The Wolf II

by yokan87

The Guerreras' threat still looms over the Mikaelson house as Caroline tries to adapt to life as a vampire, away from her daughter. But an unexpected family reunion makes everything worse, taking away the little peace Klaus, Caroline and Elijah managed to find after the war that nearly broke them. [It's TO S2, but Caroline was a witch, had Klaus' baby and now she's a vampire]

13. S02E13: The Devil is Damned

A/N: Hello! A billion years later, here I am with another update. Have to say that it feels like there's no one reading this here on anymore, which is probably why it takes me so long to update. As I've said before, you can also find this story on AO3 if you'd rather read it there. But if you're reading it here and you'd like me to keep updating, please drop me a comment and let me know! That will probably remind me to update sooner.

Having said that, lots of Mikaelson siblings dynamics going on in this chapter. Lots of action as well, which I'm not sure I'm very good at building up and executing, tbh, so I hope I didn't botch this.

---

"That is just not my chin, Nik. It was much more delicate," Rebekah whines as she regards the portrait hanging on the ballroom wall with an acuity she doesn't think she's ever had before. It's not just the body that is new, she thinks; the perspective has also changed. Almost like she can see things with this pair of eyes that her old tired ones couldn't. Like how unflattering this chin is.

She used to love that portrait. Now she sees a million things that are wrong with it. It's almost disrespectful to her old self. She was surely much prettier than that.

"The only delicate thing about you is your ego, sister," Nik snarks.

She whips around at him with a cutting glare. "When placed beside the behemoth size of yours, certainly."

Klaus laughs, dimples cutting into his cheeks. Despite her nerves being all over the place, Rebekah finds herself smiling back at her brother. She was away for a week, but it felt like so much longer. Days stretched into decades inside that wretched house, and for the largest part, she had no idea how or if she would ever find her way out. Many nights, once she put her head down on the appalling excuse for a pillow they gave her, and fear settled inside her like an anchor, Rebekah held on to her memories. It was the only thing that she had that was just hers . It kept her grounded, reminding her of who she really was, beyond the stranger's face staring back at her in the mirror.

The kindness in Elijah's eyes. The boyish cheekiness of Nik's smile. The heartwarming sound of her niece's laughter. That was all Rebekah had to go on, to keep the panic at bay and not let the insanity ingrained in that house to seep into her. Now, seeing it in person again, a little flame sparks to life inside of her. It finally feels like home again.

"Can we dispense with this fascinating dispute for just a moment and return to the subject of our supposed long-lost sister?" Elijah's voice sounds from the phone's speaker.

"There's not much to discuss, Elijah," Rebekah says, crossing her arms. "I was locked up at the Fauline mansion with the rest of the degenerate witches, thought I'd never see the light of day again. That place is awful . Somebody should see to that, actually. It's inhuman."

"And then?" Elijah prods.

"And then she showed up. I thought she was one of them, she certainly seemed loony enough, but then she served them all their asses and got me out. Rather easily, actually. She said she was Freya and then darted off into the night. That's all I know."

"And you believed her," Nik says, less like a question and more like an accusation.

"I met the girl in a mystical loonie bin. She could be anyone telling any lie, but... She did seem familiar, somehow."

Rebekah's encounter with the woman who claims to be their long-lost sister was as brief as it was intense. Freya - or whoever the hell she was - had been hanging around the mansion with the rest of the cuckoos for days, but for some reason Rebekah felt oddly drawn to her in a way she didn't feel towards any of the other inmates . There was just something about her that called out to Rebekah. It could their shared blood. It could also be despair impairing her sanity. It's hard to tell.

"Then how is she still alive?" Nik asks waspishly, and before Rebekah can give him the obvious answer to his stupid question, he adds it himself, "A question as ridiculous as its possible solutions, given this family's annoying predilection for cheating death."

"I don't know, Nik. I'm just telling you what she said."

"Well, did you happen to ask if by some similar miracle our aunt Dahlia lives as well?" Heat rises in his tone, his temper rearing its ugly head. Rebekah almost forgot how amazingly fast Nik's mood goes from 0 to 100 and back.

"I barely had a chance to process -" she tries to explain, but he cuts her off again.

"Because on the list of obvious questions, it would be nice to know if the woman who placed a curse on the firstborns of this family is still breathing air!"

"Then let me turn back time and do it again to your liking, then!" Rebekah barks at him, spitting fire.

"Enough both of you," Elijah says in that tired older brother way of his. "If she is who she says, we'll find out soon enough. For now, it remains imperative no one learns of Eve's existence. This has been our salvation thus far."

"Unless Caroline's husband-to-be starts flapping his gums," Klaus grumbles moodily. "Perhaps I should take preventative measures and separate him from his head."

"Jackson will do nothing to jeopardize the ceremony. And stop calling him that, Niklaus, will you? If it annoys me, I can only imagine what it does to Caroline."

"Wait - Caroline is getting married to Jackson ?" Rebekah asks, blinking slowly at her brother.

At the same time Elijah says a resounding, " No " from the other end of the phone, Niklaus spits out, "Over my dead body."

Her eyebrows slash together. "What the hell happened here while I was gone?"

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Going somewhere?"

Caroline sighs. She was planning on sneaking out before Klaus could take notice, while he was having a family reunion with Rebekah and Elijah to discuss their latest relative to come back from hell, the long-lost sister nobody knew about, Freya. She wasn't fast enough, it seems.

"Yes," she says simply, zipping up her boots. "How's Rebekah?"

"Tired. May I inquire as to where?" he insists, hands clasped behind his back as he prowls towards her in his typical I'm dangerous and suspicious manner.

"Sure," she replies flippantly. "Has she said anything about that mystery sister of yours?"

"Alleged sister." Klaus stops in front of her, eyebrows arched up in question.

Caroline tilts her head. "Is that really the most important topic of discussion right now?" Klaus' demanding expression remains unaltered; Caroline huffs out in annoyance. It's useless to expect him to be sensible, isn't it? "I'm going to the Bayou."

He narrows his eyes, lips twisting into a disapproving pout. "Is that really the most important place for you to be right now?"

"Considering you just beat the crap out of the Crescent alpha I'm supposed to get in a mystical binding ceremony with? Yeah." She stands do her feet, leveling him with a hard look. Despite their heated make up session the day before, which also took up a considerable part of the night, Caroline is still very much salty. "Since we can't expect you to do the decent thing and apologize, I have to check on him and make sure that he is, you know, fine after you broke his freaking ribs."

Klaus rolls his eyes at her. "How thoughtful."

"Yes, I'm very thoughtful. That's why people like me. You should try it some time."

"If he's not completely healed up by now, his wolf genes are subpar."

"If he's not healed up by now, you and I are gonna have some words when I get back."

A wolfish smirk slides onto Klaus' mouth. "I'll be looking forward to it."

Caroline stabs a finger into his shoulder. "Not that kind of word, smartass."

"Fine," he says around an exhale as Caroline breezes by him to get her jacket. "Stay put and I'll send Jackson some flowers."

She snorts loudly. "What, a special wolfsbane arrangement?"

He shrugs. "It's the thought that counts."

"Keep your thoughts to yourself, then. Anyway, Jack sent me a message. He wants to talk."

"About what?"

"I don't know. That's what I'm going to find out. And you better hope he's not pulling out of the ceremony."

"Would that be the worst thing?"

"Yes, it would, and it would also be entirely your fault."

Klaus lets out a mock-wounded and exaggerated sigh. "If only I'd been informed of your plans in a timely manner..."

Caroline slits her eyes accusingly at him. "If only you weren't a temperamental neander-"

In a blur, she finds herself pressed up against the wall, caged between Klaus' arms. "You were saying?" he purrs. His eyes sparkle with malicious intent, his warm breath brushing against her lips. Caroline gets a delicious chill down her spine.

"You're such a bully," she replies lowly, her hands flat on his chest. Instead of shoving him off, though, she closes her fingers around his shirt, a defiant grin tugging at her lips. "I'm not scared of you."

"You should be, sweetheart." He leans in, his nose running across the line of her jaw, and then down her neck. "Haven't you heard? I'm the big..." A kiss. "Bad..." Another kiss. "Wolf." He smiles against her skin, lips touching the sensitive spot right under her ear.

"Well, bad wolf," Caroline breathes out, shifting against him as a wave of heat shoots right through her. "Touch another hair on a Crescents' head and I will kick your ass."

