Chapter 2: Instrument

Regardless of her daylight ring, Rebekah had always unconsciously felt a certain minor instinctive disquiet when the sun came up, often making her wake up for a glance around. There was only a thin shaft of light coming from a flat air ventilation gap in the container storage hall, but it was still enough to alert her to wakefulness. She looked up to find herself staring into the most beautiful summer morning sky eyes under those long, naturally kohlblack eyelashes that could've shamed any woman. The endless blue of the tropical seas fazed her into a statue for a moment, but then she drew herself away from those lazuline, vibrant orbs to check over the rest of his body. Thankfully for her, he was still shirtless and she took another few seconds to admire his thin build with artistic appreciation before gasping in surprisal, pushing a bit back away from him to assure herself by the full picture that he was all right, "it is morning time and you're not dead!"

"Apparently," Damon shrugged as if talking about the weather on a day he planned to spend inside, "and by his text, Stefan is alive too."

Rebekah shook her head slowly, as if having trouble processing the information, "but I've seen Klaus turn Mary."

"What? No hug?" Damon pushed her off himself so he could move. Rebekah's expression softened and she reached up to take his hand, but Damon was already standing up so he pulled her up, mistaking her gesture intended for comforting.

"I'm glad you're alive," she said softly, expressing her feelings verbally instead. She grabbed her clothes, "but right now I have to wonder if my brother is still alive too. Maybe you were mistaken, that bridge sign wasn't entirely made of the white oak tree. Maybe there were impurities and that helped save my brother."

"Yeah, maybe the sky is a cloudless green and the grass is made out of gold," Damon rolled his eyes.

"Actually, it is better," Tyler strolled in, "the sky is dark and the grass is made out of blood," he said with an unfamiliar smirk.

"What are you doing here?" Damon stalked closer guardedly.

"Trying to assure the survival of the werpire species, what did you think I was doing?" Tyler raised his eyebrows, lifting his chin up high as if looking down on him.

"See?" Rebekah turned to look at Damon, "he's still alive too and what's more, slave to the sire bond and that could only be true if Niklaus is still somehow alive."

"Some, yes," Tyler replied, "but the how is not so much of a pleasure, sister," he waved a hand up and down towards his body. "The witch didn't want her petty friends dead so she put my essence into this," he nodded downwards with his chin.

"Niklaus?" Rebekah dared to hope, then shook her head, "how can I be sure it is you?"

"Well, apart from all what you have already deduced from the alive status of certain vampires, because one of my hybrids would not be able to do this so easily," he sped over to Damon, knocked him onto the ground and held his throat so tightly he wasn't able to speak or breathe anymore.

"Oh Niklaus," Rebekah stepped over to the other two vampires with tears faintly flickering in her eyes and despite the disagreements she had recently had with her brother, she gave into her impulsive, emotional nature and hugged him tight, making him loosen his grip on the younger vampire more so as a byproduct, than on purpose, Damon momentarily forgotten.

"So you with me, Rebekah?" Klaus enunciated, taking hold of his sister's arms, letting Damon out of his hands completely. The werepire's eyes glittered with fondness and new hope, having had clearly heard the blonde's cries when he was getting staked and his body burst into fire.

"We are family," the original woman reminded him simply as a way of explanation.

"In that case, you don't mind some revenge," Klaus turned back towards Damon who had picked himself off the ground by this time. "You were right all along, Becca. I was too hung up on hybrids, but Alaric needs dealt with. To have a little advantage on both those accounts, I think the best way to kill Elena is to bottle up all her precious human blood for future use. And I know just the man to do this for me," he gave Damon a false benevolent smirk.

"You should perhaps do your business all by yourself, or get one of your precious hybrids to do it," Damon returned the smirk.

"Well, unfortunately thanks to little Bonnie, people in Mystic Falls already know I am in Tyler's body so it has to be you who lures her out at least."

Rebekah shook her head, "you can't use him Klaus, he's vervained as usual."

"Oh so we're talking a little fun before business, do we?" Her brother smiled.

"Run Damon, run!" Rebekah reciprocated his gesture from the night before, speeding the KlausTyler into the wall.

Damon wasn't one for running away from danger, but if something scared him it was loosing or even more, hurting Elena. He was not going to be compelled to endanger her. But he didn't make it to the door. Klaus seemed to be just as strong in Tyler's body than before and he was still able to stop Damon with one hand while wrestling with Rebekah. He flung the younger vampire upwards, making him land on a pile of boxes so powerfully that it took him momentarily out the equation. "If you're not with me, you're against me," Klaus spat, shaking the woman by the shoulders, willing her to act like he'd expect her.

"I don't care about Elena. In fact please, do me a favour and get rid of her already. The little saint does more harm then good. But Damon, he's my pet. I don't want you to hurt him," she pouted, her expression beseeching.

"He'll be fine, he's a vampire," Klaus dismissed her position so much he even let go of her and turned his back, her little rebellion dealt with as far as he was concerned. "But if you want to miss out on the goodies, well, you're welcome to leave and come back in a few hours, when I promise to return your latest lover obsession to you in one piece," he walked over to the unconscious vampire and took him off the crates for a better access, dropping him unceremoniously down onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Rebekah stood with her arms crossed, frowning. It didn't really happen all that often that she went against Klaus, regardless of what it was about, although it kept occurring more often this century than any other. However, this matter didn't seem worth being at loggerheads with her favourite brother for. After all, she had bled Damon vervainless herself not so long ago. She shrugged, collecting her jacket and settling for coming back not too much later, in case or more likely because Klaus would go overboard.

"Bring blood!" Klaus shouted after her, "your pet and me both will need it."

tbc