I wandered through the French Quarter during the All Hallows Eve party when my phone rang. I looked at the caller ID confused at the number.

"Davina?" I asked into the phone. "I know someone who's been looking for you for days! What's going on?"

"I don't know what they told you, but things are complicated." She told me.

"Yeah, well, word on the streets is that you've brought back a seriously powerful ass and gone MIA." I said before sighing. "Seriously, are you okay?" I didn't bother asking her where she was. She'd never tell me because I was married to Nik.

"I'm fine." She told me. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Well, be careful." I said. "Mikael is dangerous. No matter what your race."

"I know." She told me before hanging up. I looked down at my phone before putting it away.

"Well, that was rather rude!" Nik said behind me. I turned to him and rose an eyebrow making him smirk in amusement.

"She's under a lot of stress with controlling Mikael and probably trying to protect Marcel and Josh." I said. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I have a rather long list of people I need to track down and deal with, and at the top of that list is a certain runaway witch." He told me

"I'm pretty sure she doesn't want you to find her." I pointed out.

"And for good reason. Had I magically resurrected the insane, vampire-hunting father of my sworn enemy, I'd be hiding too!" he told me.

"Well, you heard her, clearly. She didn't say where she was!" I told him.

"Oh, on the contrary, love. You just had to know how to listen." He told me. "For instance, I heard cicadas, and I heard tans, but the real giveaway was the church bells. Did you know Davina's family owns a little cabin in Terrebonne Parish? It's been abandoned for years! But, a brief glimpse at a map showed it's just a mile from the loveliest little chapel."

"So, what's your plan?" I asked him.

"Well, the way I see it, if Davina wants to use Mikael to kill me, we just have two options. One, you reason with her. Two? Well, I don't think you'd like two very much." He told me smirking.

"Look like it's time for a road trip." I told him before the two of us started for a car.


We drove for a few hours before I finally asked him the one question that was bugging me all day.

"How the hell are you going to kill Mikael anyway?" I asked. "He has the stake that can kill you. I just want to be able to show Katherine and Nikolas their father and explain to them why you got killed."

"Reach into my jacket pocket." He told me. I leaned over and did as he said before pulling out Papa Tunde's blade.

"Seriously?" I asked him. "I thought Elijah hid this very well."

"So does he." He said smirking at me. I put the blade back where I'd taken it from and saw a bar.

"Pull over." I ordered. He did so and I got out with him following me.

"Where are you going?" he asked. "We are on a schedule."

"If we are going against Mikael I need a few good drinks." I told him before walking inside. The bar was practically empty and I went straight to it and ordered my drink. I then sat at the table Nik had angrily claimed and started drinking.

"Just down it and let's go." He ordered.

"I'm going to take my time enjoying my drink, Nik." I told him. "Do you remember the last time we actually had a full conversation without something supernatural butting in?"

"Last I checked I was going to kill Mikael." He mentioned and I gave him a look.

"Not what I meant and you know it." I said giving him a look. "It's nice to remember what it was like in the beginning."

"You trying to kill me and me wanting to sacrifice you?" he joked and I laughed lightly.

"No. Simple." I corrected. "If you take away all the planning to kill agendas we were two people. Two normal people having a drink and getting to know each other. Humanity."

"Humanity is overrated for people like us." He told me.

"Is it?" I asked him. "So love is overrated for us? Love for our family. Our children. Each other." He stayed silent

"You've changed since you turned." He told me.

"I'm better now." I defended. "Stronger. Faster. I'm focused on doing whatever it takes for us to bring them home."

"I don't know about that." He told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked him confused. "Who I am now is who we need."

"The old Nicole didn't let anyone get to her." He told me. "You didn't need to be stronger physically. You were also strong mentally."

"I still am." I told him. "I just added my Hybrid strength to it."

"Do you remember when we first met?" he asked me.

"The very staged meeting it took me Katherine months to set up?" I asked him. "I remember being nervous that you'd just kill me within a month, which I guess would have accomplished the end goal."

"Maybe, but then our story wouldn't be nearly as interesting." He told me and I started laughing.

"No. Not even close." I agreed. He moved to my side and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. We stayed that way for a while before he moved away from me keeping his hand on me. I took a deep breath as fire ran through my body. I almost smiled at the touches when his hand reached mine. He pulled me to him and we started dancing to the music in his head.

"What are you doing?" I asked him quietly.

"Dancing with you." He told me with a smirk. "How long has it been since we danced?"

"Our wedding day." I said. He held me close to him and leaned his forehead to mine. I closed my eyes and smiled at this moment. This was the kind of moment that made me feel human again. Like nothing in the world could go wrong. Of course I should have known he'd use this moment to his advantage. He pulled away and twirled me. I smiled but when I spun back to him to find him gone. "Son of a bitch."


I arrived at the cabin in time to see Mikael knock Nik flat on the ground, holding him in a choke-hold as he tried to stake him. I looked close to me and saw the knife. I picked it up and watched as Nik desperately tried to keep the stake from piercing his skin. He screamed in pain as the Mikael stabbed him in the shoulder and I pushed Mikael away from Nik and onto the Original's back.

"Hi asshole. Remember me?" I asked him before stabbing him in the chest. Mikael screamed out in pain as the knife began to embed itself in Mikael's chest. I turned to Nik and pulled the stake out of his shoulder and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay other than your shoulder?" I asked him before looking at the cabin to see a window broken. "Where is Davina? If something happened to her, Nik—"

"Davina's fine. She'll wake with a spectacular headache, but given her intentions for me, she should count herself lucky." He told me and I sighed in relief before leaning against a tree. "'Course, if you drop dead of a heart attack, I may have to kill her on general principle." He joked.

"You're the one that ditched me at the bar! I had to run on the backroads of the Bayou!" I shouted at him.

"Well, your perseverance is duly noted." He told me and I glared at him.

"Oh, shut up! I'm so pissed at you, I can hardly speak." I told him. "But, I am here, and it is to tell you under no circumstances will you hurt that girl, do you understand me?" he opened his mouth to say something, but took a good look at me before reconsidering his words.

"You have my word." He told me.

"Thank you Nik." I told him before giving him a hug. He hugged me back awkwardly and surprised. I pulled away from him and smiled at him. "I think your humanity is showing. Katherine and Nikolas would be proud of you."

"Just Katherine and Nikolas?" he asked me.

"You may have another fan in your corner." I said before helping Nik move Mikael into the back of the car before moving to the cabin where Davina was.