Klaus chuckles, his mouth tracing a wet line on her throat. "You will, will you?"

"Yes." Caroline wraps her hands around his arms and, in a swift move, reverses their positions, pushing Klaus up against the wall, while she's the one pressing flush against him. She feigns a bite, teeth snapping together and narrowly missing his mouth. "I bite now."

Klaus' eyes flash with want, a hint of gold surfacing through the darkened blue. In another hybrid-speed movement, he has her back pressed up against the wall again, except this time there's not an inch of space between them. His mouth is urgent and hot against hers, one hand like fire as it runs from her hip up, cupping her breast, the other tangled in her hair. Caroline's fingers dig hard into his back. The kiss is deep and possessive and in spite of all her bravado, she just melts into his arms, giving in easily to his deft ministrations. It's kind of ridiculous, really.

Despite the fact he is an unfairly good kisser and that Caroline has very little dignity when it comes to that short-fused hybrid, when he starts to pull out her jacket she snaps back to her senses and holds him off.

"Nu-uhn," she mumbles against his mouth. Klaus pulls back just a smidge, enough for her to see his frown. "We're just making out," she says, placing a peck on the corner of his mouth, and then she wriggles away from him. It's really hard to focus when Klaus's mouth is this dark and swollen and ready to ravage her some more. "I'm expected in the Bayou."

He grunts loudly in displeasure, leaning back against the wall with a pout. "You would leave me for that swamp dog?"

"Dramatic much?" she says around an eye roll, fixing her hair to the best of her abilities. "You should count yourself lucky I let you cop a feel after you assaulted my friend, Klaus."

"You know, you're not making me like him any better."

Caroline straightens her jacket, checks herself on the mirror. Her pink mouth leaves no doubt as to what she'd been up to, but it'll wear off in a bit, though she suspects she'll be thinking about it for much longer. "Good thing you're not the one binding yourself to him in a mystical ceremony, then," she says, smiling as she swirls on her heels and goes for the door. "Don't do anything stupid."

With a bit of luck, Klaus will behave as a moderately decent human being today and she won't have to feel guilty over picking up where they left off tonight. Until then, he can suffer for a little while. It's the least he deserves.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Klaus' knuckles clench and whiten around his phone as he puts it down with a curse, resisting the urge to fling the damned thing across the room. It's apparently too much to ask for a single day of peace around here. First Freya, then Caroline skipping off to the Bayou, and now this. There's no rest for the wicked.

"That was Aiden," he tells Rebekah. "Finn has Marcel."

His sister straightens up, her dark brown eyes filling with familiar concern. "What? Why?"

"I don't know. Nor do I know where they are, what they're doing or what specifically to do about it." He picks up a vase from the mantlepiece, closing his hand tightly around it before forcing himself to put it down with a thud. "This family makes me want to murder people."

"I see my timing is as impeccable as usual."

He and Rebekah whip around like thunder as Kol walks in. The nerve of that wanker...

Klaus narrows his eyes at his brother, taking a step forward. "The traitor thinks he can just waltz in here like he's welcome."

"As gracious as your apology better be, you're still getting one hell of a slap!" Rebekah grits out, lunging at him with her slim hands closed in tight fists.

"Wait, wait!" Kol takes a step back, putting both his hands out in a gesture of surrender. "I understand the irony of what I'm about to say, but... I came here because I need your help."

Klaus lets out a sardonic laugh. He has to be joking if he honestly thinks anybody in that house is going to move a finger in his aid.

"Think about how to undo your wicked little body swap, and then we can talk about help," Rebekah bites out.

"Look, you don't understand. Finn has locked me in this body, no more jumping. He's put a curse on me. I'm dying." Kol looks at them like he expects tears and hugs, but Klaus merely huffs, while Rebekah crosses her arms, neither of them looking at all impressed with his sob story. "You don't believe me."

"You're hardly the champion of truth telling," Klaus says.

"Of course. Why would a brother expect his siblings to leap to his aid when he's dying ?"

"Oh, spare me the pity party, Kol," Klaus snaps. "First you put Rebekah in the body of a witch locked away for life at an inescapable prison, then you tell me Caroline came to you for help in marrying Jackson Kenner. Your recent actions merit a certain allowance for disbelief."

"I was just messing with you about Caroline," he protests. "I knew it was easy enough to undo the misunderstanding."

Klaus glares, saying darkly, "I almost killed Jackson."

"It's not my fault you have psychotic reactions to simple provocations, is it? How was I supposed to know that the first thing you'd do would be to assassinate the poor lad? And you, Bekah," he turns to their sister. "I won't apologize for trying to pull one over you. You deserved it." Rebekah scoffs. Still bitter over that time when he ended up daggered during their Christmas party, it seems. "I don't deserve to die, certainly not at the hands of my own family."

Klaus walks over to him, leveling Kol with a hard look. "What kind of con are you playing?"

"The con I hate the most. The truth."

"He's not lying, Nik," Rebekah says. "Even as a boy, Kol never lied once called out on the act. He may play dirty pool, but he's not lying."

Klaus turns away, scrubbing a hand across his face. Like he didn't have enough problems already... He's not at all inspired to put his or anyone else's safety at risk for Kol, especially not in such a crucial time. He dug his own grave, as far as Klaus is concerned, and certainly didn't feel inclined towards helping anyone until he had something to gain - or to lose. To his luck, in order for Caroline's werewolf Hail Mary to work, they need Kol alive. Personally, Klaus doesn't think it would be the worst thing if they were unable to take it forward, but he's in hot water with Caroline already as it is; it's best not to stretch her patience further or else it might snap for good.

"Nik," Kol says in a small, pleading voice, so very unlike him. He must be desperate, indeed. "I was helping Marcel for Davina, that's why Finn punished me. He's got him and the rest of the vampires. Finn is trying to get a secret out of him, something he thinks Marcel knows about you."

Bloody brilliant. The universe never seems to run out of plagues to cast his way. It's one disaster after the next. If Finn finds out Marcel has been compelled, with the power he has, it'll take a second for him to unearth his memories.

"He's right, isn't he?" Kol asks when he notices the exasperated looks between him and Rebekah.

Klaus wipes the concern off his face, schooling it back into perfect annoyed impassiveness. "Marcel doesn't know anything about anything."

"Well, you better hope that's true," Kol says. "Because, believe me, Finn has the means to get anything out of him."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kol hates this. He hates absolutely everything about this. Having to grovel at Nik's feet like he's some paragon of correctness. Laboring to garner his siblings' support when he's bloody dying and none of them seem to show the slightest bit of remorse. The doubt and the judgement and the disdain cast upon him by the both of them, like they think Kol deserves everything that comes his way. One brother condemns him to death, the other holds his lifeline ransom until he proves his worth .

Well, he shouldn't have to prove any bloody thing. They're siblings, for goodness' sake. Nik didn't even bat an eyelid before leaving him to become vampire food when he learned of what happened to Rebekah. He didn't rest until he rescued Elijah from mother's captivity. But for him? Not even an I'm sorry . Nada. He's the brother no one cares about, only one step above Finn, who's now the brother everyone wants dead.

Like a bloody fool, Kol allowed himself to believe that there might yet be a way for them all to be a family again. His list of offenses is nothing compared to Nik's, and yet they still act as though Kol is the villain, not the one who's been wronged and unfairly treated for an entire millennium.

He should've just left. With mother gone, there was nothing more keeping him in this sodden city but his feeble hope of finding himself a home in a place where he's never been wanted. That and Davina Claire, of course. Maybe they should've left together. New Orleans has never shown her any kindness either. They could start over somewhere else, far away from this toxic place.

As he starts on the locator spell he's been tasked with by Nik as his first loyalty test, Kol decides that's exactly what he's going to do, if he can wriggle his way out of this one. It'll take a miracle. The only one who can undo the hex is Finn himself, and in order to get to him, Kol will need all the help he can find.

"So what's the secret anyway?" he asks as he prepares the enchantment. As determined as he is to disengage himself from his family's web of lies and scheming, he has to say he's curious. Finn was certain he was on to something big. They've been acting weird, indeed. Rebekah was missing for months, cloaked by spells so powerful even mother couldn't track her straight away. Now that she's returned, Elijah's gone. Kol can't figure out what could possibly be so important they'd go to all these lengths to keep it hidden.

