I don't own TVD or TO.
okay, so here's the deal. I've got four chapters and an epilogue planned out. The story is mapped and finished; all it needs is to be typed up. That being said, this chapter and the last one were both planned out as one; it just got so long that I split it in two pieces, so the story should be between five and ten chapters until it's done. There is also a sequel in the works for it as well. The first chapter for that is already written.
Sophie sucked in a deep breath and released it, pressing her hand to her chest for a moment to steady her heartbeat. She was already regretting volunteering for the trip, but Agnes had pointed out that amongst their dwindling numbers she was safest in the presence of the Mikaelsons. The only problem was that Agnes was thinking of Klaus and Elijah who cared what happened to Hayley; Kol Mikaelson was a wild card, and she was holding his girl's necklace.
Her knuckles wrapped on the door three times; it swung inwards before she finished. She swallowed, went to wipe her palms on her jeans and thought better of it, instead clenching her fists at her sides.
"What are you doing here?"
She lifted her chin, staring him in the eye. "I've come to negotiate."
Klaus crossed his arms to keep from strangling her. "Am I to take it your people are responsible for what happened here?"
"They are," she nodded.
"I believe we already had a deal Miss Devereux," Elijah came up beside his brother. "You've broken it."
"I'm not here to negotiate with either of you," her eyes narrowed, flashing beyond their shoulders. "Kol Mikaelson, I take it?"
"Who are you?" Kol crossed his arms and leaned against the banister. He could hear Thierry and Rebekah in the kitchen. "And why would I ever want to make any sort of deal with you?"
"My name is Sophie," she reached into her pocket, curling her fingers around the silver chain, "and you'll listen because we have something you want."
A locket glinted in the air; he recognized it instantly.
Kol shoved his brothers aside, pinning Sophie to the doorframe by her throat. He ripped the necklace from her hands and flipped it open, rage flashed in his eyes when the picture confirmed his suspicions.
"Where did you get this?" His fingers tightened. "Answer carefully, darling, for they may be your last words."
"Kol!"
He threw up his free hand, gripping his brothers in a silencing spell and binding them in place for good measure.
"Agnes took it from her neck," she grasped his wrist.
"Where is she?" He started to squeeze delighting in the way her face turned purple. Before he could let up and allow her enough air to answer he was physically pulled from the woman and held against the door with an arm over his clavicle.
"You can't hurt her," Rebekah's eyes flashed.
"The hell I can't!"
"She's the witch bound to Hayley," she hissed, "so no, you cannot; not until they are unbound."
Kol's eyes cut from Rebekah to where Sophie coughed on the floor. He turned his chin towards his brothers, releasing them with a wave of his hand.
"Get me some rope."
"I thought you were a vampire," Hayley whispered. Her bright eyes leapt to Elena's abdomen every few minutes.
She held her arms tightly to her stomach, doing her best to ignore the ice spreading from the manacles. Could it be true? She supposed. Klaus had set a precedent whose heartbeat she could hear fluttering away inside of Hayley. She had told Kol her physiology was closer to Klaus than the rest of them, and now thanks to her so was his, but there had to be more to it than that. Hayley had a cycle, she didn't; it would have made far more sense to her if Agnes had told her Kol had made the 'abomination' with a human woman behind her back.
'Abomination'? Her blood boiled.
She couldn't hear a heart beating, but she knew it was true; somewhere deep inside she recognized what was happening to her body.
"I'm a hybrid," she lifted her gaze to Hayley, "and so is he."
"Two hybrids," Hayley murmured.
"It seems one plus one equals three," Elena swallowed. She closed her eyes and tried to focus her energy into the needed spell, but the ache in her gums was too strong. "I can't do it without blood," she groaned, stretching out her legs.
"That's all you need to get us out of here?" Hayley twisted to face Elena, she kept one eye on the shadows in the adjoining room; as far as she could tell nobody was looking in their direction, and even if they were she was pretty sure the angle of the door hid them from view.
"That's what I need to try," Elena nodded, sinking back against the stone; she resigned herself to waiting for rescue, as painful as it sounded.
