Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognise!
Sorry for taking so long, I got quite busy, and I was waiting for a response from FF . net to fix what was up with my alerts.
MamaHooterz: Something has got to be done about Finn, the question is what…?
TheQueenofGoodbyes: I always knew that the previous chapter was going to hurt, the revelations hurt individually in the TVDU, but together, they were always going to overwhelm Klaus, his response to each one of those revelations was violence, I figured that his response to multiple betrayals at the same time would be vastly different, especially since he's had time to stew on all of them. Combined with his blowout with Maya, I think in that moment Klaus lost his hope, lost hope that they would ever be a family again, which is why he didn't dagger anyone this time around. Of course Klaus will eventually forgive them, it's what he does, he's literally incapable of not forgiving them, he'll do it eventually, but I think that he actually needs time away from his family, real time so he can work through his pain.
Freya's having a bit of a go of it, she doesn't have to work against Dahlia at the moment, or her mother, but she woke and found herself connected to someone else, her magic's no longer her own, her family aren't looking at her like she's the eldest, they aren't treating her like they're happy that she's back. They're all wrapped up in their own drama, and the only ones who are interested in helping her besides Finn are the ones that put these new shackles on her. I understand why she's pissed enough to ignore everything but what she wants to hear. But Finn is the one who is causing serious problems out of the two of them, and he's going to need to by punished for it…eventually.
Felinegreat: I needed to make Klaus vulnerable for what he's going to do next, I'm trying to make it so that by the time that we get to the sacrifice, there's no more secrets to expose. Eventually he'll forgive his siblings, he always does.
Crimxx: Thank You!
MarshWolffe: Thanks!
xotinkerbella: I've always wondered that too, I figured it had something to do with Klaus not wanting anyone to see Elijah in that way. The Klaus and Kol team up I'm loving, they're going to split up for a little while, they've both got things that they need to do on their own, so their bond is going to grow in a way that it hasn't with anyone else before, Klaus has never let his siblings go willingly, and the fact that he's willing to let Kol do his own thing away from him. That's a huge step that he's never taken before, I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out.
thatonegirlwhoyoudontknow: Thank you! I thought it was high time things came to a head with the Mikaelsons.
Hearteyesmf: Klaus is definitely going to go overboard with trying to make it up to Maya, I feel like she will only want one thing from him, but because he's Klaus, he won't get there for a long time, and try to buy her off, even though he knows that it won't work.
Omega-Maharan: I'm not quite sure how I want Finn's story to end, we know the least about him, and none of it was good, so chances are, whatever I choose, won't be good for him.
Icameonaboat47: I love Teen Wolf and the relationship between Scott and Stiles, I think that everyone needs a Stiles in their life.
: Thank you!
Hoshijanaitte: Here you go!
sam: They will, but it will be a while before they are.
DASSA-CHAN: Maya's got a little crush on Klaus, that vision is the first time that she gets an indication that he might return her feelings…eventually, but she's mad at him, so of course she's gonna deny the vision!
aandm20: It's a point that I wanted to highlight, does Klaus have to take responsibility for his actions and who he's become? Definitely. But his family also needs to acknowledge that have caused some of the things that they hate him for. Especially his paranoia when it comes to love, because let's face it, Elijah was in love with the same woman he was in love with when they were human, and then Elijah had the one woman who Klaus felt connected to, break his heart. Esther and Mikael aren't the only ones that made Klaus into a monster, the rest of his family contributed to that too. I'd also like to explore the 52 years Klaus spent under the hunter's curse. He had to have been driven insane by it, there's no way that the curse stopped and Klaus was magically better, it had to have had a very lasting effect on him, and it was never discussed.
It had taken a while, but Kol had managed to extract himself from the disaster that was his family, it had taken him two hours to lose the tail that one of his siblings had put on him, and he finally headed towards the apartment building that Klaus had a place in, he walked in to find him pacing the open plan living room. The apartment Klaus was in was below Damon and Enzo's, Maya didn't want to see him, but it didn't stop him from wanting to be near her, even if she didn't know it. And with Freya and Finn plotting against his Little Siphon, he didn't want her far from him. He'd stay out of her way, but he would be there in case she needed him. Klaus looked up when the door opened and Kol breezed in.
"You took your time," Klaus said.
"Someone sent spies after me," Kol shrugged, "I evaded a few, killed the rest, you know, the usual."
"I hope you steered clear of the CCTV, we can't compel cameras."
"What you think this is my first time?" Kol replied, he tossed himself onto the settee, his carefree smile disappeared, "Why didn't you ever tell us Nik?"
"Tell you what?" Klaus asked, nonchalantly.