"The term 'secret' implies something only known by those who have earned the right to be aware of it," Nik says. "Start the spell."

"That's easier said than done. Finn is channeling the power from our parents. He's a lot stronger than something some week-old witch and I can do."

"Now, hang on," Rebekah protests. "I might not be trained but I'm -" With a flick of her hand, she sends all of Kol's preparations in the air, the rock salt he'd carefully laid on the map all gone. Rebekah deflates as Kol glares at her. "Oh... Blast."

"We need a stronger witch," Klaus says. "Call Davina."

"No, no, no, no." Now it's Kol's turn to object. He stands to his feet, gesticulating frantically and shaking his head for emphasis. "We can't call her here. I don't want her to know I'm sick."

"Then do a better bloody job," Klaus snipes.

"I need time to get this working. And for Bekah to stop destroying it."

"We need you alive for the ceremony, Kol, and we won't be able to guarantee that you are if we don't stop Finn." Of course , Kol thinks. That's why he's even considering to help him. Because of this bloody ceremony. Kol's got half a mind to botch it and make sure that the effect will only take if Caroline does, indeed, lead a married life with Jackson. He's going to die anyway, at least he'd go pulling one up on his royal arsehole of an unrepentant brother. "The spell that he cast to lock you in your body," Nik continues. "Do you remember it?"

"Well, I was a little distracted by the murdery part."

"If we can use his own spell against him, once he's locked in his body, I can end our collective woes with a brief snap of his neck. All I need is to pull it out of your memory."

"No, no, no. No way." Kol takes a step back, putting as much space as he can between him and his brother. There are things in his mind Nik absolutely cannot ever see. Some of which he'd spent a lot of time hunched over these past few weeks. His situation is precarious enough as it is. "I am not allowing anybody into my mind. Do you understand?" he says resolutely.

Klaus' eyes flash. "You came into my home, asking for my help, after you nearly caused an unfixable mess by playing a prank . You want help? This is it. And it's not a request."

Before Kol can block him, Nik lunges at him, clutching his head between his hands and forcing his way into Kol's mind. Kol reels, his memories scrambling for a moment as his brother travels through them, digging deeper than he obviously had to. A second later, however, he lets go, and when Kol sees the expression on his brother's face, the pinch between his eyebrows, the wild glint in his eyes, he knows Klaus has seen exactly what he wasn't supposed to: the weapon Kol had been working on with Davina to put him down.

"See? I'm guessing, just by the look on your face, that it worked. But just listen -"

A furious snarl rips out of Klaus' throat as he grabs Kol by his shirt and sends him flying across the courtyard. The air is knocked out of his lungs when he slams against the wall, his eyes exploding in white when his head hits the bricks.

A brother who curses him to death and another who would kill him with his bare hands.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Caroline stops at a distance, enjoying the view of Jackson Kenner, mighty alpha of the proud Crescent pack, being mobbed by children. They hang from his arms and his back, tiny hands flung around his neck while he lifts and swirls them with a playful roar, enchanted laughter filling the air.

Jackson loves kids, and they love him right back; he's great with them. How could he ever think about marrying an undead woman who would never be able to give him children of his own? Now he knows she comes with one, but he didn't before, and he still considered it. He wouldn't just be giving up on fatherhood, something he was clearly cut out for, but on continuing his family line. It would be a shame for him to end up stuck in a convenience marriage with the mother of Klaus Mikaelson's daughter. Not that Caroline doesn't think he wouldn't make an amazing stepdad, it's just... Well, Klaus.

Klaus is the complete antithesis of Jackson. Wasn't born with a single parental vein in his body. If it ever existed, it stayed dead when his mother made a vampire out of him. And yet, when Caroline remembers him with Eve at the safe house... He was so gentle with her, so careful in the way he held her, rocking her in his arms with such tenderness. Even the way he panicked whenever he thought he'd done something wrong was endearing. Of course, Caroline didn't think he'd be a brute to a baby, especially not his own, but... She wasn't ready for that . It was so... human. The sparkle in his eyes, the smile on his face - it was so pure, so honest. Completely stripped of the usual irony and the haughty attitude that color so much of his emotions. It was Klaus as unembellished as she's ever seen him. Caroline's heart pounded in her chest with an impossible love, as well as a bit of an aphrodisiac rush, if she's to be completely honest.

Klaus has a terrible penchant for making the lives of the people who love him the most incredibly hard, but moments like that... It just doesn't compare. How could Caroline ever marry someone else? Klaus has ruined her for pretty much everyone. It will always be him from now on, the source of all comparison.

Seeing children brings Caroline a different kind of feeling now that she's actually been with hers. For six whole months, it made her tear up and ache for everything she'd lost, everything she'd been forced to give up on. Now, it fills her chest with warmth, makes her wonder what it'll be like to have Eve with her, playing with other kids, bursting with laughter and joy.

It's good to see the children running around the camp again. Just a little while ago this place was completely abandoned, now it's bustling with movement and people. Not as many as it once had, but... It's a start. And all because of that ceremony. They sure have a lot to live up to. A hell of a responsibility.

Jackson waves when he sees her, almost tumbling back as he loses his balance for a moment. Caroline chuckles, waving back at him. He leans forward, putting the little girl who was hanging on his back on the ground and telling something to the kids, pointing to her. They all look at her with big eyes, then start to giggle conspiratorially before they run off.

"Someone's in high demand," she says as she walks up to him. "Maybe I should come back some other time."

"Nah, it's all right. I'll have more than enough time to play with the kids once this is all over."

"What were they giggling about?"

Jackson smiles awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "They've heard the same thing everyone else did. They think you and I, you know... That you're my girlfriend."

Caroline gapes. "I'm gonna kill Aiden."

"They're just kids. The adults have all been properly drilled."

"Yeah, try telling that to Klaus. I'm sure he'll have a laugh."

"Did you get in trouble?"

"Me? No. Him? Definitely. But I think I knocked some sense into him. He's still not thrilled about it, but he seems to have understood what we're doing here and why. He won't be a problem anymore."

"So long as I don't get beaten within an inch of my life again any time soon."

Caroline's forehead crinkles as she gets a hot rush of shame. "I'm so sorry, Jackson. Are you alright?"

"Good wolf genes," he says, fixing her with a broad smile, not even a tiny bit of resentment hidden underneath. "All healed up already. And you don't have to apologize. It wasn't your fault."

"Yes, well," she says, looking down at her feet. "It could've been avoided if I hadn't chickened out of telling him before we started the whole preparations."

"On to better news, then. I'm getting word of a few packs outside of Louisiana. They wanna be here for the ceremony. They want in on the unification ritual."

"I thought the ritual only affected the powers of the wolves in your pack."

"Unless they recognize me as their alpha. Then they become a part of my pack, sworn to me like everyone else. Then your power becomes their power, too."

"And you think other alphas will step down and bow to you?"

Jackson's lips curves into a triumphant, proud smile. "They're coming here today to do just that. The meeting will be at Mary's. And I'd like you to be there."

"Me? Why?"

"Because you're a central part in all this. These men are alphas, the leaders of their clans. If they're going to be submitting before a vampire, I think they'd like to know you first."

A ripple of uncertainty runs through Caroline. She feels weird taking part in wolf business like this. But it hits her suddenly that she hadn't been looking at this ceremony the right way. By bounding herself to Jackson, the wolves will be answering to both of them. It means they're taking her not only as a part of their pack, but recognizing her as a leader. When Klaus told her to step up with the werewolves, she never thought she'd be coming this far.

She takes a deep breath, nodding at last. "Ok. We can do that. I'll put on my best Miss Mystic Falls smile. I'm told it's infallible." Jackson cocks an eyebrow at her, but Caroline waves him off. "Don't ask."

"I know this can be a lot," he starts softly, probably sensing the nerves radiating off of her. "But think of it this way. In just a few more days, your little girl is gonna have a hell of an army to protect her."

This whole situation has put Caroline on edge more than it's offered her any real reassurance so far, but now, looking into Jackson's eyes, she finally gets a little ember of optimism. If they can pull this off, if this ritual isn't just the product of a resurrected madman's delirious mind - they might actually get to bring Eve home. For real.

For the first time, she feels a thrill of anticipation, and the ceremony is suddenly not something to be afraid of, but rather something to look forward to.

