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Chasing An Outcome

Chapter 2: Painful Decision

Davina had no clue how much time had passed since she'd passed out. When she woke up she was still being carried by the man (Nathan was it?) so she reckoned it must not have been as much as she'd hoped.

"You awake?"

"How long was I out?"

"You've been out for quite some time. I've been moving from place to place."

Slowly everything began coming back to her. It was still vague but she remembered bits and bits.

She wiggled slightly. "Um, thanks, but I can walk now."

"Huh? You sure?"

"Yeah," She nodded and was soon back on her feet. Now she was able to get a good look at him. He was a lot younger than she'd thought, possibly mid twenties with brown hair falling down the cap he was wearing; and he had some really blue eyes.

They circled one of the buildings to reach a secluded alleyway. "Alright, think we've lost them. Good thing these guys don't frequent this area very much." He said as he crouched to catch his breath. "It should be smooth sailing while we head to a better location. Who would've thought I'd ever be thankful to have magic? That and the fact that I'm pretty clever."

"You're a witch," Davina stated, still baffled by the fact that a witch would want to help her. Not that she was complaining.

"Yeah, glad to see you're okay. Although, now that I think about it, if you're here that means you aren't exactly okay. Am I right Davina?"

"Huh, Davina? You said my name?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Why... Why would a complete stranger know my name?"

"Complete stranger? Ouch," The man replied, feigning a hurt expression. "Pretty harsh on the person who named you. But it is valid I suppose."

Davina was sure her brain was malfunctioning right now. Was she dreaming? Had she hit her head at some point during all this? "Named me? What are you talking about? You named me?"

"That's right." Nathan said, all traces of mirth leaving him. "You're my daughter Davina."

"I'm... your...?"

And now everything had definitely shut off.

All she could do was release a chuckle, a laughter of just pure awe.

That was when the day's events fully came tumbling onto her, all of it. Cami dying, being killed by a cursed Kol, Freya and Elijah attacking her, having her soul almost crushed -and the immeasurable pain she'd felt while doing so- by the ancestors. All this in the span of one day. It was bound to take its toll.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably, as if she were standing right in the center of an earthquake. She was on the verge of breaking down. The waves of emotions overcoming her were too much to bear. It felt like her insides were closing in, crushing everything in its path.

"I can't- I can't breathe," She sputtered. And Davina was beginning to feel like the walls were closing in. Which was ridiculous considering there were no walls at all! When he approached her with concern she quickly stepped back, holding her arm up to keep him at a distance. "Don't! Don't come any closer!"

"Davina..." He murmured, the hurt from her rejection displayed on his face. "I didn't know. I didn't know this would spiral out of control like this. The chance of seeing you was never something I hoped would occur, because seeing you meant..." His voice trailed, unable to even speak of how she'd been hurt. "But some selfish part of me truly is happy to see you. You, Davina, my precious daughter."

On its own accord her hand clenched into a fist before it shot upwards and collided with his shoulder, hard.

He recoiled backwards, stunned by the action.

"Why did you have to go and die!? Why did you leave me all alone? I've been through hell and back because of you!" Davina shouted, tears streaming down her face. "My own mother didn't care for me, and was going to sacrifice me if it weren't for Marcel saving me! But because I didn't go along with the harvest no one wanted to be friends with me! I was looked at with contempt by the other witches! My best friend Tim died because he was involved in all of this! The Mikaelson family have been my enemies ever since! So I did everything I could to become strong!"

Her voice was shaking and she was freezing but Davina didn't care. She was going to tell him everything that was on her mind.

"It took me a very long time but I was finally able to make some friends! I met Josh, Hayley, and Cami too. Then some creep called Lucien appears and targets me and my friends," She could swear her heart felt like it was being stabbed at the remembrance of what followed. "But I wasn't strong enough to protect Cami! And like Tim, she... she died! But- But I still had Marcel, Josh, and Hayley as well. And... I had Kol. But the ancestors got to him as well! Now I'm... I'm dead aren't I? I was killed again. But you're here. You saved me, and I- I-" Davina ran her hands over her hair in frustration. "Am I supposed to be happy to see you or not? I don't even know anymore! Damn it!"

"Davina, how old are you?" He asked calmly, despite knowing exactly how old she was.

"Nineteen," She managed to mutter through her sniffles.

