"I'm positive that I had nothing to do with this. But I will admit, it does look eerily familiar in a way." Roman stands his ground in not having anything to do with Hope's kidnapping yet admits that it seems familiar to him.
"Well, there's a stench of witch hazel and wolfsbane in the air. She was here." Penelope turns their attention back on the house and deduces that, due to the scent, Hope was there.
"I almost forgot. Uncle Matt, was there anything else in the car, outside of what had been processed?" Josie mutters that she almost forgot something before turning her attention to Matt, addressing him as 'uncle'.
"No, nothing. Why?" Matt answers her question then asks one of his own.
"The third phone call we had, she was drinking a slushie. I could literally hear the slurping from my side of the call. It doesn't take three minutes to drink an entire slushie which means that she should have had it with her in the car but there was nothing else outside of the four things we found. That doesn't make any sense." Josie reveals that Hope was drinking a slushie during their third phone call and is now trying to figure out how it disappeared.
"It wasn't in the car, that's for sure. If it were then, whether it was full or not, the car would have had a bunch of slushie splattered within it so it wasn't present in the accident." Matt concludes that the slushie wasn't in the car during or after the accident which has Josie get a look of confusion as she also looks contemplative.
"That makes no sense." Josie mutters under her breath that the missing slushie doesn't make sense to her.
"Well, this is officially a crime scene now. We should head back." Matt suggests that they head back after declaring that the area is now a crime scene.
"Wait. I want to try something. Just give me a minute." Penelope stops them from leaving the crime scene just yet, wanting to try something before they leave.
Penelope makes slightly bizarre hand gestures while she mutters a spell under her breath, clearly concentrating on what she's doing, before she abruptly stops and she has a look of concern.
"What is it?" Josie immediately speaks up on her ex's facial expression, seeming worried.
"I did a revelation spell to see if I could figure out who took her. I don't sense anything but…" Penelope trails off, not wanting to finish her sentence, after she explains what spell she casted.
"But what?" Rebekah pushes Penelope to finish her sentence which causes Penelope to sigh in defeat.
"Her fear and her pain. That's the only thing I could sense. I mean, the fear is practically dripping around the house but whoever took her, it's still a mystery." Penelope finishes her statement with clear reluctance and they all seem horrified by this new information.
So, they all head back to the school and they're in the library again when Freya senses something off with Roman.
"You look uncomfortable." Freya focuses her attention on Roman, pointing out the fact that he seems uncomfortable.
"I think I have an idea of who's responsible for this. I didn't come to any conclusion until I was in that house but I can't tell you anything." Roman drops a bomb with his statement of possibly knowing who's responsible before saying that he can't tell them anything.
"You can't just drop a bomb like that then tell us you can't say anything else. Spill." Lizzie demands that Roman tell them more on his knowledge after stating that he can't do what he just did.
"I can't. Like, I physically can't tell you guys. Look, I don't care if you trust me but I can guarantee you that if I could, I would say something." Roman seems anxious as he tries to explain to them that he can't say anything.
"Why not?" Kol wonders why Roman can't tell them anything causing Roman to sigh.
"There's a spell in my mind. A very deep-rooted spell that prevents me from telling you anything that would endanger or expose your enemies. Look, I want to help Hope and bring her back safely more than anything, but I just can't tell you who took her. I am sorry." Roman apologizes to the Mikaelson family after explaining the situation which gets Davina thinking.
"Can you, maybe, mime it out or dance?" Davina questions if Roman can mime the information or dance yet Roman shakes his head.
"No, the spell prevents me from communicating. I can't dance it, mime it, say it, text it, email it, write it down, nothing. It's a very powerful and deep-rooted spell that you can only break if you give me a fatal pain infliction, or fry my brain." Roman dismisses the possibility of miming or dancing, further explaining the problem that the spell gives them.
"Fatal pain infliction will kill you and frying your brain will just give you amnesia, both of which are very unhelpful in this current situation." Penelope points out the problems with the only ways they can break the spell to ensure his full commitment to them.
"Fortunately, there's another way that you can tell us." Rebekah comes to a realization, hinting that there's, in fact, another way for Roman to tell them then vamp speeds him.
