A/n: Edited on 08/3/2014.

Disclaimer: I do not own TVD.

Chapter 15: Echo Part I

Mystic Falls

Present - February 15, 2011

Rebekah's hesitancy reached a new record. Never in her life had she felt so helpless and alone, even now when she was within slightly good graces of her family, the loneliness spoke volumes. Hesitancy never suited Rebekah's character, like the Original vampire, the stubbornness she possessed heightened to a high that some cannot begin to describe. Stubbornness always ran rampant through her family. Though, it appeared every now and again more than others.

Her spiked heels clicked on the stone tile as she pranced down the stairs to the basement door. As she came upon the basement location, the Original vampire knocked, she waited a few moments before the click of the lock turned, and the door opened. "Come on in, tired of all the testosterone already?"

"More or less." Rebekah replied. She walked downstairs to the inside of the basement with the witch coming behind her and shutting the door.

"I don't have much to drink in here, but I have some warm chamomile tea if you would like any. It's a fresh batch." The witch offered.

"Sure, I need something to clear my mind." Rebekah's mind was still in process of the inner workings of whatever her family is cooking up now. Gladly accepting the tea, she grasped the dark blue mug with her hands. "Thank you," Rebekah spoke in gratitude.

"You're welcome." The other female provided her a polite smile.

Rebekah had lived for ages as a vampire. Transformed at a young age, that same age frame of mind and way of thinking tend to stick to you. After many twists and turns of betrayal thrown in her face, Rebekah always tried to be ready for any sudden changes. Sure, she was shocked to see her brother welcoming her back to the mansion with water under the bridge; she never admitted, but she was relieved not to be on his bad side. However, nothing prepared her for seeing that familiar face she'd never thought to see again, especially before Niklaus locked her up in box with a dagger in her heart.

Oh, yeah. She was royally pissed off at him at his decision of leaving her out of the loop, Klaus explained to her that she didn't need to be troubled about what he had planned out. On the contrary, that statement alone proved her concern of the turning gears in Klaus' brain. Rebekah tried to coax the answer out of Elijah, but he wouldn't budge either, so she went to another instead.

"How could you be here? After all these years, you suddenly just show up. Where were you all this time?" Rebekah asked in shock. Who'd thought after so many years that she would see the witch in front of her again?

"I guess that question was going to turn up sooner or later." The witch said to herself, though Rebekah had heard it loud and clear.

"I need some answers. Klaus isn't saying anything and now Elijah too. You need to help me." Rebekah asserted to her, hoping for anything that might shed some light on this, but hearing the heavy sigh from the witch just made the female vampire's doubts for any answers skyrocket.

"Your brother has my hands tied, Rebekah. I can't tell you anything about what he has planned." She explained as she stood in front of her table messing with some herbs and skimming through her grimoire.

"Since when have you ever let Nik give you orders? You're a bloody witch for goodness sake!" The vampire pointed out, not truly aware of the situation.

Her body became rigid as she paused mid-cutting through some important herbs she was trying to use for a healing remedy. Looking directly at the vampire, the witch's eyes hardened. "Because the ones I care about could be in jeopardy, and I'm not going to take that risk if it means for them to be safe. "

Rebekah covered her dissatisfaction with indifference. "Wow, even now you're still no fun. That's pretty bad considering how long it's been since we've argued." That had to be maybe eighty or ninety years ago, give or take. Those times were crazy back then.

"It's true, but for good reasons."

"Still, you shouldn't have to hide anything from me."

"Why would I lie about a matter as serious as this? If it weren't for the situation, I would tell you everything." Oh, how she wanted not to be in this, becoming entangled in Klaus' games wasn't first on her to-do-list.

"Does anyone know you're here?"

"I'm sure there are some smart ones that know that there's a witch in town, but no one interacted with me personally, besides the others in the mansion and now you." The witch winked at Rebekah.

"Is there anything you can tell me that might help?" Rebekah tried once more, maybe there was a chance to get a little tip of information.

"Well, I can tell you this. We didn't expect to be called in so suddenly until we heard of Caroline Forbes' death. Everyone was keeping a low profile on this sort of vacation, but we kept our heads down until he made the call. Besides, everything was starting to get too calm for our own good. Trouble seems to follow after being with Klaus for so long." the witch enlightened the blonde vampire. It was only a matter of time before Klaus had found them a role to play in his lethal match, satisfying his thirst for vengeance.

"But why? Why all the secrecy?"

Secrets were often explosive if not released at the right time, if they were shown in the wrong way, it could ruin someone altogether. Rebekah had enough of the surreptitious thoughts and tactics. She wanted to know the truth.

