Thanks everyone for your reviews. Shoutout to PennyDreadfulWho, guest, SerenaSalvatore, and hunterofartemis126.

TwilightHybrid: It won't happen now or even any time soon but Damon will get what's coming to him for everything he did to Caroline. Caroline is probably the most relatable character of VD and is so loved by the fans because of everything she went through even through her insecurities, she still persevered and became stronger after all the shit she went through for her so-called friends. Caroline deserves all the happiness and loyalty. Sorry but Bill is still going to die like he did in the show. I just don't need him here.

Blu3b3rryT3a: Agreed. Thanks for reading.

Notes: When I started writing this story in my notebook, this chapter didn't exist but it's necessary. I want to develop the relationship between Kai and the Originals and Klaus and Caroline rather than skip to Kol's death like I wrote before. Sorry, this short story just seems to be getting longer and longer. And I love it.

Place: Lockwood Manor, Mystic Falls

Date: September 17, 2010

Caroline stood stunned as she looked around at the party when she entered the Lockwood Mansion. The house and the yard were full of people, most were students but there were several people she didn't know. There was even a live band playing. After settling in and getting herself a drink, she went to the yard and almost spit out her cocktail when she saw Klaus on the stage.

"Good evening, everyone! I want to thank you all for being here with me to celebrate! It's been a long time coming!"

Well, that explains it. There was no way Tyler could have thrown a better party than her on such short notice. And it wasn't a reach to guess that Klaus had had the gym flooded and ruined all her preparations for Homecoming. There's no way she would admit that Klaus, of all people, was a better party planner than her. He was cheating since he probably had experience with all those balls his family threw during their days as nobles in the Middle Ages.

When she returned inside, she saw Matt and Elena entering through the front door, which was odd. Matt was supposed to have come with Rebekah and looking closer at Elena, there was something strange about how she carried herself. More confident and self-assured. As she approached her ex-boyfriend and her friend, she felt the instinctive chill of the threat of an older vampire race up her spine. Maggie and Enzo had drilled the ability into her body. Elena certainly would not have elicited that reaction from her.

Katherine.

Something was definitely going on.

Klaus knew a trap when he saw it. So he made sure to come up with a contingency plan of his own. He thought of running when Stefan mentioned Mikael, but with a few friends on his side, he decided to use the opportunity to rid himself of the thorn in his side that was his father for good.

Stefan couldn't be trusted as he had found a way around the compulsions and the doppelganger's friends somehow got his sister on their side. Rebekah betrayed him. She would have to be punished for that. He just woke her but he would be fine with shoving her back in a box for another century for her betrayal.

"Quite the homecoming."

"I've been planning my father's funeral for a thousand years, granted in no version were any of these people invited but you get the idea."

"Well, I for one, am grateful for my invitation." Stefan whipped around in surprise at the sight of Vera. She was wearing a black asymmetrical dress with lace over the shoulder sleeves and a lace choker around her neck. Her braids were parted symmetrically over each shoulder with gold bands holding the locks together. Her makeup was dark with gold accents in her eyeshadow.

"And you're here for Mikael's funeral because..?"

"He's a sexist, racist, misogynistic, warmongering, murderous asshole. I've wanted to kill him since he humiliated me in the 20s - I mean to insinuate that I could've been sleeping with you… disgusting. I had never been so humiliated in my long life," Vera said dramatically with a hand on her chest.

"Yes, we get it, Vera. No need to rub it in."

"But he has been tormenting you for a thousand years, so I thought I'd allow you the honor."

"Thank you, love."

"Although I do reserve the right to burn his body and dance on his ashes." The smile on the black and gold painted lips was sweet in contrast to the malicious words that left those same lips.

"So, what now? You stop running?"

"Now, I reunite my family."

"Your family. You mean the people you cart around in caskets?"

"None of that matters anymore. Mikael is gone. Bygones will be bygones." The Homecoming queen passed right by them. "Seems the Homecoming Queen still walks among the living, which leads me to believe Rebekah isn't here...Where is she?"

"I have no idea. I thought she was coming with Matt. How would you like me to take you to your father?

"Well, it wouldn't be a party without the guest of honor, would it? Bring him to me."

"All right. Perhaps there's something in it for me...? My freedom from your compulsion?"

"Oh, you want your freedom. Well, once he is dead and his weapon destroyed, you'll have your freedom. It'll be my pleasure to give it back."