"Wait, wait." Roman seems to know what Rebekah is going to do as he tries to stop her but she places her hands on his head so she can enter his mind.
Rebekah forcefully enters Roman's mind and only to see nothing of importance, just various flashes of him with Hope.
The flashes of Hope that she sees consists of their near kiss, the road trip before his revealed betrayal, their actual kiss, Roman comforting her before she felt that her wolf gene was triggered, him waving to her while he was playing soccer, when he pointed out that her arm had black veins while she was torturing him, when he had tucked her hair behind her ear, and him finding out that she had gotten suspended, before she lands on a new memory.
"Hey, Roman." Hope greets Roman sheepishly as she approaches him in the same manner.
"Hey." Roman returns the greeting in a more bland tone as he packs his bag, being in his dorm room.
"Why are you packing?" Hope asks why he's packing in a soft tone as he just finishes up packing then turns to face her.
"I went to Dr. Saltzman earlier to tell him what I did to you and he expelled me." Roman admits that he went to Alaric and got expelled, which shocks Hope.
"You told him what you did?" Hope sounds surprised that he'd be honest to Alaric about that kind of information.
"Yeah, I did. I deliberately got myself expelled." Roman confirms that he did tell Ric the truth of what he did to Hope.
"Why would you do that?" Hope still looks surprised by what Roman's telling her but is now confused as well.
"Because of you. I don't need a degree to know when somebody hates me. But the truth, whether you believe me or not, is that I like you, Hope. All I ever wanted to do was to protect you from my beliefs and my mother with her extreme goals, I failed. So, I got myself expelled because I can't protect you anymore. I'm too dangerous to be here with you because you have to live your life and the only way you can do that is if I'm not in it. I will be a call away if you need to talk to someone but I can't stay at this school for many reasons, outside of you." Roman gives a lengthy explanation as to why he got himself expelled and Hope stares at him silently in shock.
"You know why I hate you. You kidnapped my mother, made me believe you were my friend, held me hostage, and then did nothing but watch my mother die." Hope's voice takes an angry tone as she talks about why she hates him causing him to toss his bag on the ground aggressively.
"I never kidnapped your mother, Hope. I led people to the attic, yes. But I only oversaw the situation, I had no part in the actual abduction." Roman speaks loudly at Hope, admitting that although he took a part in it, he wasn't fully responsible for Hayley being taken, leaving Hope speechless.
"And you should also know that I took absolutely no joy in holding you hostage. But I really was your friend and my betrayal towards you hurts me more than it could've ever hurt you. Another thing to add, it's not that I didn't do anything, it was that I couldn't. My mother beat me barely conscious and when I finally regained my ability to stand, your mother seemed to have made a decision before I could interfere." Roman continues to speak loudly, yet not yell, at Hope, giving her various pieces of information that keeps her speechless.
They stare at each other long for a long moment as Roman recomposes himself from losing his temper and the next time he speaks, it's in a much softer tone.
"Look Hope, my entire life has been a mess. I grew up way before I even turned double digits and the only thing that I know how to do is survive. The only reason I did what I did to you was because my mother asked me to. She spent most of my immortality hating me until 18 years ago, then something changed and she was willing to see me as a son. Uh, due to my sense of survival, I wanted to ensure that I could never feel pain when I became a vampire and the only way I could never feel pain is if I don't let people in. Um, I failed in that one too, because I let you in. I care about you, Hope Mikaelson and you may hate me or want nothing to do with me, but I just want you to know that. However, the point in this story is that I never took joy in kidnapping your mother. I can guarantee that I never tied her down. I would never do that to another person." Roman's tone is soft as he gives Hope some background on his life then confesses how he feels, saying that he let her in despite his desire of survival and Hope stares at him silently yet with a very guilty facial expression.
"So, this is the last time that we're going to see each other again, isn't it?" Hope also speaks in a soft tone as she realizes that Roman's expulsion means that they won't see each other again after she processes everything that he just told her.
"Yeah, most likely. Unless Dr. Saltzman calls me back, which isn't as likely." Roman confirms that this will probably be the last time they see each other and Hope nods, seeming very sad by this.
