A/N- Holy crap so this is a long chapter. Sorry guys, I just started writing and here we are, I'm moving the story forward a little bit and setting up some of the tensions. Also there might be some slight deviations between the previous stories and this one, if there are I will let you know.
The dresses that Katherine and Caroline wear this chapter are in the links below,
www. stylebistro lookbook/Clothes/CNtmEh6t1Ks/Nina+Dobrev
www. shopyourtv 2014/04/vampire-diaries-season-4-promo-carolines-lace-peplum-dress/
Home.
It wasn't a concept Rebekah had enjoyed personally for many centuries.
Every time she and her brother's had settled down anywhere, Mikael would inevitably turn up and chase them off.
They had never really had time to set down roots or contemplate the future before arriving in the 'New World' and building their lives in New Orleans.
They had been devastated when they'd had to leave.
No, when they'd had to flee.
When she and Nik had stolen an automobile and driven madly into the night, the burning city behind them with their beloved Marcellus believed dead along with their hopes and dreams.
She could never forgive Mikael for that.
For destroying what little happiness she had known over the centuries.
What was the phrase? Right,
'You can never go home again'
Whomever said that had been correct, that statement in particular was never truer than for an immortal, for every time they went home it had inexorably altered beyond recognition.
That was why she had been so hesitant to come back to New Orleans.
After all, Mystic Falls had been almost like a different world entirely when she'd finally returned there.
It had also been an unmitigated disaster, so why on earth would she return to New Orleans?!
However, while she had been travelling Europe with Matthew Donovan and then imprisoned by Silas in the Quarry a la Stefan Salvatore, Niklaus and Elijah had been steadily building a life for themselves in their old city and when she had failed to return as punctually as they would have liked they went and continued building it without her.
They threw events without inviting her.
They marked special occasions without her.
They purchased properties where her bedroom was a last consideration.
They formed alliances that functioned without her.
They seized power and distributed the spoils without a single reward being thrown her way.
They killed…
Marcel.
Oh how she had loved him. And now, there wasn't even an empty grave to mourn him.
Because Katherine Pierce had killed him and been rewarded for it when she should have been punished with her long overdue execution.
Rebekah growled as she entered the ground floor parlour to find yet another bouquet of Bulgarian roses sitting on the side table in a crystal vase.
The whole bloody house was full of the damn flowers, their scent permeating every room save the nursery because apparently her nephew had an appetite for expensive imports.
The damn things gave her a headache.
Not so much the pink petals or the heady smell so much as what they bloody represented.
Katherine Pierce and her damn assimilation into the Original household.
Into Rebekah's damn family.
She could hear her now, clattering around in the apartment she and Elijah kept and called 'their sanctuary', her heels clicking against the marble of the bathroom floor as she got ready for the evening festivities.
The festival that was being thrown in honour of Caroline's arrival.
Rebekah came home to New Orleans to find one brother fornicating on the dining table and another on the phone with the municipal offices, she had to carry her own bags and see to her own needs but bloody Caroline Forbes got a damn parade!
She throws herself down on the couch to seethe but doesn't even get a full minute alone with her thoughts before her brothers came through the front door, bringing what sounded like half of the French Quarter with them.
An older man steps into the parlour and spots her, coming over with his hand held out.
Usually that would surprise her, not many people would approach an Original in such an open manner, especially when they would have to know who they were. But in this case what surprised her was the collar on his shirt.
The man was a priest.
"Hello" he greeted in a warm, friendly tone, "Father Kieran, St Anne's Church,"
She shook his hand limply, "Rebekah Mikaelson"
"Oh, hey!"
They both looked up as a blonde woman entered the room, "Nik and Elijah have told us so much about you"
Rebekah was given another handshake and could see faint familial resemblance between the two visitors,
"Camille O'Connell, Cami, Nik invited us over for pre-drinks"
Rebekah blinked but followed them into the backyard where a wet bar had been set up, along with several lounge chairs and tables.
A few dozen people milled around, chatting amiably as drinks were handed out and cigars lit.
"The most powerful people in the Quarter" a voice whispered in her ear, she saw her eldest brother appear at her side wearing his usual suit and sipping on a scotch,
"We were going to host them on Bourbon St but it's being used as a nightclub for the vampires tonight, we figured why not bring them here, show off our wealth and status"
It made sense and Rebekah is temporarily distracted from her bad mood,
"Alright" she admits grudgingly, "Tell me who's who then"
He linked his arm through hers and walks her out among the crowd, smiling amiably as people greeted them, he led her to the edge of the swimming pool and handed her his scotch,
"The priest is Father Kieran. Leader of the human faction- a good man, we attend his services every Sunday at St Anne's, the heart of the French Quarter community. The blonde woman by his side is Camille, she's a student at Tulane completing her PHD in Psychology, she bartends at Rousseau's and is friends with Niklaus, she is the one who found us Erik's babysitter. She had a twin brother Sean, unfortunately he was hexed into murderous insanity by one of the now dead witches and as such, the human and witch factions here are now enemies, which benefits us greatly"
He turns an infinitesimal amount, blocking her view of the priest and directs her attention to the underdressed brunette standing almost on top of the bar and throwing back shots like she was an immortal creature,
"Sophie-Anne" she can hear the distaste in her brother's tone,
"One of the witches who dared to blackmail Klaus using Hayley and Erik's life for leverage, we were going to kill her during the purge but she managed to escape and then somehow slinked back into New Orleans, she's the current head of the faction, sliding into the role by default because there isn't a soul left with the power or willingness to take on the position. However Katerina does believe that another is likely standing behind the curtain pulling the strings"
Rebekah doesn't want to hear about the opinions of Katherine bloody Pierce, she glances at the tall dark-haired man in a nice button down shirt who tries to step back into the house just as Nik blocks his path and ushers him back onto the patio, "Failed intruder?"
