The trip to Chicago had not been easy for anyone. Elena's transition was certainly posing some difficulties and her relationship with both Salvatores had grown awkward. She had begun relying heavily on Caroline who was not in the best position herself with her boyfriend maybe dead and her errant suitor occupying his body. Damon and Stefan were like two dogs fighting for dominance proving who was more dedicated to Elena, which only took a backseat to the very persistent threat of their extinction should Klaus be assassinated. Bonnie was gone. Jeremy was in reasonably good shape, but with Alaric being on the list as yet another trusted person he lost, he was still suffering.

In fact, of the group Klaus seemed the happiest. Seeing Charlotte was sure to make him happy. Fighting or not, Charlotte was like family to him. Not only that, but he knew she was going to put up quite the fight when it came to complying with the will of Elena and her little group. The mere sight of Elena would probably send her into a tizzy. Klaus's glee was practically childlike. Unlike the past thousand years or so, he had no overriding goal motivating him. He certainly wished to remain alive, but other than that, he now had time to right all the wrongs he had done to his family. Charlotte herself was a major part of that. Klaus couldn't wait.

Elena was less excited. Adjusting to life as a vampire was proving particularly difficult for her. For a girl who was already an emotional wreck waiting to combust, this was certainly not helpful. Every mood amplified, Elena just wanted some respite. And unfortunately she also wanted human blood now. She certainly wasn't comfortable with that thought, but here she was. She looked around the restaurant that Klaus had told them to wait at.

It was Damon who broke the silence. "As much as I love awkwardly sitting here, is there any chance she is actually going to show up?"

"She isn't going to show up, you twit. We are waiting for her to send us an invitation," Rebekah drawled as she walked up to the group.

"I see you got my message, baby sister."

"Still weird, Nik. I know it's you in that body, but all I see is Tyler Lockwood. But yes, I got your message. Kol called me to ask if I was going to come. As if there was any question. He says he won't come until he is sure she has calmed down."

"And Elijah?"

"Surely you didn't invite him, Nik, not if you want Charlotte's cooperation. Hell, bringing the doppelganger brat was a risky choice as is."

"I did not invite Elijah. I merely let him know that we were coming. I did not tell him that she was most likely in Chicago. Although, if he wanted to know, I am sure he could guess that. It is not as if Elijah and Charlotte are strangers."

Elena had reached her boiling point. "Are we meeting with her or not?"

Jeremy held up an envelope that had appeared in his lap. "I think we have our invitation, guys."

The address in the envelope led them to a quaint house on the North Side of the city. They let themselves in the gate and Klaus rang the doorbell confidently. Rebekah joining them had been a huge boon. She and Charlotte were close friends, or had been until their disastrous fallout in the '20s. Still, her presence was helpful.

Rebekah herself was apprehensive. She was desperate to see Charlotte again and resume their deep friendship, but there was more than 80 years of silence to be explained. As important as that was, the life of Rebekah's brother was at stake.

Elena was fidgety. Sure, she could walk in the sunlight with the ring Bonnie had left her, but being a vampire seemed to grate against everything she had been as a human girl. And now it was another mad dash to stay alive.

Caroline was becoming more and more silent and less like herself. Coping with Klaus/Tyler was nearly impossible. Now one of the Mikaelson's gruesome mates was being brought in to save theirs asses. As if it ever worked that way.

Stefan was desperately trying to remember if he had ever met Charlotte or heard anything about her. There was something buzzing at the back of his brain, but he couldn't figure it out. Certainly, it was no coincidence that her residence was in Chicago.

Damon was bored and dangerously close to breaking into this woman's house and taking what he needed, but the apprehensive state of the Originals was just enough to give him pause.

Most importantly, Jeremy sensed something strange going on. Rather than the buzzing that Stefan heard within his own head, Jeremy heard a literal buzzing going on around them. No one else seemed to notice and rather than draw attention to his status as the only human present, Jeremy decided to stay quiet.

