It had been a few weeks since Nik brought Conner into our home to try and find out what he knew about the mark and where it led. He told me it was a map that led to the one thing everyone wanted. I'd spent most of my days out of the house with Nikolas with anyone else. Rebekah, April and I grew quickly as friends and I even promised to help her find out what happened to her father on their farm. I'd even spent more time with Stefan. It was different than spending time with him before when Katherine and I had been working together. It was lighter than it had been, we could laugh and he always played with Nikolas making my son smile and giggle like a baby should. Nik did this as well the only difference being he was fixated on the hunter. I sat at the Grill with Rebekah when she saw Matt working. She gripped the keys she was holding and stared at him.
"Go." I told her and she gave me a nervous look.
"Do you think he'll forgive me?" she asked me.
"That will take time, but you have to be willing to take the first step if you want that relationship to work." I told her.
"Like you did with Nik?" she joked with me and I laughed.
"Like I did with Nik." I repeated. She smiled and walked up to him and laid the keys on the bar in front of him.
"What's that?" I heard him ask her.
"The key to your new truck. It's parked outside, paid for, insured, everything but a big red bow." She told him with a smile.
"If that's your idea of an apology, you should probably give it to Elena. She's the one that you killed." Matt reminded her before walking away from her. Behind him Nik was sitting just smirking at her.
"You're trying too hard." Nik told her as he rose from his seat and walked to Nikolas and I.
"Last I heard you were leaving town, forever." Bekah reminded him of what he said to her.
"Well I was but then I thought to myself how can I when my sister, clearly so desperate for love and affection, is left here bribing the help." He asked and I sighed. I'd been wanting the two of them to get along since their fight before we thought Nik had been killed by Ric.
"What do you want Nik? I thought I was dead to you." She reminded him of his words.
"Things change Rebekah. I've stumbled upon something I think might be of interest to you." He told her. I had told her about the hunter but not about the small details that Nik had revealed to me.
"Doubt that." She told him.
"No? Well, what if I told you the brotherhood of The Five still existed." He asked her and she looked at him shocked.
"What?" she asked.
"You see, and like that bygones. Come on love, work to do." He told her while taking Nikolas from me and putting him in his car seat.
"We don't have anything to do. There is no we. I don't care about The Five and I don't care about you." She insisted. I sighed lightly and looked to Nik. He wouldn't take this well.
"As you wish." He said simply before taking the car seat and my hand and leaving.
Once we arrived at home I put Nikolas in his bed before joining Nik as he went to Connor, who was still chained up to a wooden platform.
"Looks like I'll have to beef up the hybrid security detail." Nik said. I turned and watched as Stefan walked out of the shadows.
"Stefan." I greeted with a smile. Stefan returned the smile and hugged me tightly before turning to Nik.
"I was gonna take him, but I figured you went through such trouble to truss him up in your red room of pain." Stefan told Nik.
"It's from the Inquisition. I thought it was a nice touch." Nik said with a smirk on his face while his eyes jumped between the two of us.
"What'd you get out of him?" Stefan asked him.
"Not enough." Nik told him.
"More like nothing." I corrected and Nik gave me a warning glance.
"He's mum about the Council fire and he's not saying anything about this greater evil we're all supposed to be shivering over. What brings you snooping?" Nik asked Stefan.
"Well, I can't say it in front of him. As I'm sure you've figured out, our friend here can't be compelled." Stefan revealed.
"You're full of mysteries, aren't you?" Nik asked Connor.
"I told you, I don't know anything." Connor repeated.
"Thankfully, I know plenty." Nik said walking towards Stefan and I. He took my hand and motioned Stefan to follow us. "Shall we?" I turned my head and watched as Stefan stared at Connor for a few more seconds and followed us out. Nik shut the doors to Connor's prison and turned to Stefan. He hadn't even told me the story behind why he was so interested in Connor. "So, what's with the home invasion?"
"Damon said you knew something about this guy. Now, I should have figured out that you were up to something when you healed Elena from the werewolf poison without asking for anything in return." Stefan told him.
"I was feeling benevolent." Nik lied.
"You're never benevolent. Who is this guy? What's the Five?" Stefan asked him.
"So many questions." Nik said.
"Questions that I've been asking for weeks." I reminded him.
"It's a good thing I have nothing to do today, except get answers out of you." Stefan said sitting down and looking at Nik.