"Nik," Kol frowned, "Elijah helped mother and father curse you, it's been a thousand years and you've never said anything, to anyone about it."
"Kol-"
"Why?!" Kol demanded, "He's the only one you've left alive that was involved in the curse!"
"HE'S OUR BROTHER… what do you mean the only one I've left alive?" Klaus stopped as he realised what Kol said.
Kol rolled his eyes, "What you think I didn't know? Was that your big secret? That you killed our mother?"
Klaus was speechless, how could Kol have possibly known? "How-"
Kol sighed, his first few hundred years had not been good, his blood lust had been at an all time high, especially immediately after being turned, he lost his connection with nature, had been turned into a monster, the agony drove him mad, made him furious and on the night that his brother had killed Esther, he wasn't the only one there. "You know how you felt, when they bound your wolf?" Klaus nodded, "It was the same for me, you know I loved my magic, when I lost it…when it was taken from me, I've never felt anger like that before Nik, and the night that you tore mother's heart from her chest…I was there."
"What?!"
"I was going to kill her, I hated her, for what she'd done to me, I still do sometimes, but that night I was there, I saw you rip her heart out."
"You never said anything," Klaus whispered.
"What was there to say? If you hadn't done it I would have."
"I'm the reason father chased us, all these years, I killed our mother, and he wanted me dead for it."
"Don't be ridiculous Nik!" Kol shook his head, "Father's greatest sin was his pride, he had mother curse you to make you weak… weak enough to kill. Once he found out that you weren't his, he never would have let you live, if you hadn't killed mother and told us all that he'd done it so that we would run, then you wouldn't be here today Nik, you'd be dead."
"Kol I killed our mother and then lied to you all about it, how are you reacting like this?! You never told anyone! When Elijah found out he practically ripped my heart out and fed it to me! And you what? You just don't care?!" Klaus couldn't understand it, as much as he hated it, Elijah's reaction had been more in line to their mother's death than Kol's.
"Nik, I am not our noble brother! That night my hate for our mother could not be eclipsed by anything! All you did was get there first. Besides I'm not a snitch. I'm given to believe that 'snitches get stitches…and then end up in ditches' although I must confess I don't know why anyone would stitch someone up if they were planning on killing them. It's completely counterproductive!"
Klaus's eyes widened and he couldn't stop the laughter that spilled out, "'Snitches get stitches!' Where did you even hear that?"
"Where do you think?"
Klaus's laughter died in his throat, "Maya."
Kol nodded, "You're going to have to fix things with her you know?"
"Well, she's in New York for the next three weeks."
"You think that's enough time?"
"It'll have to be," Klaus shrugged, the truths that had spilled out had shattered his family, Kol was the only one he had left, Maya was a close second, he couldn't afford to lose her too. So later that night, he slipped into the apartment upstairs, Damon and Enzo in their own rooms, Maya's little human friend, Caroline, in the one in between them, and his Little Siphon fast asleep in hers on the other end of the apartment. Hers was the only one on that end of the apartment as Enzo had turned the other spare room into place to practice for her, she kept several of the magical trinkets he'd procured for her in her New York practice room.
He snuck into her room, he didn't linger, he didn't want to, but he did need to give her back her talisman, he shouldn't have taken it from her in the first place, but now that he had, she needed it back. Pulling the talisman out of his pocket he moved in close, careful not to touch the mark on her neck, no matter how much he wanted to, he gently clasped the pendant around her neck, smiling when she let out a contented sigh and unconsciously reached for the talisman. "I'll see you soon my Little Siphon," he whispered, his thumb stroking her cheek just once before he whooshed out of the room.
Maya's eyes opened when she knew that he left, her hand clenching around her most precious item and gave a small, hopeful smile, maybe she could forgive Klaus, maybe he could be her 'Nik' again.
"Okay so check this place out," Maya said, smiling at Caroline, "I come here every time I'm in New York, to stock up on lapis lazuli for the website, I know I said no magic, but I thought that as an apology for neglecting my best friend duties for the last month, I should get you something special, and this place has got some killer jewellery."
"Well," Caroline hesitated, Maya had told her that in one version of the future, she'd become a vampire, she wasn't sure how she felt about that, she had plans for her life and she didn't know if being a vampire was a part of them. Maya was a siphon, she was going to be embroiled in the supernatural for the rest of her life. But Maya was her best friend, and she was smart enough to know that if she wanted to stay in Maya's life, the supernatural would be a part of hers to, and as a human she was at the bottom of the food chain. Being a vampire would make her stronger, faster, better prepared than she was now, but it also meant that she wouldn't age, wouldn't be able to stay with her mother in her home town, wouldn't be able to have children, and then there was the blood lust. She didn't know anything about it, and if she was going to be a vampire, then she wanted all the information at her disposal, either way she'd make an informed decision, but just in case, she didn't want to be stuck with something from the reject pile. "Can I pick something out for me?"