"If that's all you need," Hayley lifted her arms, shaking slightly to roll down her loose sleeves.
"What are you doing?" Elena hissed. A vein fluttered under her eye when Hayley presented the smooth curve of her wrist. "You're pregnant!"
"You're pregnant and drugged," Hayley glanced toward the door. Any moment someone would come to check on them. "Take a little and try."
Elena straightened her spine and tilted her head, considering. She didn't think she would need much. She was an Original with a healthy amount of blood in her system; she just needed a little jumpstart to get whatever herb had drugged her out.
Her eyes were unfocused when she glanced toward the door, doubting she would have seen anybody before they darkened the entry. She breathed slowly and used the few inches the shackles provided to steady Hayley's arm. The sharp sting of her fangs descending came and went in an instant before she sank her teeth into the soft inside of her elbow.
Blood flowed into her mouth, clearing her head with each sharp pull. She let go after three swallows, confident she would have a chance to feed in a moment.
"Hide your arm," she pulled the sleeve back in place.
She checked Hayley's eyes for any sign that she had taken too much. Once satisfied the werewolf was alright she leaned back and closed her eyes, focusing again. Her concentration was broken by a harsh gasp.
She opened her eyes to see Hayley clawing the air around her throat.
"Hayley?" Elena didn't realize how loud her cry was until three people raced into the room.
The unbound knot hung in the air, suspended momentarily with magic before he let it drop and turned his attention towards the witch.
"Oh, look," he smirked, "now I can kill you."
"You can't," Sophie pulled on the restraints holding her to the chair, but escaping proved futile.
"Would you like to place a wager on that?" Kol tilted his head. "I can easily locate Elena, darling. You have nothing I want."
"The witches still have Hayley," Elijah picked up the discarded sanguinum knot, turning it over in his hands. "Who will be nursing a bruised windpipe by now?"
"No offense to who I'm sure is a lovely person despite her taste in men," Kol waved his hand dismissively, "but I'm more interested in Elena."
"If you'd been less interested in Elena you wouldn't be in this position," Sophie muttered.
"What position?" Kol lifted her chin, pressing his fingers into the flesh hard enough to leave a bruise.
"One to be blackmailed," Sophie exhaled. She suspected honesty was the way to deal with the youngest brother. Legends said he knew when people lied to him, and that he had a penchant for tearing out the liar's tongues. "There are dozens of dark objects in this city. Most were acquired by Elena when I was still a child, some are in possession of the church, and a select few remain in the hands of the covens; among them is a needle with one specific purpose: to kill an unborn child in utero by raising the mother's blood pressure. And if you don't do what we want Agnes will use it."
"You assume I care what happens to my traitorous brother's child." A light flashed in Kol's dark eyes.
"Who said anything about using it on Hayley?" Defiance set Sophie's jaw. She cocked an eyebrow when disbelief flickered over his face. "The funny thing about hybrids: they're loopholes."
Elijah glanced sideways to his brother, sister and Thierry.
"Are you attempting to imply…"
"I'm not implying anything," Sophie inhaled slowly. "I'm telling you: Elena Gilbert is pregnant," her eyes focused on Kol, "with your child. You can check if you don't believe me. Drop the locket and search for her with your blood."
"That's not possible."
"Really, Nik?" Rebekah crossed her arms. "I'd think you'd be the first to believe it."
"You do?" He shot back.
"Elena is an anomaly," Rebekah glanced towards Kol, "and so is he. Without a cycle I wouldn't have a clue when it happened, but I believe it could. It's not just a matter of them both being hybrids though."
"No," Sophie agreed. "The child would have been conceived during a celestial event."
"Like a full moon," Rebekah frowned.
"Exactly like a full moon," Sophie pulled her chin from Kol's slack hand. "If I'm not mistaken there was one a week ago."
In his mind's eye he saw Elena's blood stained hand curled around a dark heart, illuminated by the spilled light of the full moon. The conversation in the room ebbed and flowed around him as the night replayed in his head: dead witches, blood, destroyed furniture and something truly explosive when they finished and before he pulled her into his arms to doze in the moonlight filtering through the bloody handprint on the window.