Almost as soon as the feeling comes, though, it goes away. All of Caroline's senses sharpen at once as alarm bells chime loudly inside her head. Her eyes quickly roam around the camp, but she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. Her instincts tell her whatever is watching them - because she can feel it, eyes on her and Jackson, brushing against her perception - is somewhere under the cover of the trees. Then she feels the scent. It stands out because it's so not wolf, not even a tiny bit.

Vampire .

"Is everything ok?" Jackson asks.

"Super," she replies hastily, her smile a bit too overdone to be entirely honest. "I... Remembered I have to call someone. Go ahead. I'll meet you at Mary's."

He hesitates for a second before conceding and walking off towards his grandmother's cabin. As soon as he's out of sight, she whooshes towards the trees, going straight for the trespasser that had been spying on them.

Caroline frowns when Marcel puts his hands up after she shoves him against a tree.

"What the hell, Marcel?"

"I'm not here to hurt anyone," he says defensively.

"Then why the hell are you stalking me? I sensed you, it wouldn't be long before one of the wolves caught a whiff of you here. Then you'd be in big trouble. You're lucky we're friends."

"I need you to remember our friendship when I tell you why I'm here." Caroline folds her arms across her chest, her frown deepening. "Finn sent me to get your blood."

"Why would Finn want my blood?"

"I assume he needs it for a locator spell," Marcel says, and then, after a pause, he adds, "To find your daughter."

Marcel's words hit Caroline like a blow, dull and heavy. She goes instantly cold, panic splintering across her chest.

"No," she breathes out, swallowing hard against the churning in her stomach. "How does he know? How do you know?"

"He tortured me for over a day. He realized there was a blank space in my memories of the night your daughter died. Or when she should've died. When I couldn't offer an explanation, he put two and two together. I was compelled to forget, wasn't I?"

"You agreed to it," Caroline huffs, her pulse a mad beat inside her skull.

Marcel nods. "I figured."

Her head is spinning, worry settling at the pit of her stomach like a bomb. But she draws a deep breath in, trying to will away the panic so she can think more clearly. "Where is Finn now?"

"I don't know. He said he'd tell me where to meet him later, but listen. He's holding everyone hostage and every hour I fail to deliver your blood to him, he's killing one of my guys."

She pinches the bridge of her nose, her thoughts completely scattered. All that trouble to get that ritual to happen for a juiced-up Finn to find out about Eve before they even get the chance to empower the wolves against him. This is her worst nightmare come to life.

Marcel looks at her expectantly. She gets he's in a terrible situation as well, but she can't just give him her blood and let Finn find her daughter.

"I need to call Klaus."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Pick up the damn phone, Elijah! Finn is trying to find Eve!" Klaus growls into his mobile, putting it down with an angry grunt. He's on the verge of doing something dramatic, although he has no idea what, which only disturbs him further.

He feels completely hand-tied and out of his depth, and that kind of helplessness brings out the absolute worst in Klaus, makes him want to murder everything that breathes but for a very privileged few. His life would be made so much easier if there were less people in this world.

Caroline is having a fit of her own in the Bayou, wants to drop everything and head straight to Arkansas, but that is completely useless right now. It's a six hours drive, and it doesn't feel like they have six hours to spare. What they need is to find a way to stop Finn before he manages to break through the cloaking spells guarding Eve, preferably for good, but the latest unfortunate development means they're past the trivialities. If what it takes to halt his brother is to break his spine, even though he'll simply jump into a new body, which gives him the leverage of anonymity, then so be it. Anything to keep him from reaching Eve.

First and foremost, however, he needs Elijah to answer his bloody phone .

"She's safe, Nik," Rebekah says in a way she probably means as comfort, but he can hear all the inflections of doubt on her voice. This new body has taken away Rebekah's nuance for lying. "It'll take a hundred witches to break the cloaking spell."

"I would've said the same about mother finding you, and yet a flock of starlings later and here we are," he snaps.

"Elijah will never let Finn get to her. We have to trust him. But you need to stay calm."

"Our brother doesn't do calm." They turn to see Kol crossing the arched entryway to the courtyard, spoiled for a spar, it seems. He scrambled out in a burst of fury after Klaus attacked him, uttering all manner of profanities and swearing to never return. Less than an hour later and he's already back, the little tosser. He's chosen a terrible day to test Klaus' patience, though. His quota for inconvenient troublesome siblings has been fulfilled entirely by Finn.

Before Klaus has a chance to give him a taste of his mood, however, Kol puts his hand forward, baring his teeth, and giving him a stroke that puts him on his knees, clutching his head. A roar rips out of his throat, half anger, half agonizing pain. He vaguely registers a strangled scream behind him, followed by a loud thud. Rebekah has been taken down as well. Klaus grinds his teeth together, growling like an animal.

"Oh, you're angry, are you?" Kol sneers. "Well, join the party! I've been here for a thousand years! You have no idea, brother." He dials up the intensity of the attack, and Klaus' vision swims before him. "I was building that dagger to protect myself against you, Nik. I'm not the bad guy in this chapter of your family's story. I'm the wronged one. I'm the dead but never mourned! Whilst you got everything that you ever wanted, I got a family that didn't care if I lived or if I died."

Kol's emotional outpouring causes him to lose his grip of Klaus, the pain in his skull dimming enough for him to make a move. In a blink, Klaus has his hand around his younger brother's throat, slamming him back against a wall with rage burning behind his eyes.

"We've all suffered! We've all been wronged!" he snarls hotly at his face.

"Go on! Go on, Nik!" Kol bites out, his eyes a well of hurt. "Finish it off! Put me out of my misery. Go, on! Kill me!"

Klaus growls furiously, but lets go of his grip and steps away from Kol, letting him slide bonelessly to the ground. Despite his hunger for murder, it appears his little rascal of a brother sits among the privileged spared. "I'm not gonna kill you, you idiot! Despite your behavior, you're still my brother. I never killed you before, I was never going to kill you now."

Kol's face tightens. "Yeah," he speaks quietly. "I'm just the one you dagger repeatedly."

"I've daggered all of you! Each for your own good," Klaus fires back. "If you don't agree with my motives, fine. I never claimed to be the bastion of temperance. But stop this drivel about being singled out and unloved. You are a Mikaelson. You're my blood!" Klaus takes a steadying breath, crouching down in front of him. "And I need you," he says in a softer tone, surprising himself with how much he actually means it. "I need you by my side."

They never had much in common, not even as children, and the gap only grew larger as time passed. Kol's effusive personality clashed constantly with Klaus' short temper. The few times when they seemed to get along were, Elijah will say, the very worst of Klaus' years, when he reached the highest peaks of his lunacy and the lowest valleys of humanity. Those were the only points where he and his younger brother would meet. There were times, however, brief and rare though they were, when Klaus would catch a glimpse of the little boy that would run around the woods with him when they were kids. The one with the loudest laugh and the wittiest replies.

He never really stopped seeing Kol as a child, he guesses. Someone inconsequential, stubborn and who had to be taught lessons and taken care of, against his own will if needed be. Klaus sees now, as clear as daylight, how the bond forged between Rebekah, Elijah and himself was a sore spot for Kol. He didn't just want to be free to wreak havoc and torch down the world at his leisure; he wanted a piece of what they had. To be a part of their little club. Whenever they shut him out, he'd shake the boat out of spite. Not unlike Klaus and his violent jealous outbursts, if he's to be honest.

What he never tolerated about his younger brother's behavior was, in fact, a trait they shared in common. He didn't want to see himself reflected in Kol's fits of tempers, didn't want to be confronted by the ugliest face of his selfishness. Instead of punishing himself, he punished Kol. And looking at him now, Klaus can see every shade of the bitter hurt built over years and years, mangled with fear for what's yet to come.

"What does it even mean, Nik?" Kol asks, his voice small and suddenly void of any heat. "You talk family this, family that. You met Caroline the other day and already she's more a part of your family than I've ever been."

"Don't try to compare yourself to Caroline, Kol. You're my brother, my blood, and you'll always be. But she… She's my whole world."

"I bet she's in on your secrets," he says sourly. "Which I haven't even earned the right to share, have I?"

"No, you haven't. But by all means, brother, prove yourself. Show me I can trust you. It's not too late."

Klaus stands to his feet and offers a hand to his brother. Kol's face softens as he nods, taking Klaus' hand and allowing himself to be pulled up.