Maya gave her a questioning look, "You- you want to be a vampire?"
"I don't know," Caroline said, "But I want to be prepared. So how do we do this?"
Maya nodded, "Okay, then we'll take a look at their collection, if you do become a vampire then your daylight jewellery is forever, and cuz you're my best friend it's not like I'm going to charge you. So I would recommend you go for a few items, a ring obviously, something pretty but classic, something that ages well."
"Unlike Damon's gaudy signet ring," Caroline scoffed, she thought that thing was hideous.
Maya laughed, "I dare you to say that to Damon!"
"I already did, he wasn't very happy with me," she replied cheekily.
"Care!"
"It needed to be said! It's hideous!"
Maya shook her head, "Whatever, we should also get you a bracelet, something that looks like a charm bracelet, because that's what teenage girls wear."
"What about an earring?" Caroline asked.
"Just one?" Maya asked, "Wouldn't that look weird?"
Caroline shook her head, "Not if it's something that I've been wearing for years, up here," she pointed to a spot near the top of her ear, in the cartilage, "The stone could hide behind my ear so that people don't see it."
Maya gave her friend an impressed look, "Hidden, but out in the open, small unassuming, no one would question it, I never thought of that."
"Could I start wearing it before I become a vampire?"
"So that no one even thinks that it could be the daylight jewellery, smart Sunshine."
Caroline shrugged, "I like to think ahead."
"Well then," she held her hand out for Caroline to take, "Let's take a look."
Caroline giggled and the two rushed inside, she gasped at all the beautiful pieces on display, and Maya led her to the back, to a room that was stocked with precious stones, "Wow!"
"Everything in this room is able to be used in spells, or to hold them like the Lapis Lazuli."
"Like your necklace," Caroline said, "What's it made of?"
Maya reached up running her thumb over one of the howling wolf heads, "The majority of it is obsidian – to keep me protected from dangerous magic, one of the wolves is made from ruby – for endurance in battle, which means that it will hold up when I use it to fight and protect myself. And the other wolf is made from emerald – for abundance, it amplifies the effect that the talisman has, so that it holds more magic."
"So every jewel in here is like that?" Caroline asked curiously, she liked learning about magic, it made her feel closer to Maya, which was good, because lately she felt like Maya was slipping away from her.
"Yeah, look, the jade," she pointed at it, "it's a stone connected to good fortune, prosperity, and can be used to 'treat evil' although I'm a little unclear how that works. Turquoise is used by psychic's and seers, to amplify their gifts, amethyst is used for protection and jasper is used for luck. You remember the purple bracelet I got your mom?"
"The one she keeps on all the time?"
Maya nodded, "It's amethyst with some jasper embedded inside, it won't deflect bullets or anything, but the protection spell means more often than not, she won't get hurt, and the luck means that if she does get hurt it's nothing major."
"You made something to keep my mom safe?" Caroline whispered.
"Of course I did," Maya replied, "She's your mom, I don't want anything bad to happen to her, I love Aunt Liz, and I love you, I want her to be as safe as I could make her, I don't want you to have lose her."
Caroline's eyes widened and she wrapped Maya in her embrace, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, burying her face in Maya's hair and then she pulled back punching her friend in the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell me before!"
Maya shrugged a little sheepishly, "I didn't think about it, honestly, I just did it."
Caroline gave her a brilliant smile, "Okay, so tell me about the rest!"
"Sapphire, for intuition and communication with the spirits, again something used by psychics. Opal for fertility, but also it can be used as a generator of creativity and inspiration. Diamond for mental clarity, spiritual enlightenment and most especially power. Amber's a fire stone, it can be used for clarity, confidence, protection and strength. Bloodstone, healing, fertility, physical and financial abundance. Carnelian, for magic shielding, and can be used a talisman against psychic attack. Garnet is used in lunar rituals, can give other stones a magical boost and it's connected to women's bodies. Hematite, healing, protection for homes and property, willpower, confidence and psychic awareness. And last but not least, quartz, for love, friendship and relationships." Maya finished, looking around the room, her lessons with Kol had really paid off, she was mostly able to tell what they were used for just from her senses.
"And what about this?" Caroline picked up a rough looking dark stone.
"That is black kyanite, I have no idea what it's used for…"
"Kol doesn't know?" Caroline asked.
"I'm not talking to either Mikaelson right now, because I promised you all of my attention, and because I'm a little mad at Nik."
