A/N: Thank you all so much for all the amazing things you've said. I'm so happy you like this story. Thank you for the follows, the favorites and reviews - Nikki707, tvdfanpam, Hopelessromanticatheart26, roseberrygirl, karmen238, FallenAshe, Teamvampirebarbie22, sabinasabina.8855, Kaylabeth21, jessnicole, PurpleDasies, Deviljolie, carobouk, bubu - HUGS to all of you!
clashcityrocker083 - doesn't make you a bad person =)
lateVMlover - thank you so much! Glad you like the twist!
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Yovillelova - you just about made me cry. Thank you! HUGS
I set up Rebekah's laptop, it was a lot faster than mine, in the living room several minutes before the agreed upon time. I had no idea where Elijah was and Rebekah was on her phone talking to Matt. I went from room to room looking for a landline phone. Frustrated, I blew out an exhale when I made the circuit a second time and found nothing when I got back to the kitchen.
"I understand, sweetheart, I'm feeling a bit… frustrated myself," Klaus drawled from the doorway.
Okay, yeah, there was that frustration but I wasn't about to admit as much to him. No way!
His smug grin didn't surprise me in the slightest. The way his eyes smoldered at me, well, that made me pause. Heat still pooled low in my belly and I was trying to play New Orleans Medium here.
"Get over yourself," I snapped at him.
His grin widened. Damn him.
I approached him with my hand out. "Give me your phone."
His eyes narrowed at that, the smile fading. "Why?"
"Why do you think?" I asked him. "I have no phone and I need to talk to Elena before we do this."
"What are you up to?" he demanded.
"Klaus, I don't need to remind you that Jeremy and Elena killed Kol while you practically watched," I said. "Jeremy needs a heads up on what we're doing. Kol may not be willing to tell anyone anything under the circumstances. Or he may just go off on Jeremy. You know what I mean?"
Klaus' expression was serious as his gaze searched mine. I knew how much his family meant to him. I remembered the hurt on his face when I'd arrived at Elena's house. Bonnie had trapped him there where he could see the scorched body of his brother and unable to do anything about it. Tyler had made a point of being there to gloat about it which made it even worse.
"Would you blame my brother if he were unwilling to cooperate?" Klaus asked bitterly.
I didn't look away. I shook my head. "No, I wouldn't," I admitted. "He was trying to stop us from finding Silas, wasn't he? Maybe he was the smart one."
He hadn't expected that answer from me.
"I want to make sure we all know what's going on that we're all as… respectful as we can be," I explained. "We all stand to benefit from this in some way after all."
Reaching into his pocket, he gave me his phone. "I'm going to remain here while you speak with her," he told me.
Part of me wanted to yell at him and tell him he was a paranoid jackass. The other part of me had to admit that we'd played him so many times that I understood why he felt that way.
"Fine," I told him, dialing Elena's number.
I wasn't terribly surprised when Damon answered, considering it would show Klaus' phone calling. "Elena's phone," he answered.
"Damon, it's me," I told him. "Let me speak to Elena."
"Is this about the big séance thingie Barbie Klaus was talking about?" he asked.
"Yes, it's important. Put her on."
"So why are you calling me from the mighty evil one's phone?" Damon taunted. "Did he finally compel his way into your -"
"Finish that sentence and I'll stake you when I get back, I swear it." I meant it.
Klaus's expression was closed as Damon laughed and handed Elena her phone. "Caroline?"
"Yeah, let's talk a minute," I told her.
To Rebekah's credit, she hadn't said anything to them about why we wanted the teleconference. I was grateful because I wanted to explain things to Elena as her friend. When I told her we needed Jeremy to talk to Kol, to say she was concerned was an understatement. With the possibility of bringing Bonnie back thrown out there, Jeremy, who had been intently listening in on Elena's end assured her we could talk to Kol. It was worth a try. Kol couldn't do anything to anyone from the other side.
"At least not until the veil comes down," I said, not really paying attention to Klaus as he walked around me.
"At least not until then," Elena repeated, sighing.
"What else has happened?" I asked.
Elena began to tell me then of Silas's visit to them, Qetsiyah being in the realm of the living, Amara… And I tried to listen to her.
I didn't pay much attention when Klaus brushed my hair back over my shoulder. When his arm slid around my waist and pulled me back tightly against him, my body went on red alert. I could feel every hard, muscled plane of him pressed against me. When his lips brushed against the soft flesh beneath my ear, my breath hitched. A chain of hot, wet kisses moving slowly up…
Damn him! Elena stopped talking.
"Care? Are you there?" she asked.
"Yeah," I told her and she went on as I tried to wrench out his grip. He held on to me firmly, his other hand skimming up and down my side, his fingertips grazing the side of my breast with each pass. I didn't want her to hear my breath picking up when Klaus nipped at my ear lobe with blunt teeth.
His tongue swirled in the shell of my ear, making me gasp.
"Are you okay?" Elena sounded suspicious.
I heard Damon snort on Elena's end. "I knew it. Blondie's boinking –"
"I'll talk to you on Skype in a minute," I said in a shaky voice hitting the end button.