"Finn wants your blood," he says. "He promised to heal me if I delivered it."

"You know where he is?"

"You've gotta tell me why he wants it, Nik. For once in your life, you've got to trust me. I will stand by your side, I promise."

Klaus considers him. "You would risk your life to help me?"

"I know enough about dark magic to know I'm hexed. I know now there's no reversing what Finn has done to me, which makes him a murderer and a liar, and if I'm gonna die, I'll be damned if he gets what he wants."

Klaus feels a bitter stab of remorse. He thought there would be a way out for him yet, that they could force Finn to undo his magic, or find someone powerful enough, perhaps channeling something strong, to do it. Even though they've done nothing but argue and come to blows this time around, Klaus' heart aches with sadness over learning he's really dying. It takes him right back to Mystic Falls, when those miserable sods left him trapped in a room for an entire day with his little brother's charred body, too late to save him and unable to honor him as he deserved. Klaus was so out of himself, so consumed with grief and anger over his brother's death, he even harmed Caroline.

"Finn has been dead to me for a long time," he says. "Tonight, I intend to make that official. Help me, then I will tell you my secret."

Kol takes both his hands and places them on each side of his head. "Go on, read my mind. Find the spell. Let's kill our brother."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kol has to say, Finn is a lot more devious than anyone ever gave him credit for. For a thousand years, he settled behind that aloof mask of superiority, resigning himself to being Esther's errand boy, boring to the last strand of hair on his head. Kol never thought he had any imagination of his own, much less a cunning one, but as it turns out, there was a thinking brain under all that lapdog display. And one that will bugger them up now.

As soon as Nik tracks down the correct spell to lock Finn in Vincent's body, they go to the bell tower at the St. Louis Cathedral, where their loony brother said he'd be waiting for the collected blood. The place is completely deserted, but not untouched. They find the remnants of a spell that makes Kol buck. Ancient, powerful magic, the type he hadn't seen in many, many centuries. The kind of magic Esther would tap into for her most powerful spells, and that neither Kol nor Finn were ever taught. It would be useless in any case, because it would take a hell of a lot more power than they could ever hope to have - on their own, anyway. They know exactly what Finn is drawing this kind of magic from - Esther and Mikael's bodies are still missing. But where did he even learn how to do this?

It takes Kol a moment to decipher the intricacies of the spell to understand what it was even meant for - and when he does, everything snaps into place.

"It's a locator spell," he tells Nik and Rebekah. "He summoned a hell of a lot of power to find something. And by the looks of it... He's done it."

The look on his brother's face tells him whatever Finn has tracked down is the secret he'd been trying to protect so valiantly. He is terrified. Whatever it is, it means a lot more to him than Kol could've ever imagined.

"Finn tricked us into running about in a wild goose chase all day thinking he was looking for a way to find -" Rebekah starts, but cuts herself off, casting her eyes at Nik.

His brother's lips are clenched into a fine line. "He knew it all along. He wanted us distracted to stay ahead."

"Well, where is he, then?" Kol asks. "Let's find him."

"It's six hours away. We'll never catch him," Klaus says darkly. "He's going where Elijah is."

Kol could try astral projecting there, if he can channel Rebekah, but it'll serve them nothing the way Finn is, juiced up on mommy and daddy. He knows their brother has been keeping both of them at the Lycée, but he also knows that their exact location has been spelled against intruders, and not all the magic they can gather right now will be enough to break through that barrier. Vincent Griffith's blood is the key element to disrupting that enchantment, and that's unfortunately many hours away from them.

Kol rakes a hand through his hair, going through centuries and centuries of dusty memories of magic spells to try and come up with an alternative while Nik calls Caroline, who's been texting him nonstop after updates, and then tries to reach Elijah - again to no avail. Their brother's silence has suddenly gained a whole new weight, one that hangs palpable in the air. If Finn already found him...

"I know what to do," Kol blurts out all of a sudden. The idea doesn't come from his past. He knew having his every thought dominated by Davina Claire would prove fruitful at some point. She might yet save them. "I can't sever the link between Finn and our parents, but there's something else we can try. It'll take power of our own, and a lot of it. We need to head to the Lycée. And I'm going to need every powerful dark object you can get your hands on - and to channel you, Bekah."

"Of course," she says. "We'll go ahead, then. Nik, can you -"

"On it."

In a blink, Klaus vamps off to collect his relics from the compound, while he and Rebekah race as fast as their human speed will allow, heading for the City of the Dead. Even though they can't access Mikael and Esther's tomb, it's not too difficult to find where exactly they are being kept. That massive source of energy leaves an imprint that is impossible to dispel.

"How do we disrupt Finn from channeling our parents in there if we can't even get to the bloody binding circle?" Rebekah demands as he sets up the spell outside the tomb, lighting up candles and drawing up a power circle with rock salt. He can't fault Rebekah for her lack of vision; her world is still bound by a thousand years as a vampire. She never cared about learning magic any more than the absolute necessary, which is why she fails to see the loopholes and the faulty lines that exist in every spell.

"Magic isn't an exact science, sister," he tells her. "You have to see beyond. We're not here to disrupt Finn's power. We're going to overload it."

"Are you daft? You want to make him stronger ?"

"A witch can only ever channel so much power. After that, things start to get ugly. I mean, you literally start to disintegrate from the inside. You were there when Davina died, weren't you? You saw what the Harvest girls' power did to her." Rebekah's eyes light up with comprehension. "That's exactly what we're going to do here, except in a hastier manner. Finn is drawing from mother and father only what he can sustain, which is already a lot. If we add more to the mix, he won't be able to control it anymore. He'll either have to release the power or, well... Let it kill him."

"But he won't be dead, he'll just body jump", Rebekah counters.

"Yes, into a body 300 miles away from whatever it is he's trying to nab. Whatever poor sod he's prepared to host him next is likely here, in New Orleans. It'll cut his umbilical cord to our parents' magic, Vincent will be dead, which means the barrier here will be down, and he will be far enough away from his target that you and Nik can beat him to it."

A proud smile slowly breaks onto his sister's face. "In case you're wondering... This is the side of you I like," she says, softly.

Kol casts his eyes downwards as a guilty pang shoots through him. Imminent death, it seems, has put things under new perspective. He suddenly realizes how pointless sheltering resentment over something that happened one hundred years ago was. It brought him no joy, no sense of vindication. It only pushed him further away from his family, when he should've been working on getting closer to them, making up for the lost time, not wasting any more of it. It seems he was also blindfolded by his previous vampiric existence. When you're mortal, the most precious thing you have is time.

"Look..." he says, sheepishly, as he stands to his feet and finally meets his sister's eyes. It's funny how he can see Rebekah in this woman's unfamiliar features. Her sparkle, her unshakable faith in her family, that wicked little grin… That's all her. "I'm gonna get you back in your body, Bex, if it's the last thing I do. Promise."

She takes his hand. "Right now, just worry about how in blazes I'm gonna be of any use to you whatsoever when I know nothing about magic."

"You don't need to know anything about magic. Just open yourself up and I'll be able to tap into your power."

As if on cue, Nik storms in carrying a bag. He drops it none too gently at Kol's feet. "Mystical artifacts and dark objects galore from my own personal collection, garnered over one thousand years."

Kol crouches down, inspecting the things he's brought, and he's instantly hit by how many of those items are familiar to him. "I wondered where this had gone... Half this stuff is mine!"

Klaus merely arches his eyebrows at him, totally unapologetic. "And there's more," he says, putting his hand in his jacket. He fishes out Papa Tunde's blade, oozing a kind of dark magic unlike any object Kol has ever seen before. And...

"The white oak stake?" Kol says, lips parted in shock as he stands up again. "You want to trust me with this?"

"Whatever you need," he says, without a shadow of doubt. "Whatever it takes."

Kol takes the stake, feeling its ancient magic in his hands. Whatever it is that they're hiding, it must be really important. He has his suspicions, but... If it really is what he thinks it is, then this is the greatest con Nik's ever pulled.

"All right," he says, scattering the objects inside the power circle before he puts his hands out to Rebekah. "Let's get started."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Marcel watches as all the color drains out of Caroline's face, her fingers clenching around the phone as she hangs up on Klaus.

"Finn sent you and Kol on your quests as a plan to keep us distracted. He's already going after her," she says. Her voice is quiet, but Marcel senses the thrum of fear underneath it. "I need to get there."