The blonde sighed, "Are you ever going to tell me what he did?"
"Maybe one day," Maya replied, "When I'm not so mad at him."
"Well what about that girl that you met in New Orleans, you kept in touch with her right?"
"Yeah but Davina's like fourteen, how is she going to know what this is for?"
"Well she grew up around magic," Caroline shrugged, "And it's different from the kind that you practise, it doesn't hurt to ask."
"You want me to ask Davina?"
"Call her!" Caroline said brightly.
"What now?!" Maya asked, "I thought this was supposed to be you and me time!"
"It is, but I have some ideas and I'd like to know I have someone else to run them by if I want to surprise you."
"What about Kol? You can ask him stuff."
"I never want to owe Kol Mikaelson anything, I get the feeling that owing him, would be a very bad idea."
"That's probably a good call," Maya admitted, "There's no sense getting tangled up with a Mikaelson if you don't have to."
"You mean like you did," Caroline pointed out.
Maya narrowed her eyes and smacked Caroline's arm, "Shut up Sunshine!"
The best friend smirked, "Come on call her! Oh video call her! I want to see her face!"
"Fine," Maya relented, pulling out her phone "I don't know what you're so excited for, she probably won't even answer."
Rebekah and Elijah were out of the Penthouse, they couldn't stay, not when Kol was shooting them such vile looks and Finn and Freya were clearly plotting against Klaus, their brother was worryingly nowhere to be found, the daggers were missing, most likely in his possession, and the mere fact that he hadn't daggered them both already had put them on edge. So at present, they were out, in the middle of the New York city crowd, as they were less likely to be taken down out in the open.
"Why didn't you ever tell us Elijah?" Rebekah asked, she couldn't get over the fact that he'd helped their parents curse Klaus, tied him down, when their brother was scared and confused, made it so in that moment he was truly alone, with no one to turn to. "Hell why did you do it? You helped mother and father make him into the monster that he is now."
Elijah knew why he didn't say anything, it had eaten at him, but the look of betrayal that Niklaus had given him that night, it was one that he couldn't bare to see on the rest of his siblings faces if they found out what he'd done. "I don't know what to say about it Rebekah, it is by far the worst thing that I have ever done, I hurt Niklaus in a way I never thought I could, I never wanted any of you to find out, but I thought it best that Niklaus would be the one to tell you all."
"But he didn't!" Rebekah exclaimed, "You should have told us!"
"I couldn't Rebekah! I've never been more ashamed of anything in my entire life! And you're one to talk! You called Mikael to New Orleans! Our home!"
"I HAD TO!" she yelled back as she stormed off, into the park, Elijah followed closely behind, "Nik never would have let Marcel and I be happy! Marcel was Nik's friend and he refused to let us be together, all I wanted was to be happy!"
"Oh for the love of- Did it ever occur to you that for once, his refusal to allow you to be together was not about you!"
"What?"
"Marcel wasn't Niklaus's friend Rebekah, he raised him from the age of a boy, named him, you were there, Marcel was the closest thing that Niklaus had to a son, and you in your infinite wisdom decided that you had to have him! Of all the people that you wanted, you had to have him! He was practically family and you decided that it was necessary to pick the one person that you knew would aggravate our brother more than everyone!" Elijah yelled back.
"Marcel wasn't-"
"HE WAS NIKLAUS'S SON REBEKAH! You never should have chosen Marcel for yourself."
"Marcel loved me."
"Marcel was a child, who didn't know any better, you did, and you chose to pursue him anyway! Why?!"
"I DON'T KNOW! I don't know alright! I was lonely and hurting and Marcel was there, we bonded."
Elijah rubbed a hand over his face, there was no use arguing about this, they were going round in circles, "It's not like it matters anymore Rebekah, Niklaus is furious at both of us, he has the daggers and Kol by his side, Finn and Freya have teamed up to stop Niklaus. We have been left to our own devices."
"What do we do Elijah? Do we stand with Finn and Freya? Or try to get back in Nik's good books, which is definitely going to be impossible. Or do we run, and hope that Nik's too pre-occupied to chase us?"
Elijah looked up at his sister, she was scared "In a thousand years I have never seen anyone successfully stand against him, not even our father. Should they attempt to stand against him, Freya and Finn will fail, and they will suffer for it. I spent a thousand years running, I don't want to do it anymore."
"So we try to make it up to Nik," Rebekah said resignedly, she didn't even know why she'd bothered asking, she knew what Elijah's answer would be. And after the revelation of what he'd done, Elijah would do whatever was necessary to earn Nik's trust back.
"The question is, how do we do this, without being daggered?"