"Nineteen, huh? You've come a long way without me. Since I wasn't there for you I don't think I have the right to ask for your forgiveness. I truly wish things had been different. You have no idea how much I wish that. With all my heart, I wanted things to be different."

Finally she began calming down and wiped away her remaining tears. "No, it's- it's okay. These things are out of our hands. Besides, I'm the daughter of a really cool looking witch. I can handle this."

His heart swelled at that and he smiled. "I owe you some answers though, a whole lot. Firstly we need to get as far away from here as we possibly can. Preferably someplace where we're not out in the open. Follow me."

Davina flushed. "Sorry, about the yelling and all. There are some maniacs chasing us and I'm sure it wasn't exactly incognito."

Nathan chuckled. "It's fine."

The atmosphere was anything but welcoming. It took every bit of restraint on Elijah's part not to tear the steering wheel right out. To his side Freya continued tapping nervously against her lap. Normally he didn't mind silence but this one was purely unwelcoming.

Elijah quickly dug into his pocket for his phone when it rung. Freya sat next to him equally as anxious.

"Niklaus!?" He breathed out. "Tell me where you are? Is Hayley with you?"

"Yes, brother. We're both fine, or rather, alive would be a much better term considering our less than pleasant encounter with Lucien, but we'll live."

"We're fine Elijah." Hayley added from beside Klaus.

Elijah could hear their pained voice and he knew that the two must be pretty beaten up. But at least they were still breathing. "And Rebekah?"

"She's with us," Klaus answered, adjusting Rebekah's body on his shoulder. "Hayley and I thought on our feet. While I was having a friendly reunion with the stable boy Hayley went and grabbed Rebekah's body, hiding her by some of the trees before coming to my aid."

Elijah released the breath he had no idea he'd been holding. Now that his nerves had calmed he put the phone on speaker so Freya could hear.

"We managed to give him the slip but just barely." Hayley spoke. "We've booked it and have been on the run ever since. Seeing the casket I'm sure he thought Rebekah was still in it. That at least bought us some minutes. By now he's certainly figured it out."

"Where are you?" Freya asked.

"Having a nice trek in the middle of the forest," Klaus groaned. "Better than the alternative I suppose."

"If you follow the road we took you'll see the mess we left." Hayley said. "We're trying to find our way back so hopefully we can meet halfway."

"On second thought," Klaus cut in. "There was a diner a little down the road. You can't miss it. We'll regroup there. Be there with the car."

Elijah gripped the phone slightly. "Where is Lucien?"

"I don't have any idea and that's what bothers me. Thankfully Hayley's life as a forest dweller (-Hayley rolled her eyes-) once upon a time gives her some adequate skills in covering our tracks. Take caution Elijah, he could be anywhere." Klaus finished grimly.

Hayley laid her hand on Klaus' arm, trying to give him some support. She took the phone from him but left her hand on his arm. "How did things go on your end Elijah? Were you able to bring Davina back?"

This caused Elijah's breath to hitch. He exchanged a warning look with Freya. "There's something that I need to tell you."

... ... …. …. ... ... ... …. …. ... ... ... ….

Nathan had led Davina towards a safe house he had in one of the buildings, apparently he had many situated throughout this world.

Nathan glanced around before ushering her inside and closing the door. "Okay, we should be safe for now."

"You have some explaining to do." Davina stated with crossed arms. "How did all of this happen, er, Nathan?" It felt strange calling her supposed dad by his name but calling him 'dad' would certainly feel stranger. In all her years of living she'd never spoken those words to anyone.

"I'll start at the beginning. I was born in Oklahoma. When I graduated high school I wanted a change and opted on moving to Louisiana. I gave up magic during my college days which was when I met your mother. I didn't realize she was a witch until after. It didn't necessarily bother me, at least, not at first. When I first found out that we were going to have a baby I was absolutely thrilled. Never had I been more excited about something than the thought of being a parent."

At this Davina lowered her gaze, having an idea of how that played out.

"I never wanted you to be a part of the supernatural. For reasons such as, well... surely it's obvious." Nathan exclaimed with a melancholic tone. "Your mother changed as the day of your birth came closer. She didn't share my idea of living a non-supernatural life."

Davina scoffed. "Is that the understatement of the century."