"Stop it," I said, sounding like I was out of breath. I only half-attempting to get away from him. And he wasn't letting me budge. Did I really want him to stop?
His breath was hot in my ear. "Why? You want me too, don't you love?"
"Niklaus?" Elijah called, heading in our direction.
"Later, sweetheart," he whispered, letting me go.
Elijah entered the kitchen as I handed Klaus his phone. His dark eyes swept over both of us and a corner of his mouth tipped up. Oh, he knew something was up…
"I'm sorry to interrupt. I believe it's almost time?" he asked us.
"Yes!" I dashed around him, out of the kitchen and away from Klaus to clear my head. I made a beeline for the laptop which was on and ready. I made the connection on Skype to see Jeremy in a chair on our screen, Elena sitting next to him on the couch. Damon was leaning over the back of Jeremy's chair, smirking at us.
I sat in the floor by the coffee table. Klaus and Elijah joined Rebekah on the couch behind me. Haley had just come downstairs, heading to the kitchen for something to eat as she usually did this time of day.
"Thank you for agreeing to talk with us," Elijah started. "Caroline has explained that we need information from our brother Kol to possibly locate a line of witches who may be of some help to us all. She tells me that you're a medium and may be able and willing to help us contact him."
Jeremy nodded, looked confident in talking to the original vampire. "And Bonnie?"
"If we can locate any of the witches from this line and it's possible for them to help restore Miss Bennett to us, then it's agreed we will make every effort to do so," Elijah told him.
"Okay," Jeremy said, pointing to a space behind Elena and Matt on the couch. Of course, we couldn't see anything. "He's here."
"Because Bonnie brought me back," Jeremy said to the dead original that only he could see. "Dick."
"If you are truly speaking to our brother," Klaus spoke to Jeremy now, "prove it."
Jeremy glanced away from us to the same area behind the couch. "You heard him. He wants proof it's you."
Jeremy appeared to be listening to him, nodding. He looked back to us a bit uncomfortably. "He said to tell Klaus that he enjoyed you making out with the blonde – Caroline, in the kitchen earlier."
Oh, this was a bad idea. I didn't move, didn't look away from the screen.
Damon snickered behind Jeremy. "That doesn't prove anything. We all heard that on Elena's phone."
"Damon!" Elena hissed.
Jeremy listened again, turning back to us. "He said how about the other night then, when Caroline was vervained. He said he was impressed because he didn't know of Klaus ever letting anyone drink from his neck before."
Damon pointed at the screen, grinning at Klaus. "Vervain, huh? Kinky."
"Damon, you're so not helping," Elena rose from the couch, grabbing Damon's arm. "Sorry," she said to us before dragging him out of the room.
And to think. This had been my idea. I'd never wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole in my entire life more than I did in that moment.
"So we've established that you're talking to our brother, Kol," Elijah was ever calm, professional. "He can hear me?"
Jeremy nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."
"Kol, I know in life you held witches in high regard," Elijah started. "Did you know of a line of witches that were descended from this family?"
Jeremy smirked. "He said it's his line of witches."
"You knew?" Elijah asked. "When?"
Jeremy listened for a moment. "He said he knew of the child he left behind and that he always kept track of them through the years. Not as witches but as his family. He looked out for them, his line of daughters."
"Kol, did you know of the legends about them?" Elijah almost sounded excited. "Of their power."
"Yeah, he knew," Jeremy explained.
"So it was Odette?" Rebekah asked.
Jeremy laughed. "He said it was actually her sister, Inga."
"What?" Rebekah's voice was high. "I know he had a thing with Odette."
Jeremy nodded. "He said he did but Inga was the one who ended up pregnant."
"So that's how the line endured all of those centuries," Elijah mused behind me.
"So you knew, brother, that you had a line of powerful witches from our family's bloodline and you concealed them from me?" Klaus asked.
I risked a glance at him over my shoulder to see him glaring at the screen.
Jeremy listened before turning back to Klaus. "That struck a nerve. He says he didn't realize for a long time that they would be different from any other line of witches. He was surprised by how powerful they became. He also says he had no intention of letting you use them for your own selfish ends."
Klaus' jaw tightened, obviously pissed at what he would see as his brother's betrayal.
"Kol, do you know where they are? Others who knew of the line lost track of them in the 1940's," Elijah explained.
Jeremy shook his head. "He said if he hadn't been in a box for over a hundred years, maybe he could answer that question. He said if the line is broken or has ended, Klaus has only himself to blame."
"Kol," Elijah peristed, "there is a way for us to find out for sure if they still exist."
"He knows and he knows what you need," Jeremy told Elijah. "But he says he won't help you find them if you plan to send them after Silas. He doesn't want them hurt."
"If they're so powerful," Klaus taunted, "how could they be harmed?"
Jeremy nodded at the space that was empty to the rest of us. "He wants your word."
Klaus glared in Elijah's direction. The eldest Mikaelson sighed behind me.