"Well you're the one that comes up with the plans." Rebekah said.
"If you want to get back in Nik's good books, perhaps you should start with this," Kol appeared in front of his brother and sister, a frown on his face, he didn't want to go to Elijah with this, but he also didn't have time to spend chasing this particular problem all over the world. This should keep Elijah busy and out of his hair, hopefully his older brother would take Rebekah with him. He handed Elijah a file.
"Kingmaker Land Development Incorporated? What is this?"
"This is the business that belongs to our oldest friend. Lucien Castle." Elijah would have paled, if possible, he thought he wouldn't have to deal with that particular problem for at least another millennia.
"And what is the issue with Mr Castle's business?" Rebekah stalked forward and pulled the file out of Elijah's hands.
"Lucien is using his business as a front to hunt down kidnap and experiment on werewolves in an attempt to create a werewolf venom so potent that it can kill an Original. Nik would like it stopped for various reasons, the least of which is the fact that he'll need wolves to turn into hybrids once the curse is broken. You want to get back in Nik's good books, start there." He whooshed away before Rebekah or Elijah could say anything more.
Caroline frowned as Davina described the last meeting she'd had with one of the girls in her coven, "They don't really sound like they're your friends Davina."
The younger girl shrugged, it was true, Monique, Cassie and Abigail were the ones that she spent almost all of her time with, but the girls weren't particularly nice, they weren't mean either, but Davina had been raised differently to them. Monique was her closest friend but a lot of the time the girl didn't understand that Davina's background meant that she couldn't do most of the things the other girls could. Her mother was very controlling, and kept her on a tight leash, in fact that leash had only loosened slightly when Maya had come to town, and the Regent had used Davina as a go between. "They're my coven, they're all I have."
"Well now you have us!" Caroline insisted.
"She's right, we may not be in New Orleans but we're your friends," Maya agreed, "If anybody is giving you a hard time, I'll send one of my guys down to deal with it for you."
"One of your guys?"
"You've already met Enzo, Damon's much more reckless, but he could have some fun scaring some teenage witches…"
"No, no vampires!" Davina insisted, "It'll make everyone in the coven freak-out, they're still not happy that you're the one that cured the Regent."
"That's just jealousy," Maya dismissed, "They don't like the fact that they couldn't cure her, and that I won't let anyone know how I did it."
"Why won't you?" Davina asked, it puzzled her, she was part of a coven and information was always shared between each other.
"Knowledge is power," Maya replied seriously, "When you don't have strength, or skill, knowledge is what will save you. For example I created a spell, that will stop anyone from removing a vampire's daylight jewellery. Marcel saw that, and wanted it for himself, so that he could use it to increase his power in the Quarter."
"If you can undo a blood hex on the Regent when no one else could, then that makes you a hot commodity," Davina said understandingly.
"Exactly!" Caroline cut in, "Knowledge is power!"
"And absolute knowledge is absolute power," Maya said.
"Don't go all nerd on her, she doesn't need that in her life!" Caroline rolled her eyes and smacked her on the arm.
Davina laughed, she liked the way that the two girls interacted with one another, she hoped that someday she'd have friends like that, "Okay I have to go soon, I'll have a look through some old grimoires to find out what Black Kyanite can do, but why do you want to know so badly?"
"That's because of me!" Caroline said excitedly, "I had an idea! So tell me, how many people out there do you think could do with a little magical boost?"
"What do mean?" Davina asked.
"Maya made a protection bracelet for my mom because she's a cop and she wanted to keep her safe, my question is how many people out there could use something like that? Extra protection? Or a boost of creativity? Or like a rush of confidence for that job interview that you're really nervous for? How many people would pay for that?"
Maya smirked as she realised what Caroline was getting at, "A lot of people would pay for that."
"But covens don't do that," Davina said, "They don't work outside themselves, they don't share with outsiders."
"Then it's a good thing that we're not a coven," Caroline smirked.
"I already sell daylight jewellery online, I could expand the website easily enough, a lot of vampires have people that they love that they want to keep safe. Think about it, I already have an account at this place I could put more money in, buy up stock and we could really do this! Caroline could work on the designs, you and I could do the spells, it's actually a pretty great business idea!"
"You want me to do this with you?" Davina asked.
"Of course I do, I can't possibly do everything myself, I do have school, and you're in witch city, which means that any extra ingredients you could easily procure, besides, if we work on this together, Davina you could have some real independence, with the money that we make, you could do anything you want when you get older."
Davina nodded, "You're right, I'll send you the address of the post office nearest to me, I don't want that stuff showing up to our home, mom won't like it."
"Alright so what spells are you best versed in?"
"Anything fire based I guess, it's my element."