Stefan left Vera and Klaus alone. Before Vera could get a word in, they heard a very familiar voice call, "Klaus!"

Caroline effortlessly pushed the people out of her way as she made her way to the hybrid and the Bethesdan witch.

A smile formed on Klaus' lips as he took in the curly-haired blonde beauty in the pink sheath dress. The best thing to come out of the hateful sixties was the sexual revolution. No matter how much he liked how the dress hugged her curves, he'd rather rip the dress off to caress her curves with his mouth and hands until she's writhing beneath him in the pleasure he would bring her.

She resembled a queen gracing them with her presence as the masses parted to allow her through.

Vera rolled her eyes as Klaus was obviously ogling the young vampire as she came to stand in front of them. "Caroline, hey." She brought the younger girl in for a hug. "You look great, by the way. Although I'm surprised you're not the Prom Queen."

"It's Homecoming."

Vera just furrowed her brow. She had no idea what the difference was. But she wasn't gonna tell Caroline that since she didn't have time for the blonde to give her a lecture on the differences when she was planning on murdering Mikael.

"Hello, Caroline." Thank Tara for Klaus giving her a way out of the conversation. "Might I say, you look absolutely stunning in that dress."

"You used your freaky sire bond with Tyler to ruin my Homecoming, didn't you? I've been working hard on it all summer."

"My apologies, love. I needed a more secure location for what I have planned tonight," Klaus said. "Be honest, Caroline. Is this not better than anything your school budget allocated for your Homecoming."

Caroline huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, pushing up her bosom. "That's not the point. The point is you ruined all my hard work."

"Then let me make it up to you." The music shifted from hard rock to a ballad. Several of the people around them partnered up to dance to the slow song. "Join me for a dance, love?"

She hesitated but she was slowly being pulled into his orbit. With his soft blue eyes and boyish yet charming smile, she almost forgot he was a thousand-year-old vampire who had the blood of thousands on his hands. The same hand he was extending out to her hand killed Jenna and Elena and Tyler. He was the terror of Mystic Falls.

But she felt like Klaus would be honest with her.

Ever since she became a vampire, after Bonnie rejected helping her, a strain had formed between her and her friends. She helped them with Katherine because the bitch threatened her mom, but other than that, she'd stayed out of the Salvatore brothers' schemes. Especially when they brought her nothing but pain. She still had nightmares about getting tortured by the werewolves.

And now, they were planning on acting against Klaus. She'd planned on staying out of it but her friends' plans, more often than not, go belly up, and involved or not, she usually ended up as collateral damage. Case and point, when they pissed off a pack of werewolves and said wolves kidnapped her even though she had nothing to do with any of it.

The Salvatore brothers would burn the world for Elena. And while Caroline had Kai, she wanted to be more self-reliant since Kai wasn't always going to be around to help her. She had to look out for herself.

"Fine." She took his hand, allowing him to twirl her twice before pulling her into him.

Klaus, respectfully, placed his hand on her waist as they swayed to the music. "I heard from Rebekah you helped her settle into the high school."

"Well she can be bitchy and she snapped my neck but I can also be just as bitchy and I threw her into a locker so we're even."

Klaus laughed. "Nothing like a little violence to get a friendship underway. When I first met Vera, her eyes flashed and she could tell I had a curse. Not many people in the supernatural world knew about my curse so I crushed her hand and pinned her to a wall by her neck. She showed me visions of myself breaking my curse and prophesied I would do so in 90 years. When I let her go, she used her magic to toss me into a wall and stabbed me in the neck with her manicured nails. Then she declared she would be my best friend."

Caroline scoffed. "God, you're an ass."

"Well, I did something right as she is the only friend who has yet to betray me. I hoped you would be such a friend to Rebekah," he said. His smile left his face and his eyes darkened. A chill crawled up Caroline's spine and she instinctively tried to pull away, only for Klaus to hold her tight to him. His grip was firm and unmoving but not made to hurt. But his voice was almost threatening. "Now tell me, Caroline, where is my sister?"

Caroline inhaled deeply to center herself. She let herself relax, submitting to his predator, to show she was no threat. "I have no idea. She was getting ready at the Salvatore Boarding House and told me that Matt would be her date, but he suddenly shows up here with Katherine, pretending to be Elena, on his arm." Her voice was low to keep any unwanted vampires from eavesdropping but being close to her allowed Klaus to easily hear her words. "What is going on, Klaus?"