"Are you sure that you want to ask me that question when you know your brother better than I do?" The witch asked in an incredulous tone. "When a man like Klaus reaches the end of his rope, what does he do? This is a man who strives to always be one step ahead of his enemies. He will always have a dependable failsafe he can rely on, that's us. He made extra sure we wouldn't come out in the open unless he could be sure that we were the last option he had. This is his last die-trying resort before it all comes down, he could win or die, bringing people down with him in the effort. No one would see this coming."

"So what are they going to say when they find out that Charlene Davis is the mysterious, powerful witch who has everyone caught in a trap?" Rebekah posed the question in the air, curious about her reaction.

The blonde witch sighed deeply to herself as she tried to find an answer to the other woman's question. She ran a hand through her hair, unsure of what to say. "I don't know honestly. I'm sure they'll be a whole range of reactions. It just depends on who finds out."

"Still, everything is so complicated." the blonde vampire commented, wishing for things in her life to be simpler for once.

"You don't have to tell me twice." Charlene agreed.

"Could you give me the recipe?" Rebekah sipped more of the tea. "I could use more of this."

"It's an old recipe that I got from someone way back when. I can't release the secret recipe, but I can always make you some whenever you like." The witch offered instead.

Charlene tried to keep herself busy by talking to Rebekah, knowing what was transpiring upstairs.

But today wasn't in her favor when a sharp yell echoed through out the mansion, causing Charlene to cringe outwardly hearing the vampire's torture. She wasn't the only one who heard it, Rebekah could recognize those yells in any room filled to the brim with people, knowing him for so long.

"What's Stefan doing here?" Rebekah asked in shock, not believing what she was hearing, standing up with every part of her on edge.

"Rebekah." The blonde witch implored carefully, seeing the female vampire inch her way up the small case of stairs. "Listen to me, it's better for you just to wait."

"I can't just sit here. They'll torture him!" She hollered wildly in desperation, hurrying closer to the door, struggling with the lock on the door that wouldn't budge. Damn it, it was a spell!

The female Original turned around seeing the witch's hand raised, ready to do what's necessary. Naturally, she wasn't a fighter in person, but Charlene will do what she had to do. "Don't make me do this..."

Meanwhile...

"Loneliness Stefan, that's why you and I memorialize our dead. There's the briefest of moments where we hold their life in our hands and then we rip it away and we're left with nothing. So gathering other people's letters or writing their names on a wall is a reminder that we are left infinitely and utterly alone."

Those words spoken to Stefan a while back truly haunted him from where he stood. He was now at the mercy of his old friend and once partner-in-crime, Klaus, The Original Hybrid. He was either very brave or very stupid to look for Rebekah in the one place where he was most unwelcome. And by that, it could mean by losing his life permanently by Klaus' hands. There was no one that could help now. He felt truly and utterly alone.

And there he was, compelled to stand there still with no hint of movements until Klaus changed his mind. Knowing Klaus, it would definitely be a long day before even the word of "escape" would fit into Stefan's situation.

"Looks like I caught the little Salvatore into a trap. Why doesn't that surprise me?" To see Klaus act so nonchalant and so casual rang alarms inside of Stefan's head. Whatever Klaus' play implemented, it gave Stefan undesired feels creeping up his skin and giving Klaus the satisfaction of instilling fear into others.

"Now Niklaus, take it easy on him. He wasn't wholly responsible our younger brother's passing." Elijah calmed his brother, strolling into the of the many dens in his brother's mansion, classy in his usual manner. With his brother's unpredictable behavior on the rise, Elijah took it upon himself to at least oversee that Niklaus kept his temper to a minimum.

Klaus laughed a humorless chuckle. "And dear brother, when have I ever been known to be easy?"

"It was just a suggestion, Niklaus. Damon won't be pleased if you roughen up Stefan too much, and we don't need an angry Salvatore on our hands. And to make it clear, if things get out of hand, this is by your doing. I'm not going to help you in this," Klaus' elder brother warned him ahead of time.

"I don't need your help, Elijah. Damon Salvatore is the least of my worries. If need be, I'll just teach him another lesson. It shouldn't take much." Klaus mentioned with a sneer.

"With your secret weapon?" Stefan's question came out more like a statement from the infliction of his voice.

"Of course you would know, Stefan. You were there, remember? With just one word, I could have sent Damon to his death, but that just takes the fun out of everything. I need all of you to stay alive to enjoy the show to its fullest." Klaus reached over to the table with his many tools adjacent to Stefan's right side, but still a ways from him while Stefan hung chained and trapped, the younger vampire's hands hanging in the air with the metal teeth of the bear traps digging into his skin.(Let's just say that Klaus borrowed a page from Rebekah's book of torture ideas, just this once). Klaus' originality in his torture will make up for the loan.