"Jackson Parsons, werewolves" Elijah led her to the bar for another drink, lowering his voice so that only she could hear him,
"It turns out Hayley did have family in New Orleans, unfortunately they were trapped in wolf form until quite recently…now they are constantly demanding face time with Erik, they believe that with hybrid blood he will be a powerful alpha for them. Of course after the issue with Tyler Lockwood, nobody sees Erik without our dear brother's express permission"
"So nobody is seeing him then?" Rebekah guesses correctly and he shrugs, "You can forgive Niklaus for being overprotective when you consider that the dear child was kidnapped and harmed"
He waves a hand at the people gathered around, "The rest are inconsequential, hangers on or second-in-command…or…"
Rebekah turns to him with interest as he trails off, puts down his glass and strides purposefully into the house with her following him out of curiosity. He leads her to the foot of the main staircase where a woman in a business suit has just begun her ascent, when he clears his throat she flinches and turns around,
"Hello Elijah"
"Francesca Correa" Elijah greeted the suited woman with a tone that could stop an avalanche in its tracks, "Forgive me, I did not realise you had been invited this evening"
"She wasn't"
Katherine Pierce is standing at the top of the stairs, one hand resting lightly on the rail as she descends in a gorgeous black mini dress with a beaded collar and low cut lace over her chest that accentuated her breasts.
The bitch always did dress to seduce.
She pushes a stray curl behind her shoulder as she continues talking "She has never been invited to this house and never will be, leave now before I get blood on my shoes"
Everyone glances at her off-white silk heels and then their gazes trail up her long bare legs, just as she intended.
Francesca Correa gives a thin lipped grimace, "Of course" she grits out between clenched teeth.
However, Rebekah notes that as eager as her brother and his paramour are to have this intruder leave, neither budge an inch when she turns to leave, effectively trapping her on the staircase. With implacable expressions, they watch as she has to squeeze under Elijah's arm to reach the ground floor and then hurry from the house with her wounded dignity.
Standing in the hallway, Rebekah opens her mouth to inquire about the woman only to catch a movement in her peripheral vision.
Katherine Pierce is poised one step up from Elijah, her head tilted and looking down at him with sickening adoration that is out of place on the sociopathic bitches face,
"My protector?" she murmurs with a raised eyebrow, earning a quick half-shrug from Elijah,
"My darling" he responds as if the two words are an answer, which Rebekah supposes they must be because Katherine gives him a kiss that lingers past the point of appropriate and slides past him in what can only be described as clothed foreplay.
A kiss full of the promise of later.
Rebekah couldn't recall the last time she had been kissed like that.
Wait, yes she could.
Marcel.
"Hi!"
Rebekah is violently pulled from her nostalgic recollections by the irritating high pitched voice belonging to Caroline Forbes. She patters down the stairs with her black pumps in hand, wearing a gold and black lace dress.
Basic minds think alike obviously.
"I'm not late am I?" she checks worriedly, apparently forgetting that the two of them had never even come close to approaching the point of small talk,
"Elijah said seven but it sounds like everything's kicking off early"
She smelt like floral body wash but her eyes still bore the shine of the endorphin rush, she was deliciously flushed, her hair hanging naturally around her shoulders.
Rebekah had seen her brother in his button down and formal jeans- the only pair without bloodstains- as he'd entered the house but if she was a betting woman she would wager that he'd gone straight from bedding Caroline to round up the guests currently drinking in the backyard, unaware that their king was a debauched fiend.
"Don't look at me," Rebekah sniped, "I don't even know what we're doing tonight"
"Food and Fashion festival in the Quarter" Nik announces from the front door, having walked through the garden, "And the car is here, so shall we?"
With one more irritating smile at Rebekah, Caroline slipped on her heels and hurried down the hall to take the hand proffered to her, they disappeared out of sight as the guests began to tramp through the house or the garden, chatting away happily, shouting their immediate plans to one another over their shoulders or calling friends and acquaintances to announce their impending arrival.
Caught up in the wave, Rebekah stepped onto the veranda to see several cars lining the street, convertibles, vintage automobiles, jeeps and a limousine parked in the very front.
Not enough for transportation for dozens of people but enough for the most important to ride in style.
Elijah is standing beside the black stretch, his hands on the hips of his slattern as she whispers in his ear, almost too quick for anyone to see he squeezes her rump and then guides her into the car before looking around and spotting her,
"Come along little sister" he calls, "We don't want to be late"
With a sigh, she flashes down the front path and stops beside the car, "Ready"
He grins and holds the door open for her so that she can slide in and finds herself in the side seat next to Katherine.
The doppelganger gives her a 'once-over' before turning her attention to Nik and Caroline's conversation.
Rebekah can admit that Forbes does look good with her older brother, both of them blonde haired, blue eyed and tanned, their eyes glued to each other as Caroline asked question after question about every aspect of the French Quarter and only reluctantly pulled her gaze away from its King when Elijah or Katherine offered an opinion or answer.
They were barely in the car half an hour as the cavalcade made its way from the Garden District to Bourbon St, sliding to a stop just outside the Hard Rock Café, gaining the attention of curious onlookers. All traffic had been blocked out of the main streets of the Quarter for the weekend, only a privileged few had obviously been exempt.
However, despite the parking available to them, the crowds made it impossible for the cars to go any further.
Not that anyone seemed to mind particularly.
When the