubiously.

Kol sighed, knowing that the only reason he was answering was because Esther held his life in her hands, "Tell her that I've got everything under control. I'm keeping an eye on the girls. They're… working on a spell to unlink Aria's family from Klaus' sire line so that they can kill him without them dying, too. I'm sure the stake will come back into play when they're ready."

"How close are they to completing the spell?"

Kol breathed out and creased his eyebrows as he thought about it, "Well they've joined Mother's linking and sire-bond spells in reverse…" He murmured before his lip quirked up in slight pride, "It's quite clever, really."

Finn was curious, "What are they using as a binder?"

"I'm not sure. I'm still trying to work that one out."

"Work harder. Mother needs Klaus alive and connected. So, may I suggest that if you can't find that stake, you either kill those girl's spell or you kill those girls. Apart from Aria, of course. Mother's getting impatient. And Aria's far too dangerous to be left on her own."

Kol's face turned ashen and he hung up on his brother, pocketing the phone and clenching his jaw before turning around in anger and punching against the wall of the cabin once. Twice. Three times.

He had to get Aria away from New Orleans. Now.

~*•°•*~

Taking a glance to Davina by Aria's side, Kaleb quickly excused himself, feigning need for the bathroom before he slipped into the room he'd seen Mikael in the previous day. His hands traced over Aria and Davina's notes on the spell they were creating before finding a root pinned to one of the pages. Curious, he picked it up and held it to the light, grinning widely.

"You used Kandahar root as a binder." He muttered, "So you did listen to my ramblings, Little witch. I'm honoured. Unfortunately, I'll have to kill it before Mother kills you."

His smile vanished and he gripped the root tightly, closing his eyes as he began to chant in a whisper, the root slowly turning black and dying. The only reason he was brought out of his thoughts was when Davina began yelling his name. Well, Kaleb's name. He dropped the root on the desk and ran out of the room, through the hall and over to the now conscious Aria, kneeling next to her and not even bothering to hide his worry.

"What happened?" She asked scratchily.

"Aria, you're awake! I was starting to freak out, are you okay?" Kaleb blurted as Aria sat up, Davina helping her. Aria only let out a slight groan as she rubbed the back of her head, a grimace on her face.

"My head..." She groaned before her eyes snapped open and she turned to Davina, eyes frantic, "Klaus? I tried to make sure he wouldn't hurt you but he'll only listen to me when hell freezes over."

Davina smiled slightly before Kaleb answered for her, "You mean the angry bloke with the deadly aim, right? He smashed the place up, and then he left."

Davina nodded in agreement and Aria's breathing increased, "Where'd he go?" She muttered in horror.

Kaleb answered that too, "To hunt down your pet-serial-killer-friend. Listen, not to be Mr. Judgmental here, but I'm starting to question the company that you girls keep."

Aria nibbled on her bottom lip nervously and Kaleb would be lying if he said it didn't momentarily distract him, "The white oak stake?" She asked, her voice deadly quiet as Davina turned to look at him.

"It's gone? What happened to it?" She demanded.

Kaleb frowned, "It's gone, I'm afraid. The uh, serial-killer one took it."

Aria's breathing increased further and she grabbed her bracelet, "Mikael? Mikael? Mikael?" Her breathing increased further, "Why isn't this working? D, does yours work?"

Davina shook her head regretfully and Kaleb gently took Aria's hand, leading her back to her chair after her having stepped up and began pacing.

"Calm down, Aria. Take a seat, alright? You both were out for quite a long time. You longer. Maybe that's got something to do with it."

He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her, "Here, have some water."

"No, you don't understand! If Mikael's free, he can kill Klaus, and then my family dies, too!"

Kaleb took a calming breath, "Well, if I understand all this, Mikael's been trying to kill Klaus for eons. How are you two going to stop him?"

"We're not." Davina murmured, sharing a look with Aria, "We need to finish our spell, now."

~*•°•*~

Aria and Davina looked up to the notes they had pinned up onto the wall as Aria muttered underneath her breath, checking the writings before they performed the spell, "Um, perhaps we should hold off on this..." Kaleb warned, taking a look at the notes nearby and then sending a worried glance towards Aria.

She spun around and gave him a hard look, "No. We have everything we need! Combine a knotting spell with a sire-bond spell. We… just have to combine them the right way and then…" She murmured.

"Do them in reverse." Kaleb finished, "That's pretty advanced for two wee girls like you."

Davina snatched the page out of his hand and glared slightly, "You know, we can both give you a list of people who have underestimated us." Kaleb smirked in amusement, "And not one of them have done it a second time."