"What are you doing?" Stefan asked, hoping to stall Klaus long enough to see if he can find a way out of this forsaken mental asylum.

"Jackson Pollock once said, 'Every good painter paints what he is.' And now, I'm going to paint what I am. It should be pretty simple for you to figure that out considering all I am to you is evil, right?" He mocked Stefan as grabbed a sharp knife and dipped it into the small bowl which held a clear liquid inside, much like water. With an artist's precision, Klaus held the knife like it was his paintbrush, ready to begin his masterpiece, using good ole' Stefan as his canvas. "Pop quiz, Stefan. What is the other most essential material that a painter must have to complete his work? It's not hard. There is only one right answer."

"Paint," the younger Salvatore answered.

"So, there is hope for you after all." Klaus said as he stalked closer, his voice purring with a false sense of security. "Too bad that my natural talents are calling to be used." With that, the Original stabbed Stefan in his stomach, ready to bleed him like a stymied pig.

Stefan grunted as his face contorted in pain. The flesh around the blade sizzled and burned caused by the vervain-infected water. "And just for extra measure," he heard Klaus speak before the blade twisted and turned adding salt to the wound, the pain twice as bad. Stefan's yells of agony were music to the hybrid's ears.

"You just had to do this in the living room, didn't you?" Elijah didn't want any more blood spilled than necessary. Klaus was always messier with torture or killing while Elijah was more precise and to the point.

Klaus paid him no mind as he continued his handiwork. "Now, where am I going to get the paint? Whatever shall we do? It's a tragedy." His mocking sarcasm was definitely not needed on Stefan's part, but Stefan eyed the knife in the hybrid's hand as Klaus used it to cut through the shirt the Salvatore was wearing before.

"Here we go, I have all the material I need, right." He paused in his words for only a second, edging the blade from Stefan's right shoulder to across his chest at a downward diagonal angle. "Here."

Stefan's mouth grimaced tightly holding in the urge to yell, reacting to the burn cut into his flesh. But as he reacted, it sent more shots of agony when he involuntarily clenched and unclenched his wrists, the metal teeth of the bear trap digging more into his bloody wrists. From Klaus' sadistic cutting edge, he had successfully found resource for his "paint." "You see, you made an unwise decision of coming here, even if the purpose was noble of you to check on my little sister and where she had gone. But alas, it's on you for not thinking through with your decision."

"Klaus." Stefan rasped, "it's your fault."

"About what?" Klaus asked curiously, wiping the blood off of his knife as he got ready for another round.

"All of this. None of this wouldn't have happened if it weren't for you." Stefan explained more clearly.

"Oh, do explain your theory. I'm sure it's going to backfire anyway." Klaus said approaching him, studying him.

Elijah watched carefully, but with interest as to see what the younger vampire had to say about his brother. Stefan had guts, but it was only going to take him so far, and knowing Niklaus' anger and temper, it wouldn't take Stefan far enough.

"Think of it, Klaus. Had you not pulled Caroline into your complicated mess, she'd still be alive now. That if you'd managed to think of someone besides yourself for once, Caroline never would have been in the line of fire."

With an angry growl of fury, Klaus rushed over to the chained up vampire, his hand embedded into Stefan's chest with his fingers tightly gripping his heart. "The only thing stopping me from killing you is that I want to you to watch as I make everyone you love suffer, starting with your ex-doppelganger girlfriend, Elena." Then Klaus added the cherry on top. "First, I'll slowly drain her brother dry until there's no life left in him, then I will make you hear her screams until her last dying breath as she suffers..."

Stefan snarled with his eyes turning red with dark veins dilating, furious at Klaus' threat, but it did him no good as he struggled against the chains once again. Klaus smirked seeing the younger brother fight him. It's a pity. A part of Klaus missed the Ripper that he once could call his brother, someone he can could relate to. Too bad trust is rarely anything meaningful anymore thus making things a lot more difficult. He took away his bloody hand from Stefan's chest. In hasty strikes, he drew multiple deep lines onto the Salvatore's anterior portion of his body, mainly his core. The lines drawn burned and boiled from the vervain-soaked blade, leaving bloody dripping lines.

"Oh Stefan." Klaus said. "That's going to leave a mark."

