"Alright, pro: honesty is the best policy. Con: she looks at me like I'm crazy and scolds me," Elena blows out a frustrated breath as she paces back and forth in front of Jo's porch. "What do you think?" She stops and turns to the four men accompanying her on this trip.
"Well-" Klaus starts before Elena quickly interrupts, making Klaus glare at Damon as he lets out a small laugh.
"It's just that, if I lie she will inevitably find out the truth, then I'll look like an asshole. But, if I don't lie, she definitely won't help and we'll have to threaten her, and again, I'm the asshole," she throws her hands up and looks up miserably.
"Ellie, darling, you've been going 'round circles for the last twenty minutes. Flip a coin for all I care," Kol smiles impatiently as she sighs and Klaus nods.
"I agree, no matter the outcome, you're just gonna decide to be honest. You obviously respect this woman, so if we could get on with it." He gestures to the house as Elena smiles fondly at the group.
"God, you guys know me so well. Let's do this," Elena nods with determination and begins up the steps. Just as she's about to walk up the last step, the door swings open, revealing a surprised and fearful Jo. The woman lets out a shriek, causing the small group to collectively cringe.
"Hi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I was gonna knock," Elena rushes up the stairs with her hands out in front of her in surrender.
"Oh, uh that's okay. You just startled me," Jo places a hand on her heart as she smiles politely, waiting for their explanation. "What did you need?" She finally asks.
"Right. Sorry. My bad. Um, is there any way we can talk inside? It's kinda a big deal," Jo's face becomes wary as she grips the door tighter.
"What's this about?" She asks in a tone, reminding Elena of her mothers 'stern' tone.
"Umm… pris..." Elena trails off in a mumble as Jo raises a brow. "Ugh, okay! It's about the prison world and Kai!" Elena suddenly and loudly blurts. A frightful expression overcomes Jo's face as she attempts to slam the door, only for Elena to stick her hand out, slamming her finger in the door as she does.
"MOTHERFUCK!" Elena shouts with pain and surprise as Jo's eyes widen and Kol rushes to her side, taking her hand in his and examining it. "Oh my god, I think it's broken! And it's my middle, Kol, that's my favorite finger," she cries in physical and emotional pain.
"Let me see," Jo says without thinking as Kol shoots her a threatening look. "I'm a doctor," she says, taking Elena's hand and leading her inside before rushing across the room to her medical bag.
"Ow. Ow. Ow," Elena whines as Jo returns and tries to move the finger.
"Can you-" Jo begins to ask Kol before taking notice of the way all men wait on the porch and groans. "I'm not inviting any of you in," she states and turns to Elena with question.
"I know I freaked you out with the whole Kai thing, but I can explain," Jo wraps her finger as she waits for a reply. "Okay, I want to get him out of the prison world," Jo stares at the girl like she's crazy, making Elena turn to the vampires with a pointed look and gestures to Jo's face.
"Are you out of your mind?" Jo finally breaks her stunned silence as Elena narrows her eyes.
"Yeah, with pain from when you broke my finger," Elena snarks, making Jo roll her eyes.
"You're fine, It's not broken. And you're gonna be worrying about a lot more than just your finger if you try to free Kai. I don't know how you even know about him, but I promise you whatever the reason you want him out, it's not worth the damage he'll cause," Jo warns her in a serious and scared tone as Elena sighs.
"Look, it's complicated. And I know your position on this, but he's getting out no matter what. Which means, it's only a matter of time before he kills your coven. I'm just debating whether or not I could live with myself if you died," Elena admits as Jo swallows thickly with anxiety.
"Who are you?" She finally asks as Elena smiles weakly. "And why are you doing this?"
"Ellie and because I want to," Elena shrugs as Jo scoffs with a small laugh.
"You seem like a nice girl," Elena scrunches her nose. "But, you don't understand my brother. He is evil. If he gets out, he won't just kill me or our coven, he'll kill anyone who gets in his way, but only after he betrays you," Jo says, eyes stingy as she remembers the last night she saw her twin.
"Jo, I understand where you're coming from, I do. But, I have a somewhat unique perspective. I know he can get better. I saw it. He's just broken, and yeah, a little evil," Jo sends her a look and she corrects herself. "Okay, a lot evil. But he wasn't born this way. You know he wasn't always like that. He has his reasons-"
"What possible reason could someone have for murdering four of their siblings?" Jo snaps as the men still waiting on the porch eyes widen.