Klaus' grip softened. "It would seem your friends are plotting with my father to kill me and my sister is working with them."

"Is this about you killing your mother?"

Klaus's body stiffened as he looked into Caroline's eyes. "How do you know that?"

"There's a cave system under the town and your and your family's names are written there. Alaric translated the markings and the marking for hybrid was shown to have killed the Original Witch. Elena was hounding Rebekah about the carvings during cheerleading, asking her for a reason not to wake Mikael... Yeah. It turns out that he came for Elena years ago when she was a baby and Bonnie's mom desiccated him, locking him up in a cemetery somewhere in North Carolina."

Caroline told him everything she knew and Klaus put the pieces together. Stefan must've met Mikael in the 20s after he compelled him to forget. With his memories back, Stefan put the pieces together, that he and Rebekah had been running from him, and told his brother, who worked with Katerina to find and awaken Mikael.

"Caroline, I need you to leave the party." Klaus pulled her along with him toward the inside of the house.

"What?"

"I plan to kill my father here today. You might get caught in the crossfire. Go home, Caroline." He summoned Tyler and handed Caroline over to her boyfriend. "Stay safe." He told the baby vampire before turning to Tyler. "Take her home."

Everyone calls him paranoid, but Klaus' paranoia has kept him alive for over a thousand years. He could tell something was wrong the moment Stefan called to tell him about Mikael. There was no reason for Stefan to have known about his father in the first place. Even if he did find out he and Rebekah had been running from him for a thousand years, even Klaus with his vast resources couldn't track down his father. They had to have gone looking for Mikael.

He scoffed at the idea that the human doppelganger was able to get the drop on Mikael to dagger him. Even as a human, Mikael was a ruthless Viking warrior, who spent most of his life on the battlefield. His battle instincts were sharper than Klaus. There was no way the Salvatores and the very human doppelganger got the drop on his father when he, Elijah, and Marcellus were unable to only a century before.

The trap was obvious. Immediately after Stefan's call, he had made his own plans and called for backup. Vera was all too happy to come and bring a few of her people with her. Moving the party to the Lockwood house would ensure that Mikael wouldn't be able to come inside the house, which means he'd have to give the White Oak stake to someone with an invite. The most likely culprit would be the elder Salvatore. And He had silent sentinels, other than his hybrids, watching his flank too.

He was almost trembling in anticipation as he waited, passing the time by playing beer pong. "You have a visitor," Mindy whispered in his ears.

"Well, tell my visitor I'm on the brink of victory here."

"He said his name is Mikael." A chill crept up his spine which he immediately pushed down. He was no longer that weak boy his father found pleasure in whipping for the littlest things. He became a man a long time ago. He was the terror of the supernatural world and he planned on killing his greatest enemy. He would kill his father today, no matter what.

Klaus threw the ping pong ball into a cup. "Then we mustn't keep him waiting. Move everyone out back. I'm gonna have a little chat with my dad. Tony, you know what to do." Klaus goes to the front door, exchanging glances with his four silent sentinels. He faced his father in the doorway.

"Hello, Niklaus."

"Hello, Mikael. Why don't you come in? Oh, that's right. I forgot you can't."

"Or you can come outside if you want."

"Or I could watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb." Several of the hybrids surrounded the area behind Mikael.

The Destroyer remained unfazed. "They can't kill me."

"True. But it'll make a hell of a party game. All I have to do is rub these two fingers together and they'll pounce."

"The big bad wolf. You haven't changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You only forget. They may be sired by you, but they're still part-vampire. And they can be compelled by me." Mindy walks up to Mikael and hands Katherine, disguised as Elena, over to him. "Come out and face me, Niklaus. Or she dies."

Klaus had accounted for that. He also knew that the hybrids wouldn't have been able to do anything to Mikael. If anything they were fodder since he hadn't had the time to train them. They were never a part of his real plan.

Klaus chuckled and nonchalantly waved his hand. "Go ahead. Kill her."

"No, Klaus! He'll do it!" Katherine cried.

"If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations."

"I don't need them. I just need to be rid of you."

"To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever, with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! What do you have other than those whose loyalty you forced? No one. No one."

Klaus's eyes begin to tear just as a hand falls on his shoulder. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. He has me. What more could he need?" Vera smiled at the Destroyer as she stood beside her friend. "Hello, Mikael."