"Ok so we'll start with amber because it's fire based, garnet for the magical boost…" Maya thought about it for a moment, Davina was going to go through a lot, the first of which was psychological torture from the Ancestors, if she could help, she wanted to, "Also carnelian, it's good for magical shielding and it protects against psychic attack, I think that you should practice with that, its always good to be able to shield yourself."
Davina nodded, "Okay, that's a good idea, I have to go, there's a coven meeting soon, they're talking about preparing the girls for some ritual cleansing, I'll talk to you later! Bye girls!"
"Bye Davina!" Caroline smiled.
"Later D."
Caroline turned to Maya, "I like her, she could definitely be part of the friend group, and you can tell she's going to grow up to be hot, she'll totally bring up our group average!"
"Our group average?"
Caroline nodded, "The group hotness average! We're competing against Damon, Enzo and Klaus, that's a hard task, but not impossible if we add extra hotties to our group."
Maya rolled her eyes, "Is everything a competition to you?"
"Duh," Caroline grinned, "Now let's get some new jewels!"
A week later Caroline and Maya were with Enzo in a karaoke bar, he'd compelled the place for them in an effort to get along with Caroline, from what Maya had told him the blonde loved to sing and he hated to admit it, but when she wasn't being all controlling she was kind of fun. Maya was about to go onstage fully willing to get involved if it made her Sunshine happy. Caroline sat down next to him with a smile, "I've got to say Enzo, this was actually a good idea."
"Well I've resigned myself to believe that as long as Maya is in my life, you will be too, so I suppose that we should learn to get along."
Caroline gave a little pout, "What if I like fighting with you?"
Enzo shot her an amused glance, "Well no one says that we have to stop."
Caroline small smile turned into a full out grin when she heard the music turn up, "Fall Out Boy! Thank God it's not that crazy metal stuff she listens to!"
"It's terrible isn't it?" Enzo agreed, "I mean honestly it's just angry noise, how does she listen to it?!"
"I know right! It's like screaming and banging and she thinks that it sounds good!"
Enzo took a drink and shook his head, "Damon's the same, awful taste in music! Maybe because it was because he lived through the eighties!"
Damon was sat with Klaus in a bar across from the karaoke place, "You know you could just go in there, talk to her, say you're sorry… for whatever you've done to upset her."
"I can't," Klaus replied.
"Because the word 'sorry' isn't in your vocabulary?"
"Because it wouldn't be enough, I hurt Maya's feelings, and unlike every other woman I've met in my entire life, she can't be bought."
"But that's why you like her so much isn't it?" Damon smirked, giving him a nudge, "The fact that she can't be bought means that any loyalty she has towards you, is all real, not a single part of it manufactured."
"Well I don't know about that," Klaus started, "she was sent here specifically to keep me alive."
Damon rolled his eyes, it was like Klaus was being particularly obtuse, "Nik, don't be stupid, she was sent here to protect you, she wasn't sent to be your friend, she wasn't sent to care about you, or worry when one of her visions could hurt you! She could keep you and the rest of your family alive from the shadows, she never had to reveal herself to you. In fact all of this would be easier for her if she didn't. I mean Death told her to keep you alive, she didn't have to tell you about the failsafe, she doesn't have to help you find a way to get around it, but she's doing it because she cares about you. You better fix whatever you did, she's totally monopolizing all my time with Enzo."
"Aah you've finally made your move!" Klaus perked up, this was what he needed, a distraction.
"No!" Damon replied bitterly, "That's the problem! She's always there you know?! Every time that I get just a little alone time with him, she just pops up! Like an annoying, red-headed, cockblock!" Klaus laughed as Damon continued. "It's not funny Nik! I haven't been laid in like a month! A sexless Damon Salvatore is not a fun Damon Salvatore!"
"But he is amusing, I mean look at you, getting all worked up over stolen moments with your Beau!"
Damon scowled, "Like you're any better! Look at you! Stalker of the year, waiting, watching and for what? If you're not going man up and fix things with Maya then what's all this for?" Damon gestured to the room around them, and then across the street. Klaus had been following Maya everywhere she went, at a distance of course, because he knew that despite his warnings against it, Finn and Freya were likely to try to hurt his Little Siphon. And now in the bar, Klaus was watching a live video of Maya and Caroline up on stage. He'd compelled someone in the Karaoke place to film the inside so he could see everything.
"Finn's going to try something, I just know it, I'm here to keep her safe!"
"It'd be a lot easier to do if she let you near her," Damon replied in a sing song voice. "Just go in there and say you're sorry!"
Klaus scowled at him, "Shut up Damon!"