"Fine. You two might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate." Nik said walking away from the doorway and into the room. "The brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters. We crossed paths with them in the 12th century, Italy. My siblings and I had followed the Normans as they conquered the South. Feeding, turning people as we went. Elijah, Rebekah and I were in a small village when we encountered them for the first time and one caught dear Rebekah's eye."
"So these hunters have been around for nine hundred years?" Stefan asked him.
"Apparently. Though our friend in the other room is the first I've seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they've been up to all these years." Nik said.
"And Rebekah had a thing with one of them?" Stefan asked.
"Oh, she didn't just have a thing. She fell in love with him." He corrected.
"Falling in love with someone who's meant to kill you, I think I know this story." I said making Nik chuckled at me.
"He told her all his secrets. Which I will gladly share with you provided you do one thing for me." Nik confirmed.
"And what's that?" Stefan asked him.
"Get Rebekah over here. She's being stubborn and hateful. I need to make peace with her. I want her to give me some very important information about the hunter which she won't do, unless she believes we've made up." Nik told us and Stefan got up and stood in front of him.
"And what's in it for me?" Stefan asked him.
"Just get her here and I'll tell you. Oh, and Stefan, trust me when I say this; that hunter in there holds the answer to all your prayers." Nik told him and I watched the two of them for a moment.
"I'll go with him." I said and they both turned to me. "I'm Bekah's best friend, she'd believe me years before she believed the two of you." Nik once again looked between Stefan and myself before nodding.
"Go and bring her back with you." We both turned and began to leave when Nik called Stefan back. "Stefan, I trust I don't have to remind you to keep your hands to yourself and away from what's mine." Stefan and I glanced at each other confused slightly before he nodded and we went back to the Grill.
When we arrived, we saw Matt walking away from Bekah and April. Stefan and I sat with the two girls and he instantly compelled April.
"You won't remember any of this." He said before turning to Bekah. "Klaus wants me to fake peace with you, so you'll talk about the Five."
"Yeah, I bet, but don't help him, he'll just betray you. It's what he does." Bekah warned him while looking at me.
"Then help Stefan." I suggested and they both turned to me.
"Why? He hate me more than Nik does." She reminded me and I turned to Stefan.
"Because I want to figure out what he's up to and plus I can give you the one thing he won't." Stefan offered.
"And what's that?" Bekah asked.
"A clean slate. I'm not saying that I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to Elena, but I'm willing to set it aside and start over." He offered her.
"Why would you do that?" she asked him suspiciously.
"Because, you're obviously not leaving town anytime soon and I'm just looking for a way we can all get along. Plus you can't be too happy wandering around school with no friends." Stefan said.
"Well, what if I don't care what you or anyone else thinks?" she asked him.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that you care what Matt, over there, thinks. So, maybe I can talk to him about a clean slate too." Stefan offered her what she wanted. I watched her for a moment before she sighed and nodded.
"Well, this should be entertaining." I said and they both looked to me. "Remember the last dinner party we were all at?"
When we got home we found Nik standing next to Connor who was still shackled to the torture device.
"You feeling alright, mate? Are the shackles too tight? Welcome home, sister." He turned to us as we walked into the room.
"Is this a trick? How do you know he's one of the Five? Where's his bloody tattoo?" she asked him.
"Oh, the tattoos aren't visible on this lot like they were on the last. Let's eat." Nik said as he walked out of the room and we followed him. We sat around a table as a girl served us food in the same outfit as the ones who did when Damon and Elijah had joined us. "Thank you, my lovely." Nik said as the girl walked away. "I could kiss the Council for burning up all the vervain in town. They made my life so much easier. Rebekah, love, eat your veggies."
"I'm not eating until you apologize." She told him and I sighed. This is going to be a very long dinner at this rate.
"For which indiscretion? There have been so many." He reminded her.
"You broke my neck." She reminded him.
"You threw away Elena's blood so I can't make any more hybrids." He told her.
"Because you took me for granted." She said.
"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart!" He shouted at her.
"Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now." Stefan reminded them.
"I think I'll agree with you right now." I told him drawing all eyes to me as I fed Nikolas who was sitting in his highchair between Nik and I.
"Alright, fine. I'm sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?" Nik asked her.
"I'll take it under consideration." She told him.
"Okay, good. Now, why don't you tell me about Rebekah's hunter?" Stefan told Nik.