It took a while for her face to register but he remembered her from that day in Chicago. He brushed her off as she was just a witch and no match for him. He turned to his stepson.

"I'm calling your bluff, father. Kill her."

"Come outside and face me, you little coward. And I won't have to."

"My whole life you've underestimated me. If you kill her you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill her. Come on, old man. Kill her. Kill her!"

Mikael laughs. "Your impulse, Niklaus. It has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great." Mikael stabs Katherine with a dagger and pulls it out. She falls to the floor.

There was silence before Klaus' laughter rang through the house. "Quite the performance. Oh, Katerina, you should know by now that I am not my brother. Did you think flashing your doe eyes would dull my senses and not realize it was a vampire standing before me rather than my human blood bag?" Klaus shrugged. "And the Salvatore brothers would never allow their precious Elena to play such a dangerous role in their plan. I suppose she must be waiting for news of my death in the Salvatore Boarding House."

"Katherine." Mikael gasped. Katherine opened her eyes and stood up before she rushed off. Her part was done since her cover was blown. She'd leave the Salvatores to face Klaus' wrath as she ran to safety on the other side of the world.

Klaus turned back to Mikael. "Frankly, Mikael, I expected more from you."

Just then, Damon rushed up behind Klaus, but a flash passed through the room and Damon was flung away from Klaus, the White Oak stake clattering to the floor. "Not tonight, mate."

Damon stilled at the sound of the voice. He slowly looked up. "Enzo?"

"Hello, Damon. Long time no see. It's been - what? - 52 years since you left me to burn alive in that fire?" Enzo said, his vampire on full display as he stood before his old friend. "Well, I found a better friend who saved me that night. Thanks, love." Enzo called over his shoulder.

"No problem, darling," Vera replied.

Damon stood frozen in place, staring at his old friend he had turned his humanity off to leave to die. He stepped forward hesitantly, but his legs buckled beneath him when he felt a sharp pain in his back.

"Do you think he's more surprised to see you or me?" Maggie said. Damon howled as Maggie ripped out his spinal cord and crushed the bones at the base of his spinal column.

"Oh, and meet my wife, Maggie James. You remember her, right? You tried taking her head off in the 1960s." Maggie let Damon fall and she loomed over him. She had changed her style but he remembered her face. She had been searching for information on him and Enzo and Augustine. He had her head in his hand, ready to decapitate her, but he was ambushed and his neck was snapped.

Damon was in tears and in pain as two of his victims - his old friend and his wife - loomed over him. He was paralyzed from the waist down as she had crushed his vertebrae. Regrowing bones was a bitch. He wouldn't be able to move for the rest of the night.

Maggie picked up the White Oak stake off the floor and turned to Vera but before she could, a searing pain pierced her skull. Enzo, Maggie, and Klaus crouched down in pain, clutching their heads from a witchy migraine. As Vera looked around, her eyes met Bonnie's on the staircase who was focusing on them, with both her hands held out in front of her.

Bonnie's eyes widened in surprise when Vera smirked at her. The spell wasn't affecting her, no matter how much power she poured into it.

Vera released a wave of her magic to break Bonnie's spell.

Klaus, Maggie, and Enzo let out a sigh of relief as the pain quickly went away.

With a wave of her hand, Vera lifted Bonnie in the air and pulled her down from the stairwell. She dropped her unceremoniously beside Damon, who was still groaning on the ground with a broken spine. With a wave of one hand, she cast a sleep spell on Bonnie, and with her other hand, she broke Damon's neck to keep him from interfering.

While Maggie and Enzo would watch Klaus' flank to stop anyone else from interfering, Vera would remain by his side. She picked up the stake and handed it to Klaus.

Klaus inhaled shakily as he touched the intricately carved weapon. The one weapon his father possessed that had loomed over him for a thousand years was now in his hands. "I must say, I'm disappointed in you father. Using these children in your schemes. Did you truly believe I didn't have my own plans? I knew this was a trap the moment Stefan said your name and I planned accordingly. And yes, though I may force the loyalties of many, those who have given me their loyalty have given it freely and they have not disappointed me." He glanced at Vera, who smiled at him. And here, I have the one weapon to rid myself of you for eternity."

Klaus flashed forward but stopped suddenly when a flash of blonde hair came between him and Mikael. Vera and Klaus gasped at the sight of a barely conscious Caroline being held by Tyler in front of Mikael.