He straightened up, spinning around and holding his hand out to Thierry to drop the locket in his open palm.
"Do not lose that."
"Mom would have my head if I did," he chuckled.
With a wave of his hand Kol ignited the candle on the table. Gripping the edge of the table top he chanted under his breath, "phasmatos physium calva," his eyes slid shut. He repeated it again and again until he felt the connection snap in place.
Rebekah exchanged a look with her oldest brothers when Kol's eyes opened to reveal white. She left him to whatever spell he had going and turned to Sophie.
"I thought you couldn't use magic without incurring the wrath of Marcel?"
"We're desperate," she shifted in her chair, "and running out of time. You've felt the earthquakes," she waited for Rebekah's nod. "It's the first sign."
Kol exhaled, blinking the vestiges of black from his eyes. With the severing of the connection a rush of cold hit him. He had been attempting to link his mind with Elena's to see what she saw, but he had seen nothing and heard even less as he was enveloped in warmth and safety.
"What do you want?" He suppressed his shiver, turning to face Sophie.
"The same thing we wanted from Klaus," she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Agnes seems to believe you can actually get the job done."
"I have done everything you asked," Klaus growled.
"Not fast enough," she rolled her shoulders.
"I'm not doing anything for anyone until I have Elena back," Kol flashed in front of her.
Sophie's breath caught when he tipped her chair. She saw something flash in her eyes, but it wasn't the madness she had heard so much about; it was something else far more dangerous.
"We're not releasing her until you deliver Davina Claire," Sophie inhaled slowly, forcing bravado into her voice. "And if you kill me, Agnes will use the needle anyway."
"Not if she wants our help," Klaus growled. "How sure are you that the link was broken?"
"Do you doubt me, brother?" Kol cocked an eyebrow.
"You have been known to trick."
"Not when it comes to children."
"So Marcel was an anomaly?" Rebekah tilted her head.
"I didn't kill him did I?" Kol shook his head. "Bloody hell, nobody in this family can take a joke."
"That was a rather morbid joke," Elijah sighed.
"The link has been removed," he clenched his fists.
"In that case I say we kill her," Klaus smirked, turning his eyes on Sophie. "She's likely bluffing to save her own skin."
"I'm not taking that risk," Kol shook his head.
"Then perhaps you should take a nap," Klaus snarled, rushing forward and pinning Kol to the wall.
"Dagger threats?" His brows shot up. He pushed with his palm, sending Klaus into the banister. "Don't you know any other tricks?"
Wood and plaster rained down on the floor.
"You should know that particular trick no longer works on me," Kol broke the leg off the table. He rushed Klaus, breaking the hardwood over his spine.
Klaus grunted.
He swept his leg out, catching Kol and knocking him off his feet.
Kol stood but before he could strike again, either physically or with magic, his arms were grabbed. He didn't get a chance to swear at Elijah before he was released again.
Rebekah's eyes flickered from the spot where Kol stood to her feet. She met Elijah's eyes and stepped back, making room for the first blow from Finn. She slipped around the side of the room until she got to the door, pulling Sophie's chair with her when she was close enough.
"When did your flight get in?" She smiled at Sage.
"We drove actually," she motioned towards the driveway. "He really didn't want to come here."
"Can't say I blame him," she nodded. She tuned out the sound of blows and breaking bones, sparing Kol a quick glance when she heard the spell.
"What's going on here?" Sage watched the Original brothers fight for a moment, ultimately deciding to focus her full attention on Rebekah. She listened intently as the situation was explained. "What are we still doing here then?" She asked when the blonde was done.
"Aside from the fact that we don't know where the witches have them, there is no reason," Rebekah shrugged.
"Do the witches have someplace they gather? That's likely the spot," Sage broke the bonds holding Sophie in place.
"Are you alright?" Elena whispered. She'd had the good sense to feign lethargy when the coven rushed in, but now that Hayley appeared alright they were gone again.