His hands tightened slightly. "She wasn't always like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Her parents had been killed when she was still a kid, so she lived in and out of orphanages. Eventually magic became an escape for her of sorts. That's why after telling me about this I didn't mind her practicing magic. We had some really good years. But when she realized you were chosen to be a harvest girl before she'd given birth she changed entirely. That was when I noticed what she'd been doing behind my back with the coven. I was absolutely not having any of it. But no matter what I said to her it wouldn't get through. So I went to the witches and told them that under no circumstances would my daughter be used for any sacrifice."

Davina didn't exactly know what it was, but something about the knowledge of him trying to protect her made her feel light; like dropping a heavy box after having been carrying it around for a long while.

"That didn't work out like I'd hoped. I was thrown out of there. My power alone was no match for witches backed by the ancestors." His eyes narrowed. "That was when my hatred for them began."

"That's one thing we share." Davina added. She looked back to him and saw his expression was serious.

"I tried pleading with your mother again that she couldn't go through with it, that she couldn't put you through that. But it was useless." Nathan said with a hand on his face. "She became obsessed with dark magic and planned on using you."

Davina gasped." Using me? But why?"

"I never found out. Maybe she thought she could bring her parents back with the amount of power you could get if you were to absorb the magic being used. Or maybe she wanted revenge on the people she held responsible for their deaths. I didn't live to see my parents be killed, in fact, I never had a clue who they were. Therefore I was accused of not being able to understand." He sighed with defeat. "Maybe she was right. Maybe I never understood a thing about her."

Davina remained silent, not knowing what she could possibly say.

"I made a decision one day."

"A decision?"

"I was going to run away with you the second you were released from the hospital."

Davina's eyes widened. "W-What?"

"I made plans to leave the country. I had connections with vampires and I was paying one to help, Connor was his name. I would meet up with him and we'd go to Mexico from Texas. Should anyone stop us along the way he'd simply compel them to forget the encounter."

"You were going to drop everything you had going on here in New Orleans? Your career? Your friends? Your whole life?" Davina asked. "You would really give all that up?"

"For you, yes." He answered with no hesitation.

It astonished her, floored her, how he was willing— no, prepared, to drop everything he had for her. Davina briefly pondered about how different her life would've been like if his plan had gone accordingly.

"When the day arrived I waited until it was late in the night before leaving the house with you," Nathan began, breaking her thoughts. "When I held you and stared into your eyes, your beautiful innocent eyes, my resolve intensified. You were the most amazing miracle to me and I couldn't let you be tainted by the cruelty of the supernatural. Davina I wanted you to live a normal life. One where you went to school; made friends; fussed about boys and other silly things girls did; got married; had a family; but above all I wanted you to be happy."

Davina was taken aback by the confession. This man seemed to render her speechless like no one else had.

"But," His voice lowered into murmurs. "I wasn't able to get that life for you. When I reached the meeting point I knew something was amiss. My partner had been ambushed and killed." Nathan buried his face in his hands. "He died because I involved him. I didn't think or feel all of this then, but I sure as hell feel that and all of my other failures now."

Cruel realization sunk into Davina then. All his time since being here he'd been tormented by agonizing, crippling guilt. She could only imagine the hell he must've endured. Her heart broke for him and she struggled to hold in her tears.

"I had no idea how they found out. I was careless to dismiss the idea of being spied on. I should have known," He paused to release a breath. "Once I saw Connor was dead I knew I was screwed so I had to think fast. Unfortunately I wasn't fast enough and they had already melted my wheels with some spell. I ran out of the car with you in my arms. By that point I had no plan. All I could think of was getting as far away as I possibly could. But I was cornered and outnumbered. And... you were taken away from me."

Davina watched as his eyes glazed.

"They pried you out of my hands and I was unable to do anything. I wasn't able to do absolutely anything for you. Nothing but watch helplessly as those damn witches took you further and further away from me. Yet, even as I lied on the floor, weakly, knowing I was dying, did the pain compare to the feeling of seeing you taken away from me. The helplessness I felt was... was something that still haunts me. It's an unimaginable pain."

"Da— Nathan..." What could she say? What could she possibly say?

"That was when something inside me snapped. I couldn't just die like that. Using the last ounce of my strength I performed a spell I'm sure you're familiar with."

"You consecrated yourself?" Davina murmured.

"Yes. And I've been stuck here for years trying to find a way to rid New Orleans of the ancestors."