Klaus looked at the glassy eyes of his first hybrid as he passed Caroline to his father. The scent of vervain was strong and kept the baby vampire weak. "Ver -a… Klaus." Caroline whispered. She groaned when Mikael snapped her spine.

"I took the opportunity when your hybrid told me how close you were to her this evening. It was a gamble, but surely, you haven't fallen for this child have you, Niklaus? She is weak!" Mikael growled as she thrust his hand into Caroline's back, causing the young vampire to cry out in pain when the man grasped her heart. "You should have plunged that stake into me through her. I thought I taught you better, boy. Love makes you soft. Love makes you weak."

Klaus gripped the stake tight as his eyes flew from Caroline to Mikael. He composed himself and shrugged. "Caroline is important to my allies. Had I gone through her, my allies would surely turn on me."

Chaos erupted when Stefan came out of nowhere and shoved Mikael, not caring for Caroline.

"No!" Vera used her powers and sent a line of magic that cut through Mikael's arm that was in Caroline's chest. Klaus rushed forward as Mikael howled at the pain of his severed hand. He tossed Caroline to safety, through the threshold, into Maggie's awaiting arms. She and Vera quickly attended to the blonde.

Kai came out of the shadows and held his hand up, setting off a sonic attack at the hybrids, keeping them at bay as the father and son battle.

Even without an arm, Mikael was formidable. He used his entire body to fight Klaus, throwing punches and kicks at his son. They grappled and Klaus ended up on top of him, with the stake pointing at his chest. Mikael kicked him off causing the stake to fall out of Klaus' hands. Mikael reached for the stake, but Klaus quickly held him in a headlock and pushed his father into the threshold barrier.

"Klaus!" Kai threw the stake at the hybrid, who quickly caught it and stabbed it through Mikael's ribs, straight into his heart. Mikael screamed as the stake erupted into flames. His body burned up in front of them. Maggie quickly threw the severed arm they removed from Caroline, that had erupted, to join the burning body of the destroyer.

Everyone stood still, watching in silence.

It was over.

The moment Vera stepped into the Lockwood house that evening, she set up a barrier around the house. She knew a battle would be taking place and it would be tedious to have to compel every witness.

As the humans passed through the barrier, their phone memories of the night would be wiped along with their human memories. No one would remember the supernatural fight that took place. Their memories were replaced with songs and dances and gossip between friends. The rest could be explained away with drunkenness.

Mikael's compulsions wore off the moment he died so the hybrids were no longer a threat. Kai rushed to Caroline's side. When he saw her in danger, it took all his self-control to stick to the plan instead of rushing to save her. He trusted Vera to take care of her.

Her head was resting against Maggie's shoulder as Vera and Enzo crowded around her. Kai nudged her awake. "Come on, Caroline, wake up."

As she began to wake, he placed a blood capsule between her lips, which she quickly chewed on. The wound in her back healed and the burning of the vervain in her veins disappeared. When she opened her eyes, everyone around her breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kai, you're here." She looked around at the faces smiling at her. "And Maggie and Enzo, too."

"Oh, Great Tara, you're going to turn me gray with how much I have to worry about you. Why didn't you go home?" Vera said.

"Caroline." Tyler called to her at the same time Caroline stated, "Tyler vervained me."

A blizzard entered the room as the four formed up around Caroline as though she was the president and they were the Secret Service.

Tyler skidded to a stop and fell to his knees, crying as he clutched his head. Kai was sending the worst aneurysm Tyler had ever had while bombarding his sensitive ears with a sonic attack that made him bleed.

"Seriously Tyler, how many times do I have to warn you before you get it through your thick skull? Maybe making your brain bleed will help you absorb my warnings better."

"He compelled me," Tyler cried between screams. "I didn't want to hurt her."

Kai caught sight of Stefan in the corner of his eye. "And you." He cast a bone-breaking spell at the ripper. Stefan fell to his feet as his bone began to break at odd angles, much like how a werewolf shifted. "You endangered Caroline's life by attacking Mikael. You could've caused her to lose her heart." A feral grin formed on Kai's lips. Stefan's ribs began popping out of his sternum one by one. Blood seeped into his white shirt. "Well, maybe I should return the favor." Kai's handheld in the shape of a claw, twisting and turning Stefan's heart using telekinesis.

