2-03

"I'm sorry, who are you?" said Enzo though a part of him had already taken a step back, shifting against what he must have known was Elijah.

"Elijah Mikaelson," the man said. "He'll no doubt be expecting me." Looking at the others they were stuck in place though there was an excited glean in Jared's eyes. There was something wrong about that kid, royally by the looks of it, and from Andrew's own expression he knew this to be true too.

I noticed that the same shocked feeling was setting in on em now that Elijah was really here. I took a breath, feeling out my heartbeat and doing my best at convincing my body that I wasn't in any real danger. Try as I might, though, the message wasn't truly sinking in.

I forced myself to my feet and started moving, with the first step my body had no other choice than to follow through. Enzo, who'd said nothing the entire time but stared beyond the threshold. My forward movement stopped when I was in front of the door staring down the man.

Even with the distance between us my heart was beating faster, my throat doing its level best at closing up and sweat starting to line my forehead. Through the panic, with what little sense of rationality that I had, I took in Elijah and I saw that he knew I was afraid.

"I'll—" I started and I had to clear my throat when it came out shaky. "I'll take it from here, Elijah," I said pushing through.

"I'll assume you've no doubt known for some time that I would be coming here," he said. He unbuttoned his blazer and took a step forward. Without even meaning to I'd taken a step back. I swallowed, feeling panic.

His smile was intentional, for me to see it.

"Known what I'm trying to achieve and you know the alternative if you don't help me," he said, all in one breath. "It's in your best interest, Mr Bennett, to help me achieve my goals."

"Okay," I said. I cleared my throat and gave him a nod. "I'll lose if I fight you. Between you and the Martins I have no choice but to go along with whatever you're trying to achieve. What do you want?" I asked.

"I'd thought you would already know that," he said.

I shook my head. "That's not how my ability works," I said. "You'll no doubt know this if the Martins have been reporting in."

"They have," he said. "Just a test. The specific where your ability is concerned can be quite…inconsistent. It's in my best interest if I continually try to feel out what your true measure is. Not of import, at present," he said. "What is of import is you staying out of my way until I have need of you."

I didn't need think about it before I nodded.

Elijah smiled. "It was a pleasure making your acquaintance, Mr Bennet, and say hello to the rest of your friends for me, will you?"

"Sure," I said and the words were again shaky. The man disappeared and a breath I must have been holding in was let out, my legs growing week and the world becoming shaky around the edges. "Fuck me but that was awful," I muttered.

"Tell me about it," said Jared. "You were scared."

"Of course I was scared," I muttered. "He's a fucking Original. Kill him and I have Klaus on me, chasing me for eternity. We don't do what he says and he just kills us, or he uses all of you against me, or he kills Elena."

Thoughts came rushing in and it was easy to feel panic. Images played out through my mind of the future, my past: The people the Originals had killed, how they could make playthings even of the most powerful, how I wasn't powerful and might be easy for them to takes. We weren't prepared for this and it was now just starting to sink through.

"I'm going to have a panic attack," I said and my voice was shaking, my legs even more so. My heart was beating faster and my throat was all but closing up, making it very hard to breathe.

"Yep…I'm having…a…panic attack," I said before my legs gave out. Enzo grabbed me before I could fall, moving me towards the couch.

Everything was coming back: Grams, Bree and now this. With everything that had happened I could get impressions of the me from the previous life. Nothing broad, but I knew the feelings when they connected to this world. How I'd told people to buck up or shouted at the screens all the right things to do, but now here I was and I was having a panic attack of all things.

The world started to draw in, splotches of darkness closing in.

I couldn't have that. Not one bit. I couldn't be useless when people were looking towards me for help.

It wasn't healthy, I knew, but this had to be done. I shoved the anger down, pushing it into a box and then reached for the anger. I felt it as it flared, pushing the darkness back and filling me up with a heat. My thoughts became clearer, starker with the impressions of everyone around me taking a darker tinge.

I pushed my mind into remembering the future, all the things the Originals had done and all the things I hated them for. I made that an anchor, making sure the images where the clearest thing in my mind at any one time.

I took a large breath in and found the first step towards moving forward.

The others were standing around me, worried looks even from Andrew.

"Our first step is destroying the bridge," I said when I came back.

"What?" said Bonnie.