"Well, perhaps I should help you. I'm pretty good at stuff like this."

Aria chuckled, "I don't think so. It's not just saying the spells backwards, it's changing the verb tense into-"

Kaleb interrupted her, "Nemo unus animabus carnem et sanguinem de ista duo." He paused for a beat, "Like I said, I'm good at what I do. It's never paid to underestimate me, either."

Aria grinned, "Alright then. Let's do this."

Ignoring the surprised and slightly unbelieving look from Davina, Aria walked into the next room, Davina following behind her and Kaleb watching after them.

Smiling.

~*•°•*~

Aria, Davina and Kaleb sat on the ground cross-legged, surrounded by candles opposite from each other on the floor, Davina and Kaleb chanting quietly as they channelled from Aria.

"Sanguinatum venetus barkael meh-"

"Stop! Stop. This isn't working." Aria muttered, pulling her arms away from the duo, standing up and moving to the table behind them, picking up the different ingredients and looking at them closely, trying to find anything wrong, "I don't understand. Why isn't it working?" She repeated, slamming the papers back down onto the table and running a hand through her hair in frustration.

"Well, maybe we're just… doing it wrong?" Kaleb guessed, wincing at how pathetic it sounded, even to his ears.

"No!" Davina yelled, "No, we have to do this right! Josh, Marcel and Aria's family, their lives depend on it."

Aria's face turned ashen and she turned to Davina, "Evanna. We don't know who sired her."

"So there's a one in three chance it was Klaus." Davina finished, eyes widening in understanding, "Oh my God Aria. I didn't even realise I'm so sorry."

Aria collapsed down to the ground, barely catching herself as she landed on her knees.

"Aria?" Kaleb asked in concern as she snapped out of her haze and turned to him.

"Right, I-I need you to stop chanting. I'll channel your power, alright?"

She wasn't paying enough attention to notice Kaleb's eyes widen to the point they looked like they were about to pop out of his head but all his denials were futile. Aria grabbed onto his arms and her eyes suddenly rolled back into her head as her breath caught in her throat.

Aria stared up at the sky from the roof of the Abattoir, unblinking as she watched the stars, shivering as the cold wind brushed up against her skin, and crying as Dahlia's words echoed in her mind.

Worst nightmare…

Can't love somebody you don't understand…

Learn to fear it…

Monster…

Dahlia was wrong. She… she had a family, she had Marcel. She had the vampires. They loved her. And yeah, they may not always understand her but vampires and witches were polar opposites. It wasn't their fault, but they still loved her for all of her… slightly homicidal tendencies. She didn't react when she heard footsteps behind her and barely flinched when a cold hand rested on her shoulder, "Aria?" Kol questioned.

She blinked.

He sat beside her and for a while, they didn't talk. They just… sat together. And for that, she was grateful. Her family may love her, but they tended to smother her most of the time. It wasn't often she got quiet for long. But lately she'd been alone most of the time and it was both a blessing and a curse. Literally.

Kol was… Kol was different. He let her wallow.

"You've been crying… why?"

Well, most of the time. Other times, he was too damn perceptive for his own good.

"It's alright to cry, you know." He continued.

Aria let out a mirthless laugh and aggressively wiped the tears away, "Then why do I feel so damn bad?"

Kol didn't have an answer.

"She was right." Aria said after another moment, a small crease in her eyebrows as her head tilted to the side, a frown taking residence on her face, "The vampires are scared of me. Scared of what I can do. They always have been. Even Marcel."

She expected him to swear, to growl, to tell her it wasn't true. She didn't expect him to agree with her.

"Yes."

Her head whipped around to face him, "What?"

"You're right. They are scared of you. They don't understand you because they're not like you. They couldn't be more different from you. Just like you couldn't be more different from others. You're one of a kind. Alone."

The tears had stopped long ago, now she was just hurt, "Where are you going with this?"

Kol suddenly softened and Aria's eyes were locked with his. She couldn't look away, "You're one of a kind, Aria. You're different, you're better than them, more powerful than them. You're the black sheep. Just like me. And the best people are the black sheep."

Leave it to Kol to compliment himself whilst trying to comfort her. And now she was crying again. Only… she didn't feel as alone. He pulled her close and her sniffles turned into hiccups which turned into loud sobs, "I-I can't stop it. I'm sorry…"

"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything. I've got you."

Aria's eyes opened with a snap as she quickly let go of him in horror. Kol Mikaelson was looking at her with varying emotions. Guilt, frustration, sadness… and hope.

To hell with that.

"Kol?"

~*•°•*~

As Always, SecretMidnightRose