"I'm good," Hayley nodded. "It was like a weight lifting off me," she put her hands to her chest. "Do your thing, k?"
Elena nodded. She crossed her legs and bent over her joined hands, repeating the words in her mind. The iron grew white hot against her wrists before snapping open and falling into her lap. She set them on the ground without a sound, meeting Hayley's eyes.
"Wait here."
She slipped off her shoes and moved to the door, peeking around the corner to count Agnes and six others; a ring she hadn't noticed marked the older woman as an elder. Based on what she knew of Marcel's dominion it was safe to assume she was the only one left.
She exhaled slowly, focusing on Agnes and one of the many spells Kol had taught her over the last month. She knew the moment it took effect by the sudden stilling of her body.
A short man noticed, jerking his head around and spotting Elena.
"Shit," he swore, lunging for a brass object on the table.
Elena's eyes widened when she saw the needle, darted back to Hayley and out into the room; in that brief span of time the man had made it across the room towards her.
Her hand shot out, knocking the needle aside to clatter over the floor. Only the knowledge of what had happened last time she indulged in witches' blood stayed her fangs; she broke his neck instead.
A second witch ran. Elena broke her neck before she could pick up the needle.
She kicked the brass backwards with her heel.
Two more witches rushed her, and lost their hearts for the effort.
The organs dropped from her open palms.
Her eyes flickered between the remaining witches. One was a burly man with heavy eyebrows and a heavier jaw. The other was a tiny slip of a woman who wouldn't have been out of place amongst fairies.
She arched an eyebrow, challenging those that would threaten unborn children and murder teenagers, hoping they would run so she could give chase.
The blood she had taken from Hayley was not enough.
In the other room Hayley jumped at the sound of strangled screams. She got to her feet, carefully stepping over the shackles, shoes and needle. At the door she paused, staring down at the piled bodies. She sidestepped, narrowly missing an extracted heart. She stared at the drops of blood on the floor until she got to Agnes and then looked up, following her paralyzed gaze to a narrow set of stone steps and the man at the base.
A few stairs up Elena held a young woman to the stone. Anybody looking down the stairs would have assumed they were locked in a lover's embrace, but Hayley knew better.
"Elena?" She tugged on her wrists.
She let the dead body drop, pressing her bloody hands to the wall; her pulse rushed in her ears as she licked the remaining blood from her lips.
"I told you to wait," she exhaled slowly. Her meal hummed through her veins just as euphoric as the first time; it was a shame Kol wasn't around.
"I tried to knit booties but I couldn't get my wrists to work," she held up her zip tied hands, "also, I don't knit."
Elena moved down the stairs at a slow pace, pausing to pull a white scarf from the dead woman's neck. She used the pristine material to wipe the worst of the blood from her hands.
"You missed one," Hayley nodded to Agnes.
"I need that one," Elena exhaled. She felt the buzz recede with each measured step. She tilted her head and closed her eyes, listening to the distant sound of approaching footsteps some twenty feet away. "We have to go."
Elena unhooked her earring and used the sharp edge to trip the bonds around Hayley's wrists. She flashed into the room that had served as their cell to step into her shoes, pocket the needle and lift the shackles. She returned to Hayley and snapped the iron on Agnes; her spell melted away when she was bound.
"Time to go," she gripped Agnes elbows. "I considered carrying you, but that's probably not a good idea in my condition, right?"
Agnes stared down at her hands; she had no choice but to follow when Elena pulled.
"How did you get out of these?"
"It's a gypsy secret," she winked. "You okay to walk Hayley?" She started up the stairs when Hayley nodded.
Outside she sucked in a deep breath of cool air and tried to place herself in the cemetery. It was not an easy task since the last time she was there was the seventies for a funeral, but before she could ask which way out the steps rounded the corner.
She wheeled on her heel, bracing for a fight. Her muscles tensed.
A woman came into view and Elena froze.
A hysterical sob rose in her throat. She ran, throwing her arms around the blonde.
"I guess you didn't need my help," Rebekah hugged her tight.