"I understand," Elijah said. "Agreed. We will, however, seek their help in returning Miss Bennett and if they are able and willing to grant that…"
Jeremy's expression was tense for a moment. Then he looked relieved. "He has no problem with that."
"There is a sword," Jeremy continued, "that he owned as a human that he says is tucked away in your family vault. He said it's beaten up, ugly. It was his favorite."
I saw Rebekah's eyes light up. "I know exactly what he's talking about. I'd know it if I saw it."
"As would I," Elijah said. "Thank you, brother."
Jeremy again was staring in Kol's direction.
"He said there are a couple more things you need to know," Jeremy said carefully. "Klaus' child with the werewolf girl. The witches have already seen its future and Kol believes them. She will have the ability to create hybrids through her blood alone. She will not need the blood of the doppelganger to complete their transition. Apparently, this information is known by many now."
Klaus' expression tightened as he stared at Jeremy on the screen.
"It's a girl?" Rebekah asked.
"Tyler Lockwood knows. Silas has gotten into his head and helped convince him that he needs to destroy you, Klaus. He means to take Hayley and the child, no matter how he has to do it. And it's just the beginning of his plans."
Tyler.
Klaus' hands fisted on his legs as he listened.
"Kol says to watch your back," Jeremy said finally.
"Thank you, brother," Elijah told him.
"He said he hopes to see you soon," Jeremy said before reaching forward and ending the Skype.
"What did he mean by that?" Rebekah said, looking puzzled. "Does he expect us on the other side soon?"
Well, I got my wish. After the conversation with Kol, I was the last person anyone was thinking of at the moment. And I was holding on to the growing hope that if we found the witches, the descendants of the Mikaelsons through Kol, that they could bring Bonnie back to us. I realized that I missed her a lot in that moment.
Bonnie had always been the one who had listened to me as a human whine about how Elena was always everyone's first choice, everyone's golden girl. When some guy did me wrong, she was there. She'd been the best friend ever. She's listen and make me laugh, every time. She'd remind me of why I wasn't a total loser. If I were mean or petty, she'd call me on it. She'd really been magical because she always made feel like everything was going to be okay. And she never once told Elena when I whined about her. I missed her so much. I wished I could call her now.
Right now? It was all about Haley and her baby. And she knew that as well as any of us if the shocked look on her face were any indication. Tyler, my boyfriend, was coming for Haley and her baby. Ah, who was I kidding? Tyler wasn't my anything. He probably still wanted Haley for himself. They'd once been an item when she was helping him break his sire bond. I knew that.
The baby she carried, Klaus' baby because he slept with her too, became all the more real now. It was a girl who'd be able to create hybrids. Wouldn't that be useful to Klaus? If the Mikaelsons managed to hang on to Haley, to keep her safe, what would her role be? Did she plan to stick around and be a mother? There seemed to be something going on between her and Elijah but…
What was I even thinking? I wasn't going to be here. I wasn't needed here. I'd help all I could in finding those witches and I really hoped we did. All I wanted was my best friend back and with Bonnie, I'd head back to Mystic Falls and end the hybrid chapter of my life once and for all.
"We'll need that sword," Rebekah said to no one in particular and went off, I assumed to look for it.
Elijah took one look at Haley, her hand held protectively over her baby bump, and made his way over to her. I could hear the fear in her tone even if I wasn't concentrating on her words as they made headed in the direction of the library.
I closed Rebekah's laptop and meant to quietly make my way upstairs and leave Klaus to deal. And in his defense, he'd just had a lot of information thrown at him. He had quite a lot on his plate. His desire to take back New Orleans, his super hybrid daughter, finding the witches, protecting Haley, Tyler …
I jumped when he reached behind the couch to grab my wrist as I tried walk away. I forgot sometimes just how quickly he could move.
"Where are you off to, love?" Klaus asked, his tone bitter. He didn't release my wrist. His grip on it was so tight it was starting to feel numb.
I shrugged. I honestly didn't know what to say.
"Tyler isn't coming for you," he said cruelly, smirking up at me.
"I know," I was able to tell him with the lack of emotion I felt about it.
When his taunt didn't register a hit, his eyes narrowed at me.
"I realize that this is all about getting your beloved witch back," he bit out. "But I guess it would be asking a lot for you to sit here with me at the moment."
As angry as he was trying to come off, I saw all the emotions swirling behind his eyes. So many I couldn't possibly name them.
After a moment, he released me. I was free to run off to my room, just as I planned.
Instead, I walked back around the couch, sitting down next to him. After a moment, his hand slid over to rest on my knee as he sat there, his entire body tensed. Of anyone I'd ever met, he was the most wired for conflict. And as I stared at the hand on my leg, I realized that he was just looking for comfort. I covered his hand with my own, lacing my fingers with his. He let me.
Klaus was strong, was always expected to be strong. Did anyone else in his life see that he wasn't the emotionless monster they made him out to be?
Leaning closer, I rested my head against his strong shoulder. He blew out an exhale and I felt some of the tension leave his body. We sat there for long minutes, neither of us saying anything. Somehow it felt like the calm before the storm.