"Right, Alexander. Nice chap foregoing the obvious issues." Nik told us. "He was looking for creatures of the night which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings. It was at one of the dinners we provided for him when he told us about a weapon no vampire could resist."
"So, that's what this is about? A weapon?" Stefan asked.
"Not just any weapon." She told us.
"Rebekah, love, don't get ahead of the story." Nik told her.
"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?" Stefan asked him. The siblings shared a look but said nothing to us. "Okay. Why don't we just skip with the theatrics and get right to the point?"
"Not quite yet, because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle. Which seems to have disappeared." Nik told us.
"What puzzle?" I asked him and he raised his eyebrows at me.
"The tattoo. What is it?" Stefan asked him.
"A map. Leading us to its treasure." Nik said.
"Fat lot of good a tattoo's gonna do, if we can't see it." Bekah reminded him.
"We can't, but someone else can." He told us before turning to one of his serving girl. "Why don't you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?" I shared a confused look with Stefan as the girl walked out of the room. "You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person that can see them." We turned to see a Hybrid walk back into the room with Jeremy in his grasp.
"Jer?!" I said standing quickly as Stefan sped out of his chair to Jeremy. Nik rushed past Stefan and stood between him and Jer.
"I wouldn't. Lucky for us, young Jeremy here, is a bit of an artist." Nik said as I glared at him.
"I'm not helping you with anything." Jeremy told him defiantly. The Hybrid grabbed Jer's hand and took off his ring and tossed it to Nik who caught it before holding it up for Jeremy to see.
"Oh, I'm afraid you are." Nik told him.
"So, tell me more about this tattoo." Stefan ordered after Jeremy was sent into the room with Connor to draw the tattoo and the table was cleared. I handed Nikolas to one of the Hybrid's guarding us to put him in his bed.
"My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything. Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate. Isn't that right?" Nik asked her and she looked down ashamed.
"Alex told me that the tattoo was a map to the weapon and the only way to decipher it was his sword." She told us.
"My sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn, and me." Nik said looking at Bekah.
"How was I supposed to know?" she asked him.
"Cheers, to my sister's uncanny ability to choose men." Nik said before taking a drink.
"I thought the daggers didn't work on you because of your werewolf side." Stefan said turning to Nik.
"They don't." Nik said smirking. "I killed the five and took out the daggers from my family only to discover from my sister what made her betray us. Go ahead, Rebekah. Tell him. Tell him what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to. What is this great weapon that could bring about the end of the vampire species?"
"A cure." She told us. "He said there was a cure." Nik got up and we followed him.
"There is no cure for vampirism." Stefan reminded them.
"He's telling the truth, Stefan." Bekah insisted behind us.
"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it, found it?" Stefan demanded as Nik poured himself a drink.
"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body, the map was gone, the brotherhood of the Five extinct. For nine hundred years, there was not a whisper of another hunter, until our friend in there showed up in town." Nik told us.
"Well, now we have the map, what do we do next?" Bekah asked us.
"We don't do anything. You can't be trusted, little sister. You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty. I mean, it's pathetic, really, isn't it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You'd think she would have learned by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception." Nik said.
"Nik!" I shouted. I shouldn't be shocked by his words, but I still was.
"But, I haven't, instead I stayed with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life! You know, at least I fared better then Finn, Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment." She told us.
"No, Finn was a dullard. He was more interesting lying in a box." Nik told her.
"You want the cure for Elena, don't you? So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That's why you brought Stefan here, because you knew that he'd help you even though he hates your guts! You know what? You can shove your cure." She said before walking out of the house. Nik turned to us and smirked.
"Well, I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off." Stefan said.
"She never would have told me what I needed to know. But she'll tell you." He told Stefan and I sighed.
"What do you need me to find out?" Stefan asked him.
"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it." Nik told him.
"The sword." Stefan said.
"She knows where it is. And you're gonna get her to tell you. You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that is going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the devil, if you like. But you know you won't walk away from it." Nik told him.
"And me?" I asked him.
"I want you to remain here. We can't anticipate what will happen and I want you safe." He told me and I gave him a look.
"She won't hurt me, Nik. You know that." I told him.
"But she can use you to hurt me." He reminded me and I sighed before nodding.
"Fine. I'll see you when you get home." I told him.