"He did what?" Damon asks as Elena smiles awkwardly and rubs the back of her neck.
"Oh, did I not mention that?" She tries to play it off as he grits his teeth.
"No, Elena, you didn't mention that. Ever. I would have remembered," Elena laughs slightly and shrugs.
"Huh, weird. Um, you know what, I've got it from here. You guys should probably-" she cuts herself off my pushing the door closed before breathing a sigh of relief. She turns back to Jo with a soft smile.
"I'm sorry," Elena apologizes as Jo raises a questioning brow. "I just showed up and dropped a bomb on your life. I know this sucks, but I have to get him out. And, I know you hate him, which I completely understand. Not to mention, I could have just stolen the ascendant and not told you anything, leaving you in the dark about what your father would do to you, but I didn't. So, if you want to give me some props for that…" Elena trails off with a smile as Jo's lips twitch slightly before she sighs and takes a seat on her couch, gesturing for Elena to do the same.
"How do you know about any of this?" She asks as Elena mentally prepares her usually "I know the future" speech.
"To make a very long and confusing story short, I know the future. Don't ask, can't say. All you really need to know is that I know for a fact that Kai is capable of real change. But, even if he wasn't, he doesn't really have much of a reason to kill people. All he ever wanted was to be coven leader, and if he achieves that, I don't see him killing off the coven he fought for almost two decades to get back to," Elena takes notice of Jo's silence, observing the way her eyes dim, causing her to internally curse. "What if you didn't have to die?" Jo's eyes snap to her with interest. "I've been looking into it, there are countless ways to resurrect people, especially witches. I died once, and was brought back by a potion. To be honest, there were some side effects that luckily, I didn't have to suffer through, but I have more ideas. Like, how do you feel about becoming a vampire?" Elena proposes several ideas, even though she had no plan to execute any of them. She had other things in mind for the siphoner.
"Why?" Elena raises a brow at the woman's question. "Why do you need Kai? Why do you want to help him- why do you want to help me?" Jo clarifies as Elena nods with an awkward smile.
"Um, I may be, kinda, dying…" Elena trails off with a questioning tone as Jo's eyes widen.
"What-"
"Yeah, I mean is it that surprising? We met fifteen minutes ago and I'm already trying to free a sociopathic, potential mass murder." Jo groans slightly as Elena laughs lightly. "And you know witches, they're not really a fan of anything that goes against the natural order. What's more unnatural than a girl with cheat codes to life?"
"And you think he can save you?" Jo asks as Elena observes the hopefulness in Jo's tone, making her smile with a warmed heart.
"He'll have to if he wants out," Elena shrugs.
"And me?" Jo asks. "Why do you want to help me?"
"Because… I care what happens to you," Elena admits shyly as Jo shakes her head.
"But you don't care about the people Kai will hurt?" Jo asks without malice as Elena sends her a look.
"Might," she corrects. "And, I don't know them," Elena adds.
"You don't know me," Jo points out as Elena smiles slyly.
"Yes and no," she responds as Jo's brows furrow.
"Future?" Jo questions, already knowing the answer as Elena smiles more genuinely.
"Future," Elena nods as Jo goes silent and leans back, looking to the ceiling with a faraway expression before closing her eyes.
"This will definitely be the dumbest, most dangerous, and most reckless decision I will ever make," Jo stands, leaving the room for a moment before returning with the ascendant in her hand. Jo takes a deep breath before handing it to Elena. "But for some reason… I feel like I've got to trust you."
"Yeah, that's the Ellie effect. Most people end up regretting it," Elena attempts to joke, hoping to ease the tension. "Thank you, Jo. I can't really promise anything about Kai, but I do promise to try my best to help you," Elena says with a serious tone as Jo nods thankfully.
"You said something earlier about my father," Elena rolls her eyes.
"Right. God, that guy sucks!" Jo smiles at Elena's switch back to immaturity. "He's not gonna like this. And will most likely do everything in his power to stop the merge…" Elena trails off hintingly, Jo nods with a solemn expression once she understands. "You should go get your knife and get to Mystic Falls as quickly as possible. Sheila Bennett and her granddaughter will protect you against Joshua."
"You know Sheila?" Elena nods.
"Yep, we go way back. Her granddaughter's my best friend. They'll help you," Elena takes hold of Jo's hand and squeezes, comfortingly as Jo smiles with gratitude.