"Destroy the bridge," I said. My eyes strayed towards Andrew, the only one I couldn't really trust in the room, and he must have known where that was leading because he took a step back and said a spell, his finger slashing a line through the air.

"What?" said Jared. "You knew?"

But he was ignored. "I'm not going back to sleep," said Andrew. "My brother is a part of this which means I'm a part of this."

"You'd be a better part of this if you were all in," I said. I stood, feeling more strength. "Right now, we're at war. Either you're fully prepared to fight or you leave. But right now, I'm not giving you proprietory information."

"My brother—"

"Is his own person," I said, my voice cold. "Stop it. Stop coddling him because it doesn't require a sense of clairsentience to see he doesn't like it." The atmosphere in the room shifted. Jared losing his smile while Andrew drew himself inward. I saw a way in and in the haze my mouth moved before I could think my way through.

"He's smarter than you," I said. "You know this. So let him be instead of letting your insecurities diminish your brother's potential."

"You are out of line," said Andrew, his voice shaking with anger.

"I'm telling the truth," I said. "The reason you haven't chosen to join our coven, beyond me, beyond the handy excuses, is the fact that you know if you're in the same coven as your brother he'll eventually outshine you. For that matter the real reason you hate me so much is because I give your brother the resources to do so."

Andrew said a spell and slashed his fingers. I felt a hook connect to my back and pull my back, sending me crashing into the wall before hitting the ground.

I got to my feet and moved a chair; he slashed his fingers again and the chair changed course, moving towards the ceiling and sticking there. Andrew closed his hand into a fist and opened it before he blew out; a stream of fire barrelled towards me only to catch Enzo in the chest, sending him crashing into me.

"Andrew, stop!" said Jared. Groaning I got to my feet and saw that Jared was standing in front of his brother. "Don't do this."

"You're siding with them?" said Andrew, a broken quality to his voice.

"It's—it's not about taking side," he said looking between the both of us. "It's about more than that, the future. The Originals—"

"Aren't our problem," said Andrew. "None of what this town brings to bare is our problem. We should have left this place at the first sign that things were heading south, we could still leave now. Breaking the ties that connect you to them—"

"But I don't want that," Jared said.

"So you are choosing them."

"Stop!" said Andrew. "Please stop. I've been around Micah long enough to always be looking for manipulation. I don't know if this serves a larger plan, but what you're saying right now, drawing lines and seeing only black and white, it's not helping."

Andrew looked at his brother for a long moment, taking him in before his gaze moved in my direction. For a witch, it was certainly a possibility that looks could kill, and I was sure that if Andre knew the spell he would have killed me right there and then.

He didn't, though, instead he stormed out of the house.

I'd lost ground. There was a part of Jared that resented me now and I could see it in the way that he stood, the way that he looked at me for a long moment; there was a part of Bonnie that was scared of me, we'd attacked people in mutual anger, but this was a different sort of attack; but from Enzo there was nothing.

"Destroy the bridge," said Jared, the first to speak. "Why?"

"Because it's made out of White Oak," I said. "I know," I said, seeing the shift, particularly from Enzo, "it makes sense to keep some but there lies only temptation. Either Elijah or Klaus dies and it could me the others or Enzo. It's safer that we do this now."

"Without speaking to the Council?" said Bonnie. "Dad will be upset about this."

"Which is the reason we aren't going to tell him," I said. "I know, communication and all that, but the less people that know about this the better."

"Then we destroy the bridge," said Enzo. He was on his feet, rubbing at his chest. "What about the Original? We going to do what he says?"

"First we talk to Josephine," I said. "She might see this from an angle I haven't looked at. Then I'll talk to Luka and his father. Break both of them. It won't be a magical attack it will be me showing my displeasure for their spying, skirting the lines of Elijah's orders."

"They could still attack you," said Enzo.

"They could, but they won't," I said. "Elijah will have noticed the wolves. A pack that large will have been noticed, word will be ringing and that of their destination will be clear. Klaus is coming and Elijah wants to get to work quickly. He knows I'm afraid which means he'll be back, wanting to know where the grave is if he doesn't find it."

It was small, but there was a gain there too. Jared was excited, at me, at what I was doing, how I was thinking. The haze gave me a matter of perspective, how to move forward where Jared was concerned: He liked being around people who thought as quickly as he could. I was that, between my 'gift' and the fact that I was quite good at reading people.

The more of this side of me that he saw the closer the both of us would be.

"Let's get to work," I said.