"If that's the case…" Hope trails off as Roman picks up his bag then heads to the door.
"Roman." Hope calls out after him then rushes over to him once he turns back and pulls him into a deep kiss that has him put his arms around her waist before partially lifting her off the ground.
The pose lasts for two minutes before he places her back down and then the kiss breaks after another minute.
"What was that?" Roman looks very surprised by the passionate, unexpected kiss that they just shared.
"That was a goodbye. I thought it would be a fitting and proper goodbye if I never see you again." Hope explains what the kiss was for, sounding mildly breathless from it.
"Um, goodbye then." Roman says goodbye then backs away from her and leaves his dorm room.'
Roman pushes Rebekah away from him, looking shocked that she just invaded his mind while Rebekah seems to be processing something.
"I take it that it worked." Roman tries to approach the situation calmly, in order not to aggravate an original, and she remains silent for a moment.
"It didn't work. I didn't see anything of importance." Rebekah realizes that it didn't work but doesn't say anything about what she saw.
"Well, I just figured out what memories you had just seen. Yeah, I was going to tell you that entering my mind wouldn't work either but you had already taken matters into your own hands." Roman admits that he was going to tell them 'mind entering' would've been ineffective as well but Rebekah had already forced herself into his head before he could say anything after realizing what memories that she witnessed.
Rebekah just stares at Roman sympathetically, seeming to know how he feels about Hope missing.
"I actually think the last memory you saw could be helpful." Roman voices his thoughts on the last memory Rebekah saw, believing that it might be helpful.
"You made it your mission to ensure that you don't feel pain?" Rebekah decides to question Roman on this and he sighs in amusement.
"Out of everything that was said in that memory, that's what you got stuck on?" Roman smirks at Rebekah in an amused manner, mildly confused by how her mind works.
"Well, it seemed like the least personal thing from the memory to bring up." Rebekah explains her reasoning for bringing it up causing Roman to chuckle slightly.
"Yes I did. I spent years with witches both before and after I was desiccated to ensure that no magical afflictions can affect me. No one gets the jump on me unless I want them to. Which is the only reason you got into my head in the first place, by the way. My mind and body have endured so much that nothing really affects them anymore." Roman agrees to the fact that he made it his mission to not feel any pain and everyone stares at him in shock.
"Nothing affects you at all?" Davina looks for reassurance to Roman's words, confused and shocked.
"Nope. I refuse to have weaknesses. That's why I'm also immune to vervain." Roman confirms that nothing affects him then states that he refuses to have weaknesses before he admits that he has an immunity to vervain.
Penelope gets a steely look in her eyes as she intently focuses on Roman, who begins to hunch over and grab his head in pain, symbolizing that she has started to give him a brain aneurysm.
"Mmm." Roman lets out a slight moan of discomfort as he continues to grab his head but it doesn't take long before he stands up fully despite the fact that Penelope seems to still be casting the spell.
"I'll admit, that almost hurt yet at the same time you could've put a bit more effort in. But nice try though." Roman reveals that the brain aneurysm didn't truly affect him, he was just making her think it did and Penelope stares at him, surprised that her magic didn't work on him.
Everyone else in the room is also stunned by this turn of events, none of them expecting him to actually not feel pain.
"You weren't kidding." Vincent is the first to voice his surprise at the fact that Roman wasn't kidding and Roman simply shrugs but before he can say anything, his phone starts ringing.
"Hello?" Roman answers his phone without even looking at the caller id, only to get a look of shock.
"Hey, An." Roman greets the person calling him in a sheepish tone.
"Hey? That's all you have to say to me? Where are you? And why didn't you leave a note?" Antoinette has a very angry and frantic tone of voice as it comes through the phone.
"I knew I forgot to do something before I left. Look, I had gotten contacted by my former headmaster and he asked me to come back to the school." Roman realizes that he forgot to leave a note then explains to Antoinette where he is.
"You didn't wake me up? I was just in the next bed." Antoinette's voice is calm yet also sounds betrayed now and Roman sighs deeply.