Finn gasps awake, immediately bringing his hands to his chest, checking for a dagger, and leaning back against his pillow with a sigh of relief.
He opens his eyes and pushes his covers off. As he sits up his phone beeps, causing him to reach over and pick it up.
The first thing he sees as the screen lights up is Elena's face in the picture she made his screensaver.
The second was multiple texts from her detailing all the ways she would make his life miserable if he screwed things up with "that fox" (her words).
The third was several links to what she informed him was something called pornography. Which, apparently, was different from the book she left him titled, The Kama Sutra.
Knowing Elena, he decided his best bet was to never open those links.
He stood from bed, stretching as he made his way over to the closet. He switched on the light and was met by the sight of several colorful post-it notes placed across his clothing.
He scoffed out a laugh and picked one up.
This one would look great next to her.
Looking at the dark green sweater, he thought she was right. The color would compliment Sage's hair beautifully. He picked up another and rolled his eyes.
Stop wearing this one, it washes you out.
He ignored her warning, pulling the sweater on over his head. He adjusts the sleeves, scratching his arm as he does so. His chest begins itching as he feels something against it. He reaches into the sweater, scratching his body as he reads the hidden note.
Itch power. Why can't you just listen to me?
He immediately pulls it off and tosses it into a nearby trash bin with a sigh, mentally cursing his annoying friend.
Downstairs Caroline helps Rebekah pack for their extended sleepover. Caroline's phone buzzes, she looks down at it and scoffs angrily.
"What is it?" Rebekah asks as Caroline shakes her head.
"Nothing," Rebekah sends her look, causing her to sigh. "Just some girl who thinks she can't take my spot. I swear, the squad doesn't appreciate any of the things I do for them. Yes, okay, sometimes I'm a bit of a hard ass, but that's why we're going to regionals. Do they really believe Rachel could do what I do? Rachel?" Caroline rants as Rebekahs brows furrow in anger.
"They're questioning your leadership?" Caroline shrugs, calming down as Rebekah scoffs. "Are they stupid? You are clearly the most capable girl in this town. How dare this, Rachel even compare herself to you," Caroline smiles at Rebekah's incredulous and disgusted tone.
"It's okay," Caroline nods as Rebekah narrows her eyes.
"No, it's not. Would you like me to kill her for you?" Caroline's eyes widen as she shakes her head, a small smile on her lips.
"No, that's okay," Caroline assures as Rebekah tilts her head.
"Are uou sure? It'd only take a minute. I could make it look like an accident, unless you'd like me to send a message," Caroline bites her lip, suppressing a giggle at the sincerity in Rebekah's voice.
"No, really. That's alright. Just, stay here. We gotta pack, right?" Rebekah meets Caroline's eyes, anger washing away. Rebekah smiles before nodding silently
"So, Caroline Forbes, how did you become such an expert in packing?" Rebekah asks after a few minutes of comfortable silence.
"I don't know. I used to go camping with my dad and when I was old enough to pack my own bags, I wanted to do it perfectly. Hence the Martha Stewart-esque folding," Caroline gestures to the pile of clothes in front of her as Rebekah smiles.
"I don't know who that is," Rebekah laughs as Caroline smiles with embarrassment.
"Right. Well, she's a business woman. Basically the good housewife blueprint. She has a tv show," Rebekah nods in understanding, although still confused.
"You'd think with all the running we did, I'd be better at packing a bag," Caroline laughs lightly as Rebekah tries to continue the conversation. "We always had maids for that. And they always knew how to fold everything perfectly. They also cooked everything for me. Does Martha Stewart cook as well?" Caroline nods with a smile. "Maybe I could learn a few things," Rebekah says, walking into the bathroom as Caroline looks around the room.
"Do you have a boyfriend, Caroline," Rebekah asks, returning to the room and startling the younger girl with the abrupt change of topic. Caroline shakes her head, attempting casual, but is more rigid and robotic as Rebekah chews her bottom lip, working up the courage for her next question. "Girlfriend?"
"Nope," Caroline answers simply as Rebekah nods, turning her face to hide a smile.
"I never had much luck with relationships.
Men, women, it just never worked for me. In my defense, Klaus did his fair share of ending them for me. But, they never lasted. Until…" she trailed off, making Caroline look to her, urging her to continue. "Stefan," Rebekah shrugs as Caroline nods in understanding. "I'm over it now. He just made me think, the most closure I've ever had was their deaths. He's the only relationship I've ever had that hasn't ended in tragedy," Rebekah seems to realize something, something that Caroline was certain was bad, so she spoke up, hoping to distract the vampire.