She looks around, a little lost at first, before she sets her eyes on the door and makes to leave. She explained to him that Jackson is meeting with eight alphas from different packs who are willing to bow to his authority in order to take part in a weird ritual that will pass her powers on to every wolf who attends the ceremony and swear allegiance to the Crescents. Honestly, Marcel doesn't know how to feel about that. A few months ago, news like this would be having him climbing up walls in anxiety. It's the kind of thing he spent an entire year trying to prevent - exactly what got him in the mess he's in right now, exiled and with nothing but baby vamps in his ranks. But this isn't just any wolf that will be taking over - it's Jackson. Despite all the decades' old bad blood he has with the Crescents, he doesn't think they're looking to start another war. Quite the opposite. Now that he knows what had Caroline and the Mikaelsons fretting all over for the past few months, he understands that what they're trying to do here is restore peace to New Orleans, so that their little girl can come home.

That's something else he's still a little shaken over. As they walked to Mary Dumas' cabin, where that meeting with the alphas is supposed to take place, Caroline filled him in on the details he's missing. She told him how he saved Eve - he likes the name, by the way - when Monique Deveraux was about to execute her, then took her and ran back to the compound, hoping that Klaus would follow and that they'd still have enough time to heal all his friends. This part Marcel remembers - walking into the courtyard to find the Guerreras had gone back to finish all of them off. He collected and burned every single one of them in a lonely ceremony. That kind of grief is something not even an Original compulsion can wipe off.

Then Caroline told him of their plan, how they realized they'd need to keep their daughter safely away from New Orleans and the Guerreras for as long as it took to get all the rings that were forged with Klaus' blood back. That was, of course, before they realized they had far worse problems than Francesca Correa and her gangster brothers. Marcel agreed to all of that - to aiding them in spreading the story of the baby's death and then having his memories erased so there would be no gaps in their lie. He can see how he would easily agree to it. Children have always been his weak spot. Even now, knowing that she is safe, he feels awful for everything that happened and the part he played, terribly sorry that her parents, especially her mother, didn't get to be with her for the first six months of her life. But he can also see how Rebekah must've had a blast taking care of her niece... A thousand years of bloodlust couldn't erase the maternal vein in her. Eve was in good hands.

And now she's in terrible danger. Again.

He gets Caroline's instinct to go to her daughter, but that's not the smartest move now. She'll never beat Finn to it.

"Wait," he says, pulling her back before she storms out. "You said so yourself, it's six hours away. Finn's already on his way. He'll make it there before you no matter what."

"I can't just stand here and do nothing while that maniac goes for my daughter!"

"Caroline, listen to me." Marcel puts his hands on her shoulders, forcing her to meet his eyes. "There is no way that Elijah is gonna let anything happen to your baby girl. Don't you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him, but Finn -"

"Won't ever be able to beat him. I know Elijah as well as anyone. He's just as ruthless as Klaus, if not more, protecting his family and the people he loves. Finn doesn't know what he's in for. You leave now, you'll never make it on time." A thousand objections raise to Caroline's lips, but Marcel beats her to it by raising his tone just enough to get her attention back. "Klaus is working on disrupting his power. You have an important meeting waiting for you outside."

"How the hell do you expect me to attend a business meeting right now, Marcel?"

"It's not just any meeting. You know you're needed out there, and you know why. Trust that everyone is doing everything they can, and go help Jackson build the army that will help you keep your girl safe tomorrow. She'll need it."

Caroline lets out a disgruntled breath, hesitating. Her mind will never be completely in it, but if she bails now, this deal with the alphas might never come through. Marcel can hardly believe he's pushing for something like that to happen, but he knows he's right. That girl is the daughter of Klaus Mikaelson. An empowered werewolf army might not be of much use today, but it'll certainly be tomorrow, and for the rest of her life. Even Marcel has been targeted for his proximity to the Mikaelsons; Eve will have it much worse.

After a moment, Caroline seems to convince herself of that as well. Still reluctant, she nods her head to him, touching his arm with a light grateful gesture. "Don't come outside," she says. Like she had to tell him to stay away from a bunch of werewolf alphas.

With a deep, steadying breath, she turns around and goes after Jackson. Marcel hopes to all the gods out there that he's right about this one.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It has been a minute since Elijah last put his handyman skills to use. Centuries, in fact. He hates to admit it, but Camille might've been right with her mend the home, mend the man approach to his situation. Elijah wanted to remain skeptical in the face of a psychology major, but, however unendurable the whole topic might be, the woman seems to know what she's talking about. Occasionally, at least.

After a few days of improvement, Elijah had another episode when Eve pulled on a tablecloth and a knickknack fell on her. She had but a scratch on her forehead, but howled like someone had stabbed her. Her cry sent him straight back to that corridor, to the red door, and even though he managed to pull himself out of it, it was enough for Camille to notice.

There will come a day when Miss O'Connell will see something desperately broken and not try to fix it, but that day is not today, unfortunately.

"You've done enough work to face your atrocities, but the truth is, it's just going to take some time to settle," she said while he put a Band-Aid on his niece's forehead.

"And you believe you have the power to resolve this," he retorted, not as a question. The ironic of course went unsaid. He doesn't mean to disrespect, he actually likes Camille, he knows she means well, it's just... She can be a lot. Especially when you spend days on end locked in a house in the middle of nowhere with her and a small child as sole companions.

"It's not that easy. I understand there's no," she snapped her fingers, "and you're fixed. In cases like yours, sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive than examining it through the minutiae of therapy. Staying mentally busy instead of physically." At this point, she produced a list of things in need of repair around the house. "Though charming, this house is falling apart," she said with a smile. When Elijah showed his skepticism over her logic, she went with the method she's been resorting to since day one. It hasn't failed yet. "Or we could go fishing and I could tell you all about the summer I lost my virginity."

"I'll fix the home," he replied instantly. It's interesting how she seems to have quickly identified that the most effective way to get Elijah to be more agreeable is to bother him into action. That's.. Quite the efficient strategy, actually.

So Camille went off to the nearest town to spend the day with Eve and replenish their pantry with some essentials while he spent the day not thinking - and fixing the heater. And the loose floorboards. And the leaking roof. And the broken fences around the property. And it was... Unexpectedly remedying.

In hindsight, perhaps he should have heeded Caroline's advice about appropriate attire, but all Niklaus brought him were suits. So here he is again, tieless and with his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, his 500-dollars shirt drenched in sweat after a whole day of manual chores, and Elijah feels perfectly blissful. Not at all bothered by his state of untidiness. He did what Camille told him: concentrated on the things he could fix, on the nails and the broken roof tiles and the clogged gutters, rather than think of his own much more complicated issues.

He has to say, it's been a rather gratifying time. Maybe he should go back to the old days of manual labor, rather than simply employing people to do absolutely everything for him. It's better than therapy. He doesn't even have to talk.

Dusk is almost upon them when Elijah finally returns to the shed with his tools after he finished with the fences. The only thing left on his list is the heater. That's slightly more difficult and demands a somewhat more specialized knowledge, but he'll see what he can do. He's collecting the things he'll need to complete this next task when his phone rings. He'd left in his jacket at the shed, didn't even think about it. To think he went for an entire day not even remembering his phone's existence when he's been glued to it for the whole time he's been here... A miracle, indeed.

When he fishes the phone out, however, he sees there's been fifteen missed calls. All from Niklaus, who's calling him again now. This can't be a good thing.

The familiar bubble of apprehension returns with full force as he takes the call.

"Finn knows about Eve, about everything," his brother blurts out, his urgency patent even through the phone. "I don't know how long until he gets there, but he's already on his way."

As if on cue, Elijah sees a shadow approaching the shed's entrance. A second later and Finn is there, a malicious glint in his eyes and a triumphant smile crooking up his lips.

"Yes, remarkably well on his way, I would say," he speaks distractedly, putting the phone away. What a brilliant day he chose to disengage from the outside world...

Elijah does his best to keep the violent churn of concern inside of him from his features. All he can hope for is that Camille doesn't come home until he's done dispatching his psychotic older brother.

Finn's idea of greeting is to flick his wrist and send Elijah flying in the air, crashing against the tools on the back of the shed. He can feel the extra bite in his power, courtesy of his parents' unwilling sacrifice.

"How d'you find me?" he asks from behind grit teeth as he pulls himself up.