"Enough!" Kai's eyes met Klaus'. "She's fine, isn't she? No harm done." The Hybrid and the Heretic stared at each other, the atmosphere tense between them.

The hybrids stood at the ready behind Klaus as Enzo and Maggie guarded Caroline behind Kai. Vera stood on the side and caught Kai's eyes, shaking her head at him. She didn't want to fight with Klaus over this.

"That's enough, both of you." Vera stepped between them. "Klaus, call off your idiot dogs." The hybrids growled at her but she ignored them. "And Kai, Klaus tried to get Caroline to safety, both before and during the fight with Mikael."

Caroline placed a hand on Kai's arm, forcing him to turn his attention to her while still holding the spells on Tyler and Stefan. "Klaus told me to go home so I wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. Tyler shouldn't have vervained me but he had no way of fighting Mikael's compulsions. And Stefan…" She looked at Stefan on the ground, his chest still open and bleeding. She knew Stefan didn't care about her before and now, without his humanity, he didn't care at all if she was collateral. It would probably be safer for her for Stefan to die but it would devastate Elena. Elena had already lost so much. She couldn't let her friend go through the pain of losing someone else she loved. Even though she and the doppelganger weren't on speaking terms, Caroline still considered her a friend. She could never deliberately cause her friend pain. "Please just let him go. Enough people have died here tonight."

Kai inhaled deeply and exhaled as he released the vampire and the hybrid. He turned to Caroline, brought her in for a hug, and kissed her forehead. "Now come on, little troublemaker. I'm taking you home to your mother. Let's see what punishment she has in store for you."

The tension broke with Caroline's smile as they turned to leave. Kai opened a portal to Caroline's bedroom and ushered her through. Caroline and Kai disappeared in the rippling blue of the portal.

Enzo and Maggie exchanged glances with Vera, who said, "Go ahead. I'll stay here and clean up." They nodded at her and disappeared with the portal.

Bonnie had her head in her hand as she was being comforted by Elena while Damon nursed a glass of blood-laced bourbon. He couldn't stop thinking about Enzo.

"How did this happen?"

"We thought of everything, Elena! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. We brought in Katherine so you weren't in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong we were prepared!" Damon ranted.

"But we didn't account for Vera," Bonnie declared. "We knew she was a witch, but we underestimated how powerful she was. I had never felt magic like hers before, Elena."

"We should've realized she wasn't like Klaus' other minion witches. Not only did she bring Kai with her but they also brought backup." Damon remembered how Enzo spoke to Vera. It was Vera who saved Enzo from the fire at Augustine after he had left Enzo to die. She even destroyed Augustine, which explained why he couldn't find descendants to enact his revenge plan on.

"I don't understand. How do Kai and Vera even know each other?"

Damon shook his head in defeat. "We blew it."

"Where's Katherine?"

"She ran for the hills like usual the minute things got bad! And who blames her?! Klaus would've crushed her." Damon throws a bottle of scotch in the fireplace. "I couldn't even get close to Klaus. He thought of everything. Every contingency. He had Vera to take care of Bonnie on the magic front. He had En… them watching his back. He even had Kai to handle the hybrids."

"Hey. Damon...Hey! Hey, listen to me!" Elena holds onto Damon's face and turns him to face her. "We'll survive this. We always survive. Trust me. Next time, we'll prepare better. We can ask Caroline more about Kai and Vera and the others. We'll prepare better."

Damon frowned. "You've barely spent any time with her outside of school. Not since how Bon-Bon reacted after she became a vampire. She'll immediately suspect something if you suddenly ask her about Kai and Vera and the others. If you push her too hard, she could easily go to their side with Klaus, you know that, don't you?"

Elena exchanged a glance with Bonnie who looked away sheepishly. She was ashamed of herself at the thought of how she had treated her friend. She never apologized and Caroline could hold a grudge, not speaking to her outside of pleasantries.

Elena shook her head in denial. "No. Caroline wouldn't do that to us. We've been best friends since diapers. She wouldn't throw that away for people she just met. Don't worry about it. Bonnie and I will handle Caroline." She turned back to Damon. "What about Stefan?"

"Not a clue. Baby brother didn't appear before I had my neck snapped and he was long gone when I woke up." Damon's phone rings and he answers it. "Not interested in the play-by-play of our failure right now, Katherine."