"Yeah, Stefans great. Before he and Damon came to town, Ellie couldn't stop talking about him. And she was convinced I'd fall in love. She was terrified though, said he had demons that he needed to overcome," Caroline rambles slightly, making Rebekah smile, knowing exactly what she was doing.
"Did you?" Caroline raises a brow at the question. "Fall in love?" Rebekah adds in a joking tone making Caroline laugh.
"No," Caroline answers honestly.
"You've heard about my exes. What about yours?"
"Hmm, that's a good sized list. I tend to fall for people quickly," Caroline admits sheepishly.
"We have that in common," they smile at each other before Caroline looks away, clearing her throat.
"Well, let's see, there was Justin in the 3rd grade, he promised me a lollipop if I became his girlfriend. It ended when he did not deliver," Rebekah laughs as Caroline continues. "I stayed away from boys for a little while after that, his betrayal really did a number on me. Then, there was Mitchell in the 7th grade. I was madly in love with him, until he kissed Christina Hopkins at Bonnie 13th birthday party. He said it was a dare, but he broke my heart. So, Elena got even by breaking his nose. It's still a little crooked to this day," Caroline laughs at the memory as Rebekah smiles at the thought of scrawny, preteen Elena punishing someone so hard their nose broke. "Nothing too serious for a while until my last ex, Wyatt. A douchebag, I mean, with a name like that how could he be anything else. But, I liked him. He moved away last year, I probably should have been more bummed than I was," Caroline shrugs.
"You've never been with a girl?" Rebekah tries to ask casually.
"Once. After Ellie first mentioned she liked girls-"
"Oh," Rebekah interrupts with poorly disguised jealousy, making Caroline's eyes widen as she holds up her hands.
"No, not Ellie," Rebekah releases a quiet sigh of relief. "Just some girl. I had never even thought about girls like that before Ellie brought it up. I was curious," Caroline shrugs, suddenly feeling nervous around Rebekah.
"And?" Rebekah asks, Caroline's brows furrow, making Rebekah smile slightly. "Girls?" Caroline looks away with flushed cheeks before nodding.
"Girls." Rebekah smirks before turning her body towards Caroline's.
"Your heart is beating really fast," Rebekah observes out loud as Caroline lets out a nervous laugh.
"Oh, uh too much coffee, I guess," her breathing almost stopping completely as Rebekah slowly makes her way over.
"I thought Ellie banned you from caffeine," Rebekah states as Caroline swallows thickly.
"Yeah, that. Um, she said this town couldn't survive me anymore hyper focused. But, she's one to talk, right-" Rebekah cuts off Caroline's adorably anxious ramble by pressing her lips to her's.
Caroline hesitantly reciprocates before pulling Rebekah closer, deepening the kiss. Both smile into the kiss as Rebekah backs Caroline into the bed frame, both falling on to the bed when their legs hit the edge.
A few minutes go by before they pull away, breathing heavy and smiles on their faces.
"Hi," Caroline whispers as Rebekah's smile grows larger and she lets out a laugh, Caroline doing the same.
"Hi," Rebekah whispers back, pulling Caroline tightly against her and kissing her again.
Elena smiled down at her phone as she read the caller ID before answering it with a flirty tone.
"Why, hello," she says in a sultry tone, receiving a chuckle from the other end.
"Hello, yourself. Why are you blowing me up? I'm a little busy," Enzo says as she hears groaning and what sounds to be whimpering.
"Right. As much as I'd love to hear you recount your tales of the way you torture your torturers, I really need a favor." Damon sits up in his seat from his spot across her in the private plane with an interested expression.
"Anything for you," she smiles at his flirting.
"Hmm, that's what I like to hear. I'm sending a woman called Jo Laughlin to Mystic Falls. She'll meet the Bennetts while she's there, but she'll need some place to stay and a friendly face. You mind meeting up with her?"
"What's she look like?" Elena giggles and shakes her head as Damon rolls his eyes.
"Gorgeous. But she's feeling particularly vulnerable these days, so if you'd like to keep your manhood intact, be a friendly face, emphasis on the friend."
"Noted. You want to keep me all to yourself, it's understandable," he replies in a sympathetic tone, making her smile.