STEFAN'S POV
I was at home pouring myself a drink when Rebekah walked in the house. She walked to the parlor where I was standing.
"I got your message. I'm sorry. I know you wanted my help; he just makes me so angry." She told me.
"No one deserves to be treated that way." I said.
"I wanted it back then. The cure. I was willing to leave behind my family for it." She told me as I offered her a drink and she took it. "Would you take it if you had the chance? Or is it just for Elena?"
"A part of me wishes that she and I could have an eternity together. But Damon's right, there's not a single vampire who hasn't killed a human. Elena will kill and then there will be the pain, the guilt, and then…" I dropped off.
"The humanity switch." Rebekah provided.
"But Elena, she's driven by love; by compassion. If she turns off her humanity, then I don't think we'll ever get her back. So, I'd do anything to save her." I told her.
"I envy that. You and Elena. I envy the love you have. Then there's you and Nicole. I see your relationship growing with her and I envy that, so does Nik. I really did believe Alex when he said he loved me. He promised we'd be married. We even picked out a church. San Vittore in Brienno. I know you want my help, Stefan. But I just can't do anything that lets my brother get what he wants." Rebekah told me. Rebekah took a sip of her drink and placed it down on a table before she started to walk out.
"I never did answer your question." I said stopping her from leaving. She turned to me and waited for my response. "If it meant that I got to be with her, have children, grow old with her. If it meant that we'd die together, be buried together, then yes. I'd take the cure."
"I buried him. Even after everything. I laid him to rest in the place where we were to be married. What kind of hopeless fool does that?" she told me before realizing what she said. "Oh, but that's what you wanted to know, isn't it? Because I buried him with his sword." I looked behind her and watched as Klaus walked out from hiding.
"I'm sorry, little sister, but you're right." Klaus told her. She turned to him and saw the silver dagger and white oak ask he had behind his back. "You really are a hopeless fool." He slipped the dagger into the ash and Rebekah attempted to rush past him but I stopped her.
"I'm sorry, Rebekah." I said to her hurt look at my betrayal. She turned from me to Klaus.
"Go right ahead. Laugh at the girl who loved too easily. But I would rather have lived my life than yours, Nik. If you do this you will drive Nicole away from you with your son. You'll drive her right into Stefan or even Damon's arms. Do it. Look me in the eye and do it, you coward!" Rebekah shouted at him as Klaus avoided his eyes. "Do it!" Klaus quickly stabbed her with the dagger and she desiccated in front of us. Klaus laid her on the sofa and I grabbed a blanket to cover her with as Klaus made his flight preparations.
"I have a plane waiting. I'll get the sword. My hybrids will keep an eye on Connor. You put Rebekah somewhere where no one will find her and make sure Jeremy forgets everything he heard today." Klaus said handing me Jeremy's ring when he came back into the room..
"I'll take care of it." I told him.
"No one must know about the cure, do you understand? Not Nicole. Not Damon. Not Elena. Nobody. If this gets out, it could mean all our deaths. So, if you tell anyone, I'll erase each and every memory from the lot of you…" Klaus told him.
"I won't say anything." I promised.
"It's just you and me in this, Stefan. Some secrets are stronger than family." Klaus said looking at the ground.
NIK'S POV
I returned home and found Nicole sitting in Nikolas' nursery, just watching him. I found her like this many times since he'd been born and I watched them both every time. As I walked into the room she turned to me and smiled her heartwarming smile. I thought back to Rebekah's words about daggering her.
"If you do this you will drive Nicole away from you with your son. You'll drive her right into Stefan or even Damon's arms."
"Hey, how did talking to Bekah go?" she asked me.
"She told us what we needed to know." I said sitting next to her. I glanced at her lockets which held her vervain. I knew if she was separated from that she would ingest the herb from what she told me and I couldn't let that happen with what I needed. "May I see you lockets?" I asked her. She gave me a confused look but took off her necklaces and gave them to me. I opened them to find the pictures of her parents and vervain and in the other was a picture of me and Nikolas. I looked into her eyes and began to do the one thing I just might regret in 1000 years. "You're going to forget about what you learned today and that I'm holding the Hunter. We went on a family picnic, just the three of us when I got called away for business with Rebekah in Italy. You're even thinking of making up with your sister now that she's changed. Today was a happy day, one of your happiest." I said before looking away from her and back to her lockets.
