HALF A DAY LATER~~~~SALVATORE BOARDING HOUSE
Damon and Ric were having a meeting in the library while Jessa was in the kitchen making lemonade with Bonnie. Elena and Jeremy were with Caroline and Tyler at the Grille pretending everything was normal. That was the plan for now. Pretending.
"Was it easy to bring Damon back?" Bonnie was asking, as Jessa carefully measured out enough sugar so the lemonade was not too tart, but not too sweet either.
Jessa considered what Bonnie was asking and realized the question was too easy. "It wasn't difficult. He wasn't gone. The werewolf bit before the full moon cycle, so we had a lot of time. You had helped me realize that my powers were permission based. Katherine had tried to kill me by biting me, which made me assume that my blood was like acid to vampires, which without permission it is and from what my mother says, only my 'mate' can have permission. So it was simple, really." She stirred the lemonade as she thought some more. "What was difficult was that I literally saw red when he ordered Joe to attack Damon. For a moment, I wanted to wipe out his entire family, Bonnie. I had to stop myself from killing the entire group, from staked, to Elijah and Rebecca, then Klaus. I wanted him to watch them all die. It terrified me, but I thought he killed Damon. And I wanted him to know my pain."
She hadn't even told Damon that last part. Her anger had scared her. She had seriously had to focus on him and the fact that he wasn't dead, that he needed her to be present for him to stop herself from harming Klaus.
"But you didn't," Bonnie assured her. "You stopped yourself. You centered and you found the will to stop. Jessa, don't focus on that moment. We all have them. I did too."
Jessa looked at the young witch, a little shocked and saw her smile. She was sharing that they all struggle with their new powers. It helped knowing that. Nodding she went back to fixing refreshments for the rest of their meetings.
"So Plan B." Bonnie said, getting back on track. "Since Damon is healed, I guess that means that you are going in alone?"
Jessa smiled. "Yes. Damon knows that Klaus knows I'm dangerous. He knows that I can touch people and remove their supernatural powers, so chances are he'll use someone expendable or compel a human to give me the blood."
"But you don't need touch." Bonnie said, with a wicked grin.
"Now, now," Damon said, entering the kitchen and taking a cold glass of lemonade. "Don't tell just anyone that news, Bonnie."
"I'm curious who's expendable enough to use a carrier pigeon for the blood." Ric said, coming in behind Damon. "You don't think Joe is still around do you?"
"Doubt it," Damon said, taking a drink of his lemonade. "Usually Klaus' pets have a short shelf life. This lemonade tastes exactly like Hattie's."
Jessa rolled her eyes. "Who do you think taught me to make it, Einstein?" She nudged him with her elbow. "I don't care who the carrier pigeon is. I'm going in. I'm going to play sleight of hand. Any certain sibling in a box I should shoot for?"
Ric considered it, since he was the one who'd actually done the homework. "Finding any type of research on this family has been a nightmare. However, what I've found is that aside from the three who've spent the most time in the land of the living, Kol seems to be the one who does not play well with others. He's immature at the best of times and it appears that he truly believes that being immortal means that he or his kind should rule over mortals. So, if you can somehow pinpoint him, that's the one I'd reverse."
"OK, Kol it is." Jessa said. "After that, I'll have Klaus do a coffin check. When he sees I mean what I say, I'll give him his ultimatum." She sighed. "And for Elena I'll let him know that his Ripper pet Stefan is to stay behind. And that is Plan B."
Taking a glass of lemonade she toasted Damon. Hoping against hope that she sounded confident. The last time they had a plan it had gone to shit. This time it had better go better because it was just her, alone. Damon was going to be nearby, but she'd be going into the viper's den on her own.
THE NEXT MORNING ~~~~OUTSIDE KLAUS' HOUSE/HIDEOUT
Jessa approached the door carefully, taking her time to listen with both her advanced hearing and her mind. She could tell that Stefan was inside, as well as Rebecca and Klaus. There was also someone else that felt familiar, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Giving an internal shrug, she walked with what she hoped looked like confidence to the front door and pressed the doorbell.
Stefan opened the door and she barely glanced at him. "I'm sure Klaus is expecting me," she said, dismissing him to get his master. He motioned for her to follow him. Not attempting to make small talk, a mercy she was thankful for. She could tell that his mind was a riot of thoughts. He was losing the battle against the Ripper inside not just daily but by the second. Even now he wanted to be outside finding a human to drain.
He showed her to a large room in a furnished home would probably be the family room. In a commandeered home, however, it was just a massive space. Klaus kept her waiting for several minutes, reminding her just who was supposed to be in charge. So she took out her cell phone and checked emails. Three from her publisher letting her know that the new book was going to be out in three weeks. And the edits on the next were done. Good to know.
She heard him coming, along with the person who felt familiar long before they graced her with their presence. Which was welcome, because it gave Jessa enough time to school her features into a look of indifference when she finally came face to face with the once person in the world she never wanted to see again.
Katherine Pierce.