Finn tilts his head noncomitantly. "Little help from our sister."

"Rebekah would never lower herself to wallow in your filth."

His smile turns cruel. "We have more than one, you know. And I get the sense she doesn't like you all that much."

Elijah's frown deepens as he considers his brother's words. The woman who freed Rebekah from her prison at the Fauline mansion springs to mind. He hadn't believed her tale, to be perfectly honest. Not that he thought Rebekah was lying, but it seemed highly unlikely that a sister they hadn't heard anything about for a thousand years would suddenly show up in New Orleans and introduce herself like that. It appears Rebekah wasn't the only one she got in touch with. "Freya?

"Mother warned me Dahlia would kill us all to acquire another first born Mikaelson," Finn says, slowly. "And me? I'm in no mood to die."

Elijah clenches his hands into fists, his expression tightening. "Cowering behind your witchcraft," he derides. "You always were pathetic, Finn."

"After nearly a millennium of dishonorable acts hidden away in your own mind, you have the audacity to call me names." He lets out a twisted bark of a laughter. "What I do now I do for the members of my family who can still be saved. Unfortunately, neither you nor Niklaus have made that list."

Finn waves a hand in the air, and Elijah is hit on the back by an axe, its blade buried deep between his shoulder blades. He gasps, trying to wrap a hand around the axe's handle to pull it out, but ends up losing his balance and falling on his knees. Finn strikes again, this time piercing his chest with the long handle of another tool. Elijah's eyes bulge in horror as he feels it has grazed his heart. His vision doubles and then darkens as he drops to the ground, blood running down the side of his lips.

All he has time to feel before death comes and sweeps him away is a sharp and cold wave of panic thrumming through him as it sinks in that Finn is here to kill his niece - and there'll be nothing he can do to stop him.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kol's chanting gets louder and more intense the longer it goes on. He and Rebekah are holding hands, both touching the door to the tomb where Finn has hidden their parents. Klaus can sense something is happening, though he has no idea whether it's a good thing or a bad one. This place in embedded in extremely strong magic all around. It's hard to tell if Kol's spell is working or simply being repelled.

The longer it goes on, however, the more restless Klaus becomes. Elijah hung up on him and hasn't answered when he called back. His cryptic message did not offer any relief to Klaus' mounting anxiety. His brother sounded rather calm and not at all like he'd been pulled out of a vicious battle with Finn, which means he hadn't yet arrived, but now...

They need this to work, and they need it to work fast .

A minute later, both Kol and Rebekah are pushed back from the tomb's door as though they'd been repelled by an electric discharge. Blood runs down Kol's nose. "We're close," he says. "But we need something more, something to put on top for a final push."

"Use me," Klaus says, taking a step forward. Kol is momentarily taken aback, perhaps even a bit hesitant, afraid of the consequences. Not without reason, Klaus has to recognize. He hasn't been entirely forthcoming or cooperative with his younger brother, and completely unwilling to open up or offer candid replies to his obvious doubts, opting instead for a more violent approach. But this is no time for dwelling over matters of the past. They need to stop Finn right now and if the price to keep his daughter safe is to grant Kol access to the deepest and darkest parts of his soul, so be it. Nothing else matters where Eve's life is concerned. "I am a vampire-werewolf hybrid with ten centuries of blood on my hands," he tells Kol. "Channel me."

"Nik," he starts, shaking his head. "This could be dangerous."

"You wanted my trust, brother. Here it is." He picks up the Tunde blade and forces it into Kol's hesitating hands. The best way to make sure he'll drain all of his power is to put him down the way Papa Tunde did to Rebekah. Kol is right, this could be incredibly dangerous. If anything goes wrong here, if Finn has been cleverer about this than they think, he might not wake up. Plus, he'll be entirely at Kol's mercy, as vulnerable as he's ever been. For once, however, Klaus is going to go with the blind faith path and trust his brother. "This is too important, Kol," he says, looking him dead in the eye. "Do not fail me."

He gets down on his knees before his brother, lifting Kol's hand so the blade is touching his forehead. When he closes his eyes, Kol begins to carve the mark that will send him under. The pain is almost as great as having the blade driven inside of him, a burning that starts on his head and radiates through his entire body as though his skull is about to burst.

A moment later, he's pulled into a torturing darkness that fills his lungs like water, an all too familiar despair taking hold of his entire being. This is what eternity will be like if Kol fails. So he cannot fail.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Elijah comes to with a gasp. He's lying on the ground in the shed, his torso throbbing with a dull pain. He's no idea how long he was out for, but night hasn't fallen yet, so it can't have been that long.

As he pushes himself up, grinding his teeth against the ache, he hears his brother's voice filtering in from a distance.

"Where are you, Camille?! There's no use in hiding!"

The sound seems to be coming from the house. If he hasn't found Camille, maybe she hasn't come home yet. Good . That buys him some time.

He pulls the makeshift stake from his stomach with a stifled groan, and then struggles to remove the axe from his back. He shuts his eyes, taking a deep breath as his body does its magic and takes away his wounds and the worst bits of the pain, healing seamlessly.

As he steps outside the shed, he tries to hear for any approaching cars, but as far as he can listen, there's nothing. It's all very quiet all around the property. He shouldn't assume she isn't near, though. Considering the hour, she is likely already on her way or about to return home. Less than twenty minutes to get rid of Finn, then, to be on the safe side.

Elijah grabs a knife from the shed and walks back to the house. He peeks from the window and sees his brother taking his time as he investigates items and rooms.

"I know you're in here, Camille!" he calls out as he picks up a cardigan she left on the back of a chair.

Elijah moves with usual stealth, and Finn doesn't even bat an eyelid as he enters the house. He waits for the right moment, aiming the knife at his distracted brother, and when he crosses the hallway ahead of Elijah, he throws it at him, aiming for Finn's heart. It doesn't matter if he can body jump. Right now, the most important thing is they need to make time for Eve to escape.

At the precise moment he threw his knife, however, Finn noticed his presence and turned. The knife pierced him just above the kidney line. Enough to cause some damage, certainly a lot of pain, but probably nothing deadly. Elijah curses lowly, preparing to flash away in search of another weapon, when he realizes there's something off with Finn.

He's gasping, the hand he used to pull the knife out of himself shaking so badly it falls off his fingers. A streak of blood runs down his nose as he clutches his head, his face scrunching up as though he's in an insane amount of pain, much more so than that wound could inflict. Elijah's eyebrows bunch in confusion, but he figures this is as good a time as any to make a move.

Finn puts a hand out and stops him, freezing his body in place. Grunting loudly, Finn starts to pull him closer like a puppeteer tugging on the strings of a marionette. Elijah tries his best to avoid being dragged, grabbing onto the furniture and walls, but the pull is simply too strong to resist. When he's close enough, Finn closes his fist and sends Elijah flying through the kitchen wall. The impact is stronger than any his brother had caused before, half the kitchen falling apart as he crashes into it.

Elijah's head is spinning as he tries to regain his breath. He struggles to push away debris and broken pieces of appliances and furniture in order to stand up, but then he notices the impact damaged a gas pipe, leaking gas directly into the house. An idea sparks to life... Quite literally.

As he makes to stand to his feet, however, Elijah notices the blood stains on his shirt. He touches it gingerly, and his hand comes back red. It instantly ignites a memory; images, both real and fabricated, flashing through his mind. The long corridor, a woman screaming, her blonde hair flying behind her as she runs as fast as she can from him. She runs into the red door, starts banging furiously, desperately, with her fists. When she turns her face around to him, she changes. No longer blonde, but brunette, dark brown eyes filled with terror.

A pained, miserable scream knifes through his memories, pulling him out of it. It's not the woman, though. It's Finn.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kol sits by himself in the tomb, watching as the color slowly creeps back to Nik's cheeks. Rebekah cut her hand and dripped some blood into their brother's mouth, trying to speed up the recovery process. She's been a victim of this spell before, so she knows exactly how brutal it is. He'll be alright, though.

Kol can hardly believe his crazy idea worked, to be honest. He was very determined, which is perhaps why he managed to pull it off, out of sheer willpower, but now that he thinks about it... It was a hell of a gamble.