The next week had Caroline and Maya touring Fifth Avenue, if anything brought the two girls together, it was shopping. They'd been at it for hours, Damon and Enzo in the background, carrying their bags, they were taking a break from spending money and had headed inside Central Park. The girls were giggling over the looks on the guys faces, they were complaining about being pack mules when both of them dropped to the ground with snapped necks. Caroline gasped and Maya straightened up, she whirled to face whoever had just attacked them but was stopped when shackles appeared on her wrists, and a powder was blown in her face, magic dampening powder, designed to stop a witch from using her abilities. "Finn!" she snarled. Before her stood Finn, Freya and Sage.
Caroline stood a little straighter, her heart was pounding but she wasn't going to let her fear show, these three had just rendered their protection unconscious and put those weird shackles on Maya, she couldn't do magic. Slowly she reached towards her pocket but the red-headed vampire grabbed her by the throat, "My beloved says that we can't kill the witch yet but he said nothing of you." Sage tightened her grip around Caroline's throat and lifted her in the air.
Caroline choked, she scrabbled at the hand at her neck she could barely breathe. "Sage," Finn said, stopping her from killing the human girl, "We'll need her for the moment."
Sage frowned, but lowered Caroline to the ground, she kept a hold of the girl, "What's first?"
"First," Finn said, turning to Maya, "You release my sister from her bond with Kol."
Maya sneered at him "No can do, I undo the link and big sister over there goes night night."
Finn scowled, "Do you think that for one moment I believe that fiction? I will not allow you to hold my sister hostage!"
"You're an idiot that has no idea what sort of magic you're messing with! Besides, I can't do anything now," she held up her shackled hands.
Freya let out a disbelieving laugh, "I know that is not going stop you for long, we need to talk."
Maya shook her head, keeping one eye on Sage who hadn't let go of Caroline, "Maya?" Caroline whimpered.
"It's alright Sunshine," Maya said confidently, even though she was feeling anything but, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
"Well the only way that works, is if you give us what we want," Sage said, tightening her grip on Caroline.
"Don't you dare Maya!" Caroline exclaimed and then groaned in pain as Sage clamped down on her shoulder.
"I wasn't going to," Maya said, "I don't react well when the people I love are threatened."
"For now you're helpless," Freya pointed out, "We could just kill you."
"And risk Klaus's wrath?" she asked, "Because if you try to stop him from ending a thousand years worth of agony, agony that your mother caused, he'll wipe you from existence, if anyone can it's him." Maya was just buying herself time, she could feel her siphoning abilities, she touched the shackles, they were drenched in magic, power dampening magic, but it wasn't designed for people like her. The powder was similar, she could feel it's affects, but it couldn't stop her, not for long, she felt her siphoning pushing against the dampening. She gripped the chain in her hands and started to siphon, it was difficult, the powder and the cuffs fighting against her, but she could feel it working. "You three have no idea what you're really up against, and unless you get with the program, you will die," she looked at Finn, and then slid her eyes over to Freya, "And you'll be out the only brother that you actually know. Left with a family that has grown for a thousand years without you, and then what will you do?"
"ENOUGH!" Finn snarled, "You will release my sister from Niklaus's machinations, or Sage will kill your friend."
"I doubt that," a voice said from behind them, Sage dropped to the floor, her neck snapped, and Caroline was whooshed out of the vicinity.
/ / / /
"Kol!" Caroline exclaimed, she was in his arms.
"In a spot of trouble are you darling?"
"How'd you find us?"
"You think Nik hasn't been following every move that Maya makes? They may be fighting, but he's not going to let anything happen to her."
Caroline looked up at him with widened eyes, "You know I actually believe you, put me down."
"Caroline-"
"Put me down Kol! Go back there and make sure Maya's okay! I'll be fine! Go!" Kol let her go and whooshed away."
/ / / /
Maya's eyes widened as Klaus appeared from nowhere and snapped Freya's neck, "That's enough of that," he said and turned to Finn, "Now what am I to do with you?"
Finn growled, his vampiric features coming to light, he launched himself at Klaus, anger beyond compare, Klaus tugged the dagger from his jacket and stabbed Finn in the heart.
"Klaus!" Maya exclaimed, "You just- Freya will never forgive you for that!"
He walked up to her, eyeing her chains in distaste, he snapped them off her wrists, "I don't care."
"Klaus you need her."
"Not more than I need you," he reached out and stroked her cheek, "I need you to believe me when I tell you that I will never let anyone hurt you again, not even me."
"But, you could lose your chance at making more hybrids," she whispered.
He shook his head, "It's the damndest thing, but I trust you," he said, "Freya might make things easier, but you're what I need, I swear to you I will always keep you safe."