"Niklaus, enough of this dilly-dallying. If you want to finish Stefan, I'll do it myself." Elijah spoke, annoyed with all of the unnecessary trifling. It was getting out of hand and the last thing he needed was to deal with a overemotional Damon Salvatore once again when he finds out about his baby brother's torture.

Before Klaus could deter Elijah from spoiling his sport, the intrusive sound of the door flying open and crashing into the wall interrupting the two brothers and the captive Salvatore. Rebekah came scrambling into the room, looking as close to frantic as she ever had, her wide blue eyes surveyed the scene in front of her and only grew wider as she realized her worst fears over Stefan's disappearance had come true. His body bore signs of Niklaus's torture, and judging by the healing, but gaping hole in his chest, Rebekah had arrived just in time. Her eyes lingered accusingly on Klaus's hands, which were coated in Stefan's blood.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" the blonde Original demanded of her brother.

With a characteristic smirk that came nowhere close to reaching his eyes, Klaus gestured to Stefan's bloodied, chained down form. "I thought it was fairly obvious, Rebekah. Would you care for a diagram?"

Klaus was in no mood to deal with his baby sister's theatrics, her habit of consistently and predictably pursuing the wrong men was no longer his problem to deal with.

Rebekah's eyes turned icy as she stormed towards her brother, both fury and frantic concern fueling her actions.

"I'm not going to let you kill him!" Rebekah swore passionately, the threat clear in her cracked tone. A half a beat later, Rebekah turned her accusing gaze to Elijah, who remained standing a few feet away with an exasperated expression, "Why didn't you stop him?" she demanded, speaking as if Klaus were no longer in the room.

Elijah's returning gaze was tired and less than engaging, "You know as well I do that I don't control the things our brother does." If he did, his life wouldn't be spent in a continual roar of suffering for other people's mistakes and choices.

Klaus's smirk stayed in place as picked up a nearby knife, one that he'd previously used against the younger Salvatore. His blood still stained the fine silver, but it was dried and dark.

"Always aiming for the dramatics." Klaus commented to Rebekah carelessly. He glanced at Stefan, whose breathing was still ragged and forced, and then back at Rebekah, "My quarrel with Stefan is none of your concern, baby sister. I suggest you leave whilst you still have the ability to do so, you wouldn't want your unrequited pining for Stefan to land you back in a coffin, now would you?" Klaus taunted mirthlessly just before he stabbed Stefan in the gut, twisting the knife once again and causing Stefan to moan in pain through a choked coughing that sounded to Rebekah as though he was choking on his own blood.

"Bekah, get out of here!" Stefan wheezed breathlessly, his green eyes fierce and commanding as he looked at Rebekah. Despite the pain that was etched into his features, concern for the blonde Original shone clearly there too. With Klaus's unstable mental position, Stefan didn't want to risk his wrath turning on Rebekah, not again.

"Get away from him, Nik!" Rebekah screamed, the look Stefan had given her was sending her into a new kind of determination. She ran forward and grabbed on to Klaus's arm and pulled back, forcing him to remove the knife from Stefan's stomach. "Stop it!"

Klaus furiously ripped his arm from Rebekah's hold, but the smirk he'd worn earlier began to light his face again as he looked in between Stefan and Rebekah. "Oh," Klaus said in a mockingly flamboyant tone, spreading his arms out in a grand gesture, "it seems I was wrong. This is much more than some silly infatuation with wanting yet another man who wouldn't so much as spit in your direction." Klaus added spitefully before he went on with his exaggerated bravado, "you really care for him, don't you?"

Off to the side, Elijah remained silent, but anyone looking at his expression would be able to tell he had reached the end of his rope. Klaus's petty revenge schemes and Rebekah's affections for Stefan were wasted on him. This little show of the hybrid's powers was grating on his nerves, and he would put a stop to it soon if his siblings couldn't reign their out of control tempers in.

Rebekah's eyes widened a little and she swallowed back her shock. Stefan wasn't supposed to be important to her, that was never part of the plan, he was supposed to be her no-strings distraction. But...she would be lying to herself to say that their relationship never strayed from their original plan, that much was obviously demonstrated by her rescue attempt. But Nik didn't need to know about her feelings, and she didn't need to admit them, all she needed to do was save Stefan from being another casualty in their family's long list of caught-in-the-crossfire victims.

"How I feel has nothing to do with this." Rebekah said coldly, refusing to appear weak in front of her brother again, "this isn't about me at all! This is about you and the fact that you can't move past your own grief!" she snapped at Klaus, her eyes turning icy and accusing again. "I'm not going to let you kill Stefan because you want everyone to be as miserable and alone as you are!"