Blood drips between his feet, and Kol wipes his nose. This spell demanded a lot more from him than he expected, even with the support of two Originals and a bunch of dark objects, including two of the strongest ones out there. He feels so depleted, the well of magic inside of him considerably weakened. He couldn't light up a candle now if he tried, kid's stuff. It's hard to tell whether that's because of the enchantment or a side effect of the hex Finn put on him. Kol might've just precipitated his own death, reducing his life expectancy by several crucial days. But what he saw in Nik's mind as he channeled him…

He was right. This was too important.

A niece... Who in the bloody hell would've ever thought?

Nik gasps awake, arching his back, his body convulsing lightly as he comes to. Kol helps him into a sitting position, his mighty hybrid brother holding on to him for dear life, with not even enough strength to get up on his own. This blade really is a nasty business.

"Tell me it worked," he croaks, his voice scratchy as his eyes search Kol's face expectantly.

"We did our bit, I promise," Kol tells him, his lips quirking up into a small grin. It feels good to be able to deliver some good news, especially now that he knows exactly what was at stake for his brother. "Finn is back to being a normal, regular-strength maniacal bastard."

Klaus lets out a deep, pained breath, relaxing against the stone wall behind him, his whole body sagging in relief. "Rebekah?"

"She stepped outside to ring Elijah."

Klaus is quiet for a moment before he turns back to Kol with such humble gratefulness on his face he's momentarily taken aback. Kol can't remember when was the last time his brother felt this warm towards him, if ever.

"I know we haven't always seen eye to eye over the course of the last millennium, Kol," Nik starts, his voice barely a rasp. "But in this moment, I am reminded once again of something Elijah always says. Family is power." He takes Kol's hand, clasps it between his own. "Thank you, brother."

Kol hangs his head low in a bashful gesture as he pets the back of Nik's hand with his free one. He doesn't even know what to say, to be honest. This kind of heartfelt gratefulness is not something anyone gets from Nik every day. "You're welcome," he replies awkwardly. "Now Elijah needs to do his part."

Klaus nods. "He will prevail. Of that I have no doubt."

Silence stretches between them as Nik continues to recover, his body healing more than just its flesh from the severe effects of the blade's power. That kind of dark magic penetrates deep, seeping into blood and bones, spreading like a disease, and it leaves a signature. Nik will certainly need to feed in order to replenish his energies. Kol considers offering his own blood to his brother - just a tiny bit, enough for him to feel better already so they can head home - but considering his own unfortunate condition... He should probably save his strength. Any tiny bit counts at this stage. One bite from Nik and he might lose whatever time he has left.

After a while, Kol decides they should probably address the elephant in the room while it's just the two of them. He doesn't want Nik getting all murderous in the next day or something when he realizes Kol knows more than he would've liked him to. It's not like he dove into his mind on purpose, it was just... Inevitable.

"While I tapped into your power," he starts slowly. "There were... Things. Strong thoughts and memories, I guess. They bled into me. I wasn't trying to pry or anything, I promise. It's kind of involuntary with the complete channeling that I did. And I saw it, Nik. Your secret." He waits a beat to see the reaction on his brother's face. When he doesn't turn green with anger, Kol plows on. "Your daughter. She's still alive. That's what this has all been about. You, Elijah, Caroline, Bex... All this time, you've been fighting to protect her, to keep mother from finding out she lived."

Klaus' head dips, a shadow crossing his eyes. "We didn't have a choice. We knew mother was controlling the witches, and that she wouldn't stop until my daughter was dead. So we had to make her believe that she was."

"I heard what happened the night she was born from mother. She told Finn and myself like it was nothing. Just an unfortunate casualty. But seeing it through your memories... The church..." Kol stops, swallows. The pain he felt inside of Klaus, the despair... He has seen and inflicted a great deal of pain in his life, but that… It was a lot. Even for someone as cold and cruel as Nik. Kol could feel every edge of his trauma, of his terror. It's just as strong now as it was then. It gives him goosebumps. "It was bloody awful."

"The worst night of my entire life. My greatest shame. I couldn't save my daughter or her mother," Nik says in a small voice, his eyes faraway and sad. Vampires feel things in a much more acute manner. That kind of agony leaves scars that run much deeper than any flesh wounds. It'll resonate for years and years... Kol doubts Nik will ever forget it.

Not in a million years he ever thought he'd live to see the day Nik would care so profoundly about someone other than himself. Kol really did miss a lot in the time he spent dead. Seems like the world started spinning backwards. This Caroline Forbes must've been a hell of a witch, because she has pulled the greatest sorcery Kol's ever seen: she made Klaus Mikaelson grow a heart.

Kol places a hand on his brother's shoulder, gives him a comforting and honest squeeze. "No one should ever have to go through something like that. I'm sorry, Nik," he says. A million things pass between the two of them, and Kol doesn't think he's ever felt closer to his brother. It seems they're finally able to understand each other in some fundamental manner. Not all is forgotten and forgiven, but... It's a start.

Too bad they've only had this breakthrough when Kol is almost running out of time.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Elijah stares intently at his own hands. The more he scrubs them, the dirtier they seem to get. The blood only spreads, giving his skin an eerie crimson shade. Fitting, he thinks with a stab. If only his hands always looked like this, it would be a warning. A danger sign that would have people running off in fear, rather than being lulled by his carefully constructed pretense of chivalry and civility.

Finn hasn't come for him yet. How long has it been since he started scrubbing his hands? A minute? Ten? An hour? He can hear his brother scrambling in the hallway, his ragged, shuddery breath as he struggles to remain steady. Something's not right with him, and if Elijah could hazard a guess... He'd say Niklaus found a way to disrupt with his connection to his power source. It's causing him suffering, rather than make him feel invincible.

Elijah doesn't go to him, though. He keeps firmly staring at his own dirty hands, rubbing one against the other, waiting...

It's ages later that Finn finally enters the wrecked room. "Look at you, brother... You're a mess. And, as we both know, untidiness is your undoing," he speaks with feigned amusement. Even without looking, Elijah can sense he's weakened. His laborious breath gives him away despite his unshakable haughtiness. "Tell me, do your soiled clothes serve as a reminder of your filthy memories, your many sins? Are you having bad memories now, brother? Perhaps of the innocent Tatia? Or any one of the other poor souls who met their fate at your hands. That's a shame, really, because, in a way, the child is just another one of your victims. Had you the will to stand against me, you might have saved her, but because she was left under the protection of a wretch, a beast that basks in the blood of others, she will die. I suppose your little niece never really had a chance," Finn sniggers, like the thought of an innocent child meeting a terrible fate at the hands of her own family is funny .

What has Esther done to him? Finn was always boring, arrogant and way too indoctrinated by their mother's beliefs, but Elijah doesn't remember him being this vile. Heartless. Esther ruined him beyond repair; in her vain attempt to fix their morals, straighten their ways, she twisted and bent and brain-washed Finn until he became every bit the monster she accused her other children of being. He doesn't just want them dead; he wants to torture them. To cause as much pain as he possibly can. To see them reduced to nothing. That's something not even Niklaus ever wished upon him. He kept Finn locked away in a coffin for 900 years but would never lay a finger to finish him off himself - and would fight anyone who tried.

Elijah might've even found it in him to feel sorry for Finn, to mourn his terrible descent into darkness, if only he wasn't here with the sole purpose of murdering Eve. That Elijah cannot forgive.

He catches the sound of a car fast approaching in the distance. It must be Camille. The car engine stops all of a sudden, though, and Elijah narrows his eyes, looking out the window. He can see the silver SUV parked a couple miles away on the dirt road leading to the house. He cannot wait for her to come any closer.

Well, it's time, then.

"I'd ask for a response," Finn continues as he remains quiet, still rubbing his hands together nonstop. "But I wouldn't want to taint myself with the vulgar refuse that must, even now, be flashing through you mind."

Elijah puts his hands down, standing to his feet at last. "Let me assure you, my mind is quite clear," he speaks slowly in a steady, clipped tone. "Much like the gas which has pervaded every single room in this home whilst you have been ranting like the lunatic that you are. You have disgraced this family for the last time."

He turns to his brother and sees shock and horror register on Finn's widening eyes as he removes his daylight ring and stretches his arm out, letting the last dying rays of sunlight touch his skin like a thousand needles.

Elijah's lips tug upwards. "Goodbye brother," he says as he catches fire.

A second later, the whole house goes up in the air.

TBC

---

Once more, if you're still reading this here and would like quicker updates, please drop me a note and let mw know. :) Thanks for reading!