"No, but I appreciate it," she sniffed. Pulling back she winced at the red stain she had left on Rebekah's hair. "Sorry." Her eyes lit on Sage. "You guys came. I assume you both came. I can't see you coming to New Orleans without Finn."
"Who is Finn?" Hayley pushed Agnes between the shoulder blades, forcing her to walk towards the women and Sophie Devereux.
"My oldest brother," Rebekah supplied.
"Where is Finn? Where's Kol?" Elena looked around, expecting to see him rounding another corner.
A flick of his wrist broke Klaus' neck and he turned around, stepping to where Finn had Elijah in a headlock.
"May I?" He met his elder brother's gaze.
"Be my guest," Finn let go.
Kol's eyes dropped to Elijah, narrowing as he tilted his head. Blood spurted from his mouth over his chin as he choked.
A dainty cough came from his left.
He lifted his chin, eyes widening.
"Darling," he cleared his throat.
Elena's eyes flickered to Elijah as he slumped over and coughed up blood. "Don't stop on my account," she lifted an eyebrow. "I'm gonna take a shower."
"Upstairs," Rebekah nodded, "third door on the left; help yourself to my closet."
"Thanks," she murmured. She took the stairs two at a time.
The bedroom was decorated in pale blue and silver, but she ignored it all in favor of the ensuite bathroom with the marble shower. She left her dirty clothes in a pile and moved to take off her necklace before remembering that Agnes had taken it.
She lost her senses for a few moments under the hot spray of water. It washed away the remnants of the plane, the dirt from the cemetery and the blood from the witches. She scrubbed her skin until it glowed pink and then scrubbed some more. When all of the blood was gone from beneath her nails she finally let her hands flatten over her small belly.
Did she imagine the blue veins beneath her fingers?
The world faded away to the space between heartbeats as she felt her stomach and the slight shift of her hips, so small neither she nor Kol had noticed; maybe it was in her head, but she thought she felt it.
Was that why her perfectly good bra had dug into her skin?
Her body hadn't changed in a century, but in the span of a week she had completely missed the subtle shifts in the body she should have known better than anything.
She tasted salt on her upper lip and inhaled sharply.
She lifted her hands, scrubbing them back over her face and pushing her hair over her shoulders. Turning off the flow of water she twisted her hair to wring it out before stepping out of the shower.
She took a fluffy towel from the rack to wrap around her body and approached the mirror, reaching out to wipe the glass.
Her breath caught in her throat when she saw the second reflection.
"Are your brothers in one piece?" Weariness sparkled in her usually bright eyes.
"I'm sorry," he held her elbow, lowering his head to kiss her damp shoulder. "I got distracted when you needed me."
"I didn't need you," she closed her eyes, leaning into his chest. "It would have been nice to have, but I didn't need your help. What set that off?"
He hesitated before curling his arms around her waist and flattening his palms on her stomach. The locket around his fingers pressed into the towel.
"Nik wanted to kill Sophie Devereux," he watched her face in the mirror. "I was of a different opinion after she mentioned the Needle of Sorrows."
"She told you, then?" Elena's chest rose and fell.
"And brought this," he flipped his hand over.
She fingered the locket and felt a small smile tug at her lips. She lifted her wet hair and sighed as he fastened it in place.
"Elena," he urged her to turn around and held her waist, eyes flickering toward her abdomen.
He opened his mouth to speak but paused, feeling the air shift and pulse a split second before every shook. Distant yells reached his ears as he sped Elena into the doorframe. The house shook around them, dislodging several oil paintings from Rebekah's walls.
Elena's heart pounded faster the longer the earthquake lasted. Anxiety curled down her spine inciting a deep seated panic in her stomach.
The earthquake passed as soon as it began, and she pushed him back so she could run across the room.
"Elena," he caught her arm at the bedroom door, "where are you going? We have to talk about this?"
"Kol," she sighed, eyes darting toward the hall, "we've got bigger problems right now than the growing inside me. Don't worry, it'll keep."
She pulled her arm free and ran into the hall calling Elijah as she went.
How does Elena feel about everything? How does Kol feel? Will any of it matter if they can't save Davina?