As all this introspection and anticipation was going on outside her door, Charlotte was prepping herself for a meeting she had been dreading. She knew the Mikaelsons would need something from her eventually. They knew too much of her talents for that to never happen. Luck had at least favored her in that her two most dreaded Mikaelsons had apparently sat this one out. Kol and, most of all, Elijah would be impossible. She knew out of sheer obstinacy she would disagree with anything Elijah said and Kol had the amazing ability to distract her and cajole her. The doppelganger, in her new vampire form, was standing out there, too. Charlotte steeled herself. She was not one to hide and simper. She would take command of this situation and get it over with as soon as possible.

With that motivating her, Charlotte opened the door to her apartment wide and silently welcomed the group in. "Please make yourselves comfortable," she said to them. "Something tells me this is quite the conversation."

"Charlotte?" Rebekah asked almost silently.

Without a word, Charlotte pulled the girl into a long and close hug. Tears began to run down both their faces. "I know, Bek, I know. You don't need to explain to me. I let my temper get the best of me and then Niklaus took you away from me before I could fix things. Don't worry about that. Let's fix whatever problem your brother has brought to my door and send him on his way. Once we are alone, we can talk as much as you like."

"Are you two lovers or something?" Caroline asked.

"Keep a civil tongue in your head or I will remove your rude one, baby vampire. You don't know quite who you are dealing with so I will give you a pass. Treat me with the respect I deserve and I have a feeling you and I could be great friends, but not if you speak to me like that," Charlotte snapped.

In that one moment, Charlotte had commanded the attention of the entire group. There was no question that none of them would even think to make another such remark after that.

"Rebekah is perhaps my best friend in the world and has been my entire life. In fact, I would call her my sister. She has been more sisterly to me than the one who was born to that role. I love her dearly and won't tolerate disrespect of her or myself. That being said, what can I do for you? I doubt you are here to ask me my life's story."

Klaus smiled. "As you probably already know, I am not in my own body. The witch who did this ran off. It appears that some of the enemies I have made in my lifetime have found out that I am less than invincible and are sharpening their swords to come end me. So, I need a witch and I need the spell. It is not something I have memorized."

Stefan studied the girl (woman?) while she pondered what Klaus had asked of her. He couldn't shake the deep feeling of familiarity he got when he looked at her. She had long dark brown hair that barely had a wave to it. Her dark eyes were particularly sharp and seemed to display whatever emotion she was feeling. Not a common trait in vampires. It only made her seem more intimidating that she didn't care who knew what she was thinking. She was so old and strong that she seemed to doubt that anyone could use that to harm her. She was on the shorter side with pale skin.

"And how is this little girl supposed to deliver all that? Does she just have all that hidden somewhere in this little house. She's a vampire so I doubt she can perform the spell herself and why the hell she would know the spell is beyond me," Damon snarled.

"Display your ignorance, Mr. Salvatore. There are many things I know that you have no idea about. If I tell you that I can do it, I can. The question I have is why should I, Niklaus?"

"Oh, now you can't get mad at me for outing you, Charlotte. You left me wide open for this. In fact, you gave me no other choice."

"Don't say it, Niklaus. I'll do it."

"Too late, love, everyone is clamoring to know."

On some level, that was true. The entire room had gone silent. Everyone in the room was now dying to know who exactly Charlotte was and why she held the key to their salvation. The only one who was even a little bit distracted was Jeremy, but that was only because the buzzing he heard was growing steadily growing louder.

"Charlotte, you should care because there is a very real chance that I am the head of the bloodline that leads to Miss Elena Gilbert over here. At the very least, we don't know who is the head of her bloodline. Surely, there is something in your heart that will want to keep her alive in the very least, even if you no longer feel the need to save me. We were close once, Charlotte."

Anger clouded her face, "Enough of that, Klaus. No need to lay it on so thick. All I wanted was you to beg. Why would I just damn you all to death?"

"Better yet, why would she care if I died?" Elena asked. "I don't even know you."

"Well, her name might be Charlotte Mikaelson, but she was born Charlotte Petrova. Does that answer your question?" Elijah asked from the doorway.