"I'm just calling to say goodbye. I don't know what to tell you. You had a good plan, Damon. And that's high praise coming from me. We just didn't account for Klaus having powerful backup, other than his hybrids."

"That's not very comforting at the moment. What do you know about Vera, Kai, and the others?" Damon put his phone on speaker as he sat with Elena and Bonnie.

"Her name is Vera Phallon. She became friends with Klaus in Chicago in the 20s. I could trace her presence in the city back to 1910 but I couldn't find anything about her before then. Gloria introduced her to Klaus and they hit it off. No idea how she can stand him all this time, but Damon, she's powerful both in the supernatural world and highly influential in the mundane world. She's known as Persephone in the supernatural world."

"Seriously, her? A witch? I thought Persephone was some super old, super powerful vampire."

"She sells daylight rings, cloaking spells, protection spells. So long as you can pay or if she finds you interesting, she'll offer her services to anyone. Witches, wolves, or vampires. She got the name Persephone when she decimated the largest gang of vampires in Chicago when they tried to hassle her for daylight rings. She's incredibly powerful, Damon. In 90 years, she hasn't aged a day. Try not to get on her bad side."

Bonnie's eyes widened. "There's no way she's looked the same that long. No matter how powerful the witch, they'll still age, even if they try to look young."

"Wait," Elena said. "When Klaus returned, she talked to me about the origins of doppelgangers. She told me that it was a witch who created the immortality spell for herself and her lover two thousand years ago. She said Nature created the doppelgangers to die in place of the true immortals. Could she be the Original Petrova? An immortal witch?" Elena looked at Bonnie. "She could've changed her appearance."

"But you can't be a witch and a vampire," Bonnie said.

Elena shook her head. "No. Rebekah said the Original Witch changed the spell to give them their strength and speed. You can't be a witch and a vampire but what if you are just an immortal witch with no strength, just unable to die or be killed. Maybe then Nature wouldn't take away her magic."

"I'll have to check my grimoires."

"Do that later. Kitty-Kat, what about the others?"

"Lorenzo St. John and his wife, Maggie James, don't have much of a history. Damon, you know Vee's?"

"The blood clubs?"

"What are blood clubs?" Elena asked.

"It fronts as a strip club but they actually serve blood to vampires from the vein or bagged. They even sell vegetarian. It's mostly a fine dining experience for vampires who want to fresh feed but don't want to hunt."

"That couple owns the clubs. They suddenly came onto the scene in the 60s. I could never find any information on them before then." That's because Enzo barely lived his vampire life before he was Augustine's prisoner. And Maggie was only human. "They also own a chain of MMA clubs for both humans during the day and vampires at night. I know Kai took Caroline to their place in Richmond to train in self-defense after she became a vampire.

"The last is Kai Parker. He's a witch from the Gemini Coven. They're very secretive so I don't know much about them or his history, but he either left or was kicked out by the coven. I don't know why. He's been making waves in the supernatural community since he started his business selling blood bags to vampires. I didn't know the four of them were connected until today."

"Seriously? How did blondie get in with the celebrities of the supernatural world?"

What do you mean Damon?" Elena asked.

"While the Originals are myths in the supernatural world, barely anyone knows they exist, like ghost stories. But those four are legends. People know they exist even if they don't know their faces. Supernaturals feel their influence through the supernatural world. And they're people you don't cross."

Klaus poured himself a glass of scotch and poured a glass of rum and handed it to Vera. "You know it's bad form to serve me my own rum," she said as she lounged on the couch.

Klaus looked at the bottle in his hand. "Since 1931." He read.

"Well, I had to find a way to make money during the Depression. Turns out, when humans are depressed they tend to smoke and drink a lot even if they're starving. When the depression came, I bought several pieces of land in the Caribbean to grow sugarcanes and tobacco. My cigarettes probably killed Roosevelt, although Winston, that bulldog, took his cigars like a champ. I still have that letter he sent me after I gifted him a box of exclusive cigars."

Klaus just chuckled as he sat beside her on the couch.

"What? Unlike you, I do not like to be sedentary. I have to be constantly moving, working. And unlike you I also didn't spend a thousand years playing nobleman throughout Europe." Vera took a small sip of the rum, savoring the drink in silence. She was going to ruin the playful atmosphere in just a few short minutes, so she wanted to enjoy a drink with her friend.

Vera placed the empty glass on the coaster on the table before turning to Klaus. "We need to talk about the hybrids."