"Ms. Warren, we meet again," Klaus greeted her. No warmth present in his voice, but he held a look of triumph in his eyes. He was so certain she was there to beg and barter. She couldn't wait to prove him wrong. And Katherine, what look did she hold. Clearly fear, she was definitely afraid of him, and she most definitely feared Jessa. This should be interesting. "I suspect you've come to ask a favor of me."
"Oh, is that what you think?" Jessa asked, humor evident in her voice.
Klaus looked at her curiously. Humor was most definitely not what he expected. "Damon was bitten by a werewolf, wasn't he?" Perhaps he was mistaken, he was thinking, she clearly read. Joe might have missed. Perhaps he'd only beaten him.
"Yes, Damon was bitten." Jessa answered, looking around the room like she'd only come to look at a home she was thinking of buying. "But I need no favor from you."
"If he was bitten by a werewolf, he's going to die." Katherine broke in, clearly too confused to stop herself from being cowed from her fear.
"No, he's not going to die." Jessa said, making her way to the window. "Wow, this view is really great. In the winter it will be breathtaking. Christmas lights, you should try white." She turned back to the room at the two of them look at her like she was crazy. "What?"
"If you aren't here for a favor, then why are you here?" Klaus spit out.
"Oh, because I want to show you what I can do to people who are a threat to people I care about. People like Damon. People like the people of Mystic Falls." She said this while looking hard at both Klaus and Katherine. She closed her eyes and focused on Kol Mikaelson and felt the vampirism break from his staked self, and she then heard Klaus' cell phone come to life in his hand. "You'll want to answer that." She said opening her eyes.
Klaus answered the phone and looked up at Jessa his eyes growing wider as the person on the other end kept talking. He growled his answer and glowered at Jessa as he hung up. He started toward her, but she held up one hand and that stopped him in his tracks.
"Now, now," she started, "do you really want to come any closer, Niklaus?"
His glare never dropped. "How did you do it?"
"My mother gave those gifts and she never questioned why or how or even should she. And you know what? In some cases it worked out OK. Then there's you. You shouldn't have happened, Klaus. It wasn't your fault. Your mother lied. Your father asked for too much. You were punished. I get it." Jessa said, putting as much into her words as she could. "I don't really care, Klaus. What I care about is when you decide to go apeshit on MY hometown. Why? Because this is my hometown. I give a shit when you attack the love of my existence. That's a dick move."
Klaus was listening. She was making her points and possibly weaving a spell. He may have been plotting his next move, but she was about to make the next point and it was going to make him make a choice.
"This is where you have to decide. Do you want to live, Klaus? Because that's what you have to decide. I am going to give you an option. If you want to survive, then you leave and NEVER darken the town of Mystic Falls again, and I mean EVER. Or, I will remove one or the other part of your supernatural self and you will die. It will be a permanent death." Jessa let that hang in the air. Those were the options, and he'd learned already that touch didn't have to come into play to make it happen.
Klaus considered for a moment, and then said something that shocked the two women in the room. "How long do I have to leave?"
"I'm willing to give you 24 hours. And Stefan stays. Your family leaves with you. Rebecca and Elijah will be given the same ultimatum on their own. As well as any unstaked member. I won't play Russian roulette with my town." Jessa said. Her back was ramrod straight. She looked at Katherine Pierce. "And I'll speak to you about your options as well."
Klaus nodded. "I'll be gone in 12. Stefan will be at the boarding house before then. I will let Rebecca know and Elijah will be given the message as well. Shall I leave Katherine in your care?" He asked, seeming to want to be done as quickly as possible. The thought appalled her on a base level.
"Fine." She agreed, wanting to be done. "I'll send for someone to collect her." She sent word to Damon and asked for Elena to be brought immediately as well. "There's one more thing, I want Elena to collect Stefan. That way he won't need to be sent to the boarding house. I also think that will be the easiest way to give her piece of mind that this is over."
"Over?" He said. "She'll be coming with me, of course." He said, back to bargaining. "I still need my hybrids. And she's the ticket. Her blood solves my issues."
"Ah, yes. Silly me. I may have forgotten to tell you that bit. Recall how I can undo things? Your mother added the doppelganger blood bit to my mother's bit and mixed into the hybrid bit, so I undid it." Jessa was leaving out the part where she hadn't yet, undid it. Semantics. "ANY doppelganger blood is as useless to you as, well, anyone's blood. You're the only hybrid and you'll always be the only hybrid. Want to die now?" She asked shrugging.
He almost lost it then. If it hadn't been for the doorbell ringing, announcing the cavalry, which was Damon, Elena, Ric, Tyler, Matt, Caroline, Bonnie, Matt, and Jeremy just to make sure that everything was alright.
It might have allowed him to lose his temper, but luckily it didn't. It took only seconds for Jessa to close her eyes and unlock the blood curse that linked the doppelganger blood to hybrids. Then, Stefan and sadly, Katherine came along with the rest. As the door closed, Jessa could hear something inside shattered. She was pretty sure it was a mirror that lined the wall along the inner hallway and was certain that it was Klaus letting off the steam of being bested by a woman who he was certain that he could have beaten.