Numb, all feelings toward his baby sister were thrown aside. He flashed over, slamming Rebekah against the wall with his hand firmly around her neck in a deadly chokehold. "Well then, little sister. I think we have reached an impasse."

"Keep your hands off me before I put you in a bloody coffin!" Using the spike of her heels, she kicked his stomach successfully stabbing him in the stomach with the stilettos sticking out of him oddly.

He staggered back with fury blazing in his eyes and gritting his teeth, ready to teach his sister a lesson that she would never forget. "You really shouldn't have done that."

Rebekah scoffed as she came towards him, ready to defend Stefan. "It's just like you said, Nik. I am a little mean, aren't I? A little brother and sister fight isn't hard. So, this shouldn't be even in the least difficult for you if you want to end this." Rebekah eyed the painting that situated on the wall, and swung it over Klaus' skull only for her to miss by the last second.

"Oh, it's more than that." He took out the cursed heel out of his abdomen, and threw it aside like it was trash. Klaus threw his head back in mock laughter. "But, you know that you can't beat me, Bekah. Who was it that taught you how to defend yourself?"

Rebekah's eyes narrowed at the use of her special childhood nickname. He dared to use that on her! Cheap shot! "Last I recall it was you that taught me all the tricks." She answered with a smirk. "However, I can certainly try to kick your arse in long enough to use for my advantage."

"We'll see." Klaus brandished the silver blade he had in his hands previously, ready to use. As he charged over, Rebekah went defensive and held him back with her hands against his, pushing back as best she could trying to prevent him from stabbing her. For a long agonizing minute, no one could break the hold they were stubbornly trying to take advantage of. Both Originals did not take losing very well, and neither of them were willing to back down from this, and Klaus and Rebekah were probably the most two stubborn Originals of all.

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Both of Elijah's siblings stopped momentarily, shocked by his outburst. Not often did he ever raise his voice for anything, but it only took once for them to stop bickering like children. The eldest Mikaelson had enough of this. He proceeded towards the bloody Salvatore and began to release him from his shackles.

But, Klaus wouldn't have any of it. "No!"

Now with her brother distracted, Rebekah took the advantage and stole the blade from her brother. Using her strength, she threw her brother through the double glass doors that led to the den of the mansion, leaving nothing but bits of wood and broken glass on the floor.

"And, I just replaced that door..." Klaus wheezed from the bit of wind knocked out of him.

With Nik temporarily down on his back, the female Original stood over him and was ready to bring the hammer down. Her smugness was evident in her face as she held the knife in her hand, aiming for his heart.

"Who has the upper advantage now?"

Just as when she was inches away from breaking through the skin and bone to strike through her brother's chest, an unseen monster pounced on Rebekah in effort to get her away from Klaus, knocking out the knife in her hand. Rebekah looked up to see the caramel-colored wolf snarling, trying to hold Rebekah back by pinning her to the ground away from Klaus.

"Get the hell away from me!" She backslapped the wolf away from her like it was only a fly, the wolf flying against the wall making an inaudible whine from the impact. And just to make sure it would stay down, the female vampire used an extra measure. She threw the silver bloody blade into the wolf's stomach, causing the wolf to moan and whimper in pain.

"That ought to take care of you," she said in disgust.

Little did they know that the wolf's sounds of pain didn't go unheard by just the vampires in the mansion, but also by a struggling witch crawling on her belly from the injuries she sustained to get to chaotic exchange between the siblings. She had to get to them. To get to...

Elijah had finished releasing Stefan from the stupidly complicated contraptions used for his imprisonment, and dragged the bloody vampire to the front entry.

"I must advise you not to come back if you want to live. My brother has already proven of the scale of far his anger can go." Elijah warned him promptly, slightly disappointed of Stefan's decisions and now that his clean-cut suit was foiled.

"But..." Stefan tried to protest, but his injuries from the torture prevented him from fully speaking.

"Just heed my warning and stay away, I will make sure of my sister's safety." Elijah said curtly. The eldest Mikaelson wasn't going to repeat the same thing twice.

Stefan's vision kept coming in and out, not allowing him to see fully as Elijah dragged him away like a dirty, old rug. The loss of blood was really starting to affect his senses, but he tried to concentrate hard enough to see what was going on. The Salvatore went into shock seeing a young woman on the floor trying to get to the fighting siblings. He watched as best he could with his eyesight not functioning properly as she picked up her head to see what was ahead of her, but that wasn't all he saw. He saw a pair of familiar light blue eyes, lighter than his own brother's that stroked something familiar to him from so long ago. And that's when both vampire and witch caught the same thing between them in the last second.

The look of recognition.

To be continued...