Klaus stood up and distanced himself from Vera.

"Look, I get it. You spent the majority of your life in a society where no one batted an eye at a human owning another human being but that's over and you need to adapt. The sire bond…"

"The sire bond was created because they were grateful they no longer have to shift, they are no longer slaves to the moon. For gifting them such power, the sire bond ensures they are loyal to me. I am the Alpha and they will do as I say."

"The sire bond isn't infallible Klaus. Tonight's events proved that. And when they're no longer grateful? What then? You've seen it. Dynasties fallen when the masses rise up against a tyrant. You know nothing of pack dynamics. You're more vampire than werewolf, declaring yourself king just because you believe you're the strongest, but werewolves are different. Your hybrids are more wolf than vampires. They do not bow to kings. They need a general who will protect them, an officer who will walk into battle with them. If you treat them like serfs, they will inevitably rebel."

"Enough!" Klaus growled as he threw the decanter of alcohol into the fireplace. "I'm the hybrid! And I will not be lectured by you, a witch, in my own house, on how I treat my hybrids. They will do as I say or face the consequences." He flashed in front of Vera, his eyes golden as his double fangs extended. "And you would do well to remember your place, witch !"

"And what is my place, Niklaus? Because if you believe yourself to be king and believe me to be nothing more than one of your subjects, your servant, then you are sadly mistaken. I bow to no one. Especially not to a selfish, petulant child such as you."

Klaus launched himself at her in anger, baring his fangs, only to walk straight into a flat barrier. He was surrounded on all sides by a shimmering box. "Release me, witch!"

A portal appeared behind Vera as she stepped back toward it. Her eyes were full of sadness and disappointment as she looked at Klaus. "Remember my words when you slaughter your hybrids for their betrayal, Niklaus." Her eyes flashed blue just as she stepped into the portal, the barrier around Klaus dissipating with her leave.

Place: Mikaelson Mansion, Mystic Falls

Date: September 17, 2010

Notes: I call bullshit on the fact that Mikael, who tormented Klaus for a thousand years, and killed his horse just because he liked the horse, wouldn't have killed Elena the moment he realized Klaus needed her blood to make his hybrids and parade her body in town just to taunt him. The writers could say that oh if he had killed her then Stefan and Damon wouldn't have helped him lure Klaus out, but I still call bullshit. He could've drained them of vervain and compelled them to help him. And seriously, Mikael compelled the entirety of an opera house to believe someone dying was a comedy and compelled an entire police force to hunt his kids in Chicago, and you're telling me he didn't think to compel the Mystic Falls police force too or even the entire town to be meatshields to throw at Klaus? And instead, he decides he can trust a bunch of human children and young vampires to kill his bastard son who's escaped him for a thousand years. Mikael even made the point to show that even with the sire bond, he could compel the hybrids. Why didn't he just compel Tyler the moment he got into town, give him the white oak stake to kill Klaus instead of the Salvatores, because Tyler spent most of the night right next to Klaus. By my own logic, Mikael could've compelled Carol to secure an invite and waltz right in, just to fuck with Klaus to show him he doesn't have the advantage. Yeah, a whole herd of bulls ran through and shit all over the writers' desks. After the fight between Klaus and Mikael, two of the most powerful individuals in the world, Mystic Fall should've been ashes and wiped off the map.

And Bonnie was at the Homecoming and they didn't do anything with her. I totally forgot about her being in this sequence too.

And the hybrids. Oh my God, the hybrids. They were hyped up as this formidable force to be reckoned with but all they did was become fodder for everyone else. They got their hearts ripped out and killed by everyone. Klaus was right about not needing the hybrids. He would've been better off without them.

Rant over.

I know everyone, Vera, Kai, Maggie, Enzo, and Bonnie still had small parts but the fight was about and between Mikael and Klaus so I wanted to focus on them. It's so hard to juggle multiple characters in a fight scene. So I gave them each something small to do. Something to occupy them while Klaus fought one on one with Mikael.

And at the end, Klaus totally needs people to call him out on his shit when he's making a mistake. People who are afraid of him don't and he continuously makes the same mistakes but Vera is his only true friend and she doesn't fear him so she'll tell him straight when he's making a mistake.

Everything else happened the same way in the episode so I didn't spend a great amount of time rewiring the episode. Just everything important to my plot.

Please review.