"Wow..." Davina muttered, hating herself for not being able to say anything more profound than that. She bit her lip warily at what she was about to say. But it had to be said. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

His broken expression almost made her take it back.

"You think I'd make that all up?" Nathan answered, feeling incredulous and hurt at the same time. "Why would I rescue someone I don't even know? What good would risking my life for a stranger do me? The thing that Kara tried using on you is what I've been avoiding for your entire nineteen years of living Davina. I'm terrified of it just as much as you are. And they dislike me just as much as they do you."

Davina pondered momentarily. She examined his eyes, a trait Marcel had taught her, for any indication of ulterior motives. His eyes were staring right at hers, no hesitation or flinching evident in them. He seemed genuine.

They tried using it on Kol so she wouldn't put it pass them. That meant they despised him for trying to get in the way of the harvest back when she hadn't been born.

Wait.

Kol!

He was here in the ancestral world as well!

"Didn't you see someone else while you were here? Kol, Kol Mikaelson was here. He was killed by some hex and I consecrated his body."

"I didn't even know at first, but there was someone. I saw someone being attacked by the ancestors one time. They used that same crap they tried on you and me. I didn't know why they were doing that but I knew it was over for him."

Davina recalled what Kol had said to her earlier.

"They tried to use it on me but my vampire soul was too stained for their magic to work."

That meant Nathan wasn't making things up as he went along.

"Wait? Was this the Kol you mentioned earlier?" Nathan said as he recalled her not-so friendly speech to him. His gaze softened. "I'm so sorry Davina. I don't think he survived that."

"Actually he did," She replied, stunning him. "But that's a long story. I brought him back but it wasn't without a price. The ancestors cursed him and made his vampire nature a lot harder to bear. But they aren't the only problem. There's also Lucien running rampant and with the help of the ancestors he's turned into some unstoppable vampire. Not to mention he's got one deadly bite in him. He's the one who killed Cami and now he's going to kill the rest of my friends."

A shiver ran up her spine. What if he'd gotten to Kol and Marcel? What if he'd bitten Hayley already?

"We can't do anything like this." Nathan replied before placing his hands on her shoulders. "But you can. You have to reach out to someone. You need to be brought back."

"Even if I was there's nothing I can do. I'm not strong enough." Davina said, her hands balling into fists. "I can't save anyone. All I've ever wanted was for my friends to be happy. But there's always something stronger than me." First it was Klaus with Tim, next it was Dahlia with Aiden, and now Lucien with Cami. No matter how much she wished it there was never anything she could do for her friends.

"Davina you can be a very powerful witch if you wanted to, and you're the only person I trust to help me."

"But what can I possibly do to help?"

"You say this Lucien guy is using the ancestors, right? Well I say we sever the link once and for all. To do that though, you need to go back. You wouldn't happen to know a witch would you? One that's preferably outside of the coven?"

"Vincent." Davina answered. They weren't necessarily friends but they were allies on some occasions. And he obviously doesn't want Lucien running amok. "I can reach out to him."

"We need to act fast if we want to save your friends. I'll link my mind with yours so that you and I can stay connected once you've returned. You'll essentially be channeling me. I'll guide you with the rest."

Davina blinked. "Whoa, you can do that?"

"Not to toot my own horn but your old man was a decent witch back in his day." He said with a proud smirk. "And you could be just as good, no, you could become far better. We're going to prove that now."

Vincent had done it. He'd given the serum to Marcel, the same one that had created this new Lucien. He couldn't stand by and watch as Lucien Castle and the Mikaelsons made a bloodbath out of New Orleans. The best way to end this once and for all was to fight fire with fire.

"...Vincent."

"Huh?"

He surveyed the room around him.

Empty.

Odd. It felt as if someone had called his name. Perhaps he was starting to go insane.

Suddenly the lights began flickering.

"Vincent!"

There was no mistaking it. He heard the voice again and it wasn't just someone calling out to him, it was Davina Claire.

But that was impossible.

Freya had sacrificed her had she not? Then again Lucien was still around. This meant the spell either didn't work or wasn't completed. It was most certainly the latter.

Davina was reaching out to him.

And he was going to reach back.

Author's Notes

Another chapter done and dusted. Good seeing that a lot of you also noticed Kol's OOC behavior during the last few episodes of season 3.