"You're putting what you need at risk, for me…"
"When I first met Enzo, he said something to me that I didn't understand, he said to me that you were everything, I get it now. I've seen it with Damon, with Kol, I know that it was never your intention, but without you I wouldn't have my baby brother back. Kol likes you, he'd never want to hurt you, the same with Damon, and me, homicidal maniacs, the lot of us, and yet you got under our skin, you made us care."
"Then you should kill me, if you care, I'm a weakness, you can't afford to have a weakness Nik, it's the only thing that makes sense."
Klaus's eyes lit up, he didn't miss the fact that she'd called him Nik, "When have you known me to do anything that makes sense?"
Maya smiled and threw her arms around him, "Thank you."
"Always."
She pulled away from him and looked over at the two unconscious Mikaelsons, "Let her take the dagger out."
"What?"
"Finn's the only one out of all of you that she knows, she'll never trust you if she doesn't have him."
"He won't let Freya help."
"Freya may love Finn, but her sense of self preservation's stronger, she'll help you, or when Dahlia wakes up, she won't have any magic to fight her. Kol will make sure of that, let her wake him, he doesn't know where I live."
"Ugh," a groan came from behind them, Damon and Enzo both struggled to sit up, "What the hell happened?" Enzo groaned.
Damon pulled himself to his feet and saw Sage out cold near by, "Ugh, Sage, I can't believe I let her get the drop on me!" he complained.
"Don't feel too bad," Kol said as he appeared, "She is 900 years old."
"Kol! Where's Caroline?"
"I dropped her at a café with a couple of mates, she sent me back to check on you lot, but it looks like Nik has everything in hand!"
"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun!" he shrugged.
"Go get my Sunshine," Maya said to Kol, "Meet us back at the apartment." She turned to Klaus and held out her hand, "Give me a lift?
Maya was curled up on the couch in the apartment, resting against Klaus's chest. The two of them were talking, finally, about 'the incident' as it had been dubbed. The rest of them were on the other side of the apartment, the vampires unable to eavesdrop because Maya had cast a soundproofing spell. Caroline was pouting, because she was being left out and she still didn't know what Klaus had done to earn Maya's displeasure.
"How much longer are they going to be?" she asked.
"Maya's got a silencing spell up," Kol said, "We'll only know when the spell comes down," he brushed the hair from Caroline's face, "For now, we'll just have to wait and see darling."
"Hey!" Damon tugged Caroline towards him and shot a scowl at Kol, "Hands off, Baby Klaus! You're way too old for her!"
"I'm only nineteen!" Kol protested.
"And she is fifteen!" Damon replied, "Back off!" he'd promised Maya that he wouldn't let Kol put the moves on Caroline, he could at least do that.
/ / / /
"I'm still mad at you Nik," Maya said, feeling his arm tighten around her.
"I know love, but you'll forgive me eventually, or at least that's what that vision of your indicates," he finished cheekily.
Maya let out an indignant huff and elbowed him in the stomach, "I thought we agreed that we'd never mention that again!"
Klaus smirked, "But seeing you match the shade of your hair is so delightful!" he tucked her hair behind one ear, accidentally brushing his fingers over the fading bite mark on her neck, pulling them both into another vision.
/ / / /
Maya was in a tastefully decorated room, lying back on a four poster bad, there was a man above her, kissing his way down her body as he flicked open the buttons of her blouse one by one. She gasped as his lips hovered just under her belly button, and he tugged down her skirt and underwear. Whoever this was, it wasn't Klaus, the man had warm olive skin, dark hair and grey eyes. Her fingers threaded through his hair as she arched into his touch.
"Well, well, look at this! I'm not gone for an hour and you two decide to take up with each other in my bed!" Klaus said walking into the bedroom, dropping his jacket onto a nearby chair, his eyes shifting to the tell-tale yellow and black.
The man pulled back just slightly, blood dripping from his prominent fangs, "You were late, what did you expect?"
Klaus growled and Maya whimpered, "Nik?!" she breathed out, shifting under his scrutiny.
Klaus whooshed to her side, leaning over her with dark grin, "Don't worry love, I'm here now," his mouth shot to her neck, latching onto the mark that he'd left on her, fangs sinking into her tender flesh.
Maya cried out, her free hand latched onto his head, pulling him closer to her, as the other vampire went back to feasting on her as well. She moaned in pleasure as both men drank deeply from her.
/ / /
Present day Maya pulled away from Klaus, her skin flushed, and chest heaving.
"Who the hell was that?" Klaus asked.
"I have no idea!"
Thank you all for reading, if you have time, please leave a review, the feedback really helps my writing!