"But, before you do that, think you could track down a history teacher for me? I think she'll appreciate his company."
"Playing matchmaker are we?"
"Maybe, speaking of, you should check on Bonnie while you're there. I'm sure she'd like that," Elena makes eye contact with Damon as his brows furrow in confusion. "Gotta go, thank you lots, handsome," Elena hangs up the phone as Damon stares at her with suspicion.
"What are you up to?" Damon asks as Elena puts a hand on her chest.
"Me?" She asks innocently as he narrows his eyes, they're interrupted as the pilot makes an announcement and a flight attendant walks in between them.
Elena's phone beeps with a message from Jo, informing her that the former witch is former no more, having located her magical knife and taken back her magic. Elena smiles at the "good luck" added at the end, knowing some small, selfish part of Jo hopes they all get stuck in the prison world.
Elena lets out a small sigh and leans her head back against her seat as she lets her thoughts run with the possibilities that come after rescuing Kai.
"Fuck!" She suddenly shouts, gaining the attention of the entire plane. Stefan stands, immediately rushing to her side as Kol does the same.
"What's wrong?" Stefan asks with wide and concerned eyes as she groans.
"I'm conflicted," she whines as Klaus and Damon each look to her with confusion and Kol grabs a drink from a nearby tray and hands it to her. "Morally," she clarifies. "We need Kai. And Kai needs us," Stefan nods for her to continue as she spirals deeper into her panic. "But, Jo's a good person. Like, really good. And she doesn't deserve any of this. But, neither does Kai. Ugh! This is all Joshua Parker's fault. If the coven wasn't linked to him, I would set him on fire," Elena ends her rant with a deep breath as she tries to calm herself.
"Maybe…" Stefan starts, obviously blanking on a solution as he turns to Damon for help. The older Salvatore only shrugs before picking up his drink and putting it in her empty hand.
"You'd really benefit from a switch right about now," Damon says to Elena, making her roll her eyes and throw back one of the drinks. "Jokes aside, this Kai kid is able to save your life. End of discussion. If I have to choose between you and the good doctor, well I'm guessing everyone here would make the same choice," Damon leans back in his seat as Elena looks around at her group of friends, each nodding or shrugging in agreement. She nods, not exactly happy with not having answers like she's used to, but knowing there's no turning back now.
"I'm going to die!" Elena says dramatically through chattering teeth as she follows the group farther up the mountain.
"Only if you keep complaining," Klaus responds, smiling when she glares at him.
She looks down at the snow with a devious smile and just as she was about to pick up a handful of snow, Damon stands in front of her, shaking his head, making her pout.
"You're already freezing, a snowball fight won't help," he says as she sighs.
"You don't know that," she mutters, walking past him angrily before catching up to Kol and jumping on his back.
"May I help you?" Kol asks as she smiles and whispers something in his ear. He laughs and nods.
"We're here," the witch says as he holds the ascendant to the sky.
"Wow," Elena says as she stares up at the sky. She jumps off Kol's back and pulls him to the ground. They lay on their backs as they watch the green and purple lights dance across the sky.
"If you're done having a moment, I'd really like to get this over with," the witch speaks up, breaking Elena's trance. She glares at the witch before turning to Klaus.
"Who's this guy? I don't like him, where's your other witch?" Klaus rolls his eyes as he grabs Elena's hands, pulling her up and towards the witch as the others gather around them.
"Alright. This is all fairly simple. You stand in a circle while holding hands and I place the Bennett blood on the ascendant, there's a pretty light, you go into it. Got it?" The witch asks with even more attitude than before as the group joins hands.
"If all we needed was the blood and ascendant, why are you even here?" Elena asks as the witch huffs.
"I don't know, ask him," he glares at Klaus, making Elena turn to him with confusion.
"I thought we might need a witch just in case. He needed a touch of persuasion and I needed a little insurance," Klaus states cryptically, although Elena was able to read between the lines.
He does make a habit of threatening loved ones, Elena thinks with a fond smile.
"I love you," she says with a sweet tone, Klaus winks as the witch pours the small vial of Bonnie's blood on to the ascendant before tossing it in between the group.
The ascendant magically opens as a beam of white light shines down, transporting them in a blink of an eye.
The witch looks at the empty spot and sighs, walking over to the spot and picking up the ascendant. He shutters, hugging his jacket closer to him.
"This is bullshit," he says out loud as he begins his trek down the mountain.