"I know you were. I didn't want to wake you up after I got a very vague text to return." Roman admits that he didn't want to wake because of a vague text and he can hear Antoinette sigh.
"Well, if it's okay with you, I'm going to hop on a plane. I don't like the thought of you alone." Antoinette expresses her worries about Roman and her belief that she should be with him.
"No, you have to stay where you are. I'm in an emotional predicament right now and I need to know that you're safe." Roman shows his disinterest in Antoinette flying to meet him, claiming that he wants her to be safe.
"Roman, what are we?" Antoinette asks Roman a question, wondering what they are and he sighs, knowing where this is going.
"A family." Roman responds plainly in a whispered tone.
"Exactly. And we don't leave each other behind. Now, I'm going to invest in a daylight ring and then get on a plane. I should be there in several hours." Antoinette informs Roman that she's going to invest in daylight jewelry before getting on a plane.
"Alright, I'll see you soon. Bye." Roman hangs up the phone then pockets it and smiles at the rest of them awkwardly.
"Sorry about that. Uh, Antoinette was just checking in. She's actually going to get on a plane and will be here soon." Roman apologizes for the phone call and tells them who was on the other end of the call.
"The more people helping us look for Hope, the better." Josie expresses her joy in the fact that someone else will be joining them, turning the topic to Hope.
"She's right. The more people, the better." MG agrees with Josie's enthusiasm in having more people helping out.
"The only unfortunate thing is that Roman is the one who has the answers and the only way we can get the answers is to practically torture him." Lizzie points out the bad news of the situation and Roman immediately jumps in.
"I wouldn't torture me if I were you. That's not a demand, it's a suggestion. See, when I undergo torture, I get very aggressive and I lash out at the people in the room. Yet never at the person torturing me, whether they're a witch or someone else." Roman suggests that they don't torture him as he will lash out at everyone present except the person inflicting pain on him.
"You should also know that I have a spell on my body that allows your enemies to know where I am at all times." Roman blurts out that he has a spell on his body, which has the Mikaelsons gape at him in shock.
"Don't worry, the disruption spell around this room blocks it." Roman assures them not to worry as the spell around the room is blocking the effects of it.
"Not to mention that it only works when I'm in the US." Roman adds under his breath that the spell on him only works when he's in America.
"Okay, well that's an easy fix. Lizzie and I can siphon that. The deep-rooted spell placed on your mind, however…" Josie claims that the spell on Roman's body can be siphoned off but the other spell can't.
"Right. Well, before the fun of siphoning begins, I have to make some phone calls that I forgot to make before I got here." Roman takes out his phone to emphasize his point in making phone calls then heads to the back of the library, as he knows he can't leave it, after seemingly agreeing to the offer of having the spell siphoned off of him.
So, they all decide to wait for Roman to get finished with making his phone calls.
After a while, Freya finds herself wandering around the library, only to overhear Roman on the phone.
"Yeah, I'm well aware of how large San Francisco is, stop complaining about it and do as you're told. Okay, let me put it in a different perspective for you, I will have no trouble in killing and replacing you if you let me down. That's what I thought, now get busy and start looking for her." Roman makes a demand in an angry tone before ending the call.
"I know you're there." Roman senses that Freya is nearby and she shows herself to him.
"Who were you talking to?" Freya decides to ask who Roman was talking to and he gives her a fake smile.
"I have contacts all over the world. That was one of my more incompetent ones. I'm having them do a worldwide search for Hope. I mean, just because she was in Mystic Falls for a month, doesn't mean they're keeping her here. The more eyes looking for her the better." Roman replies to the question, explaining who he was calling then motions Freya back to the front of the library and they both head back to the group.
"We're going to have to head to the basement." Lizzie makes it clear that they have to head to the basement for unknown reasons.
"One question; how long is this going to take?" Roman asks the first question on his mind which has the Saltzman twins exchange glances then shrug.
"Unclear. Depends on how powerful the spell is." Josie blatantly responds with another shrug and Roman nods at this in understanding.
"Shall we?" Lizzie motions to the door causing Josie to hook arms with Roman and the three of them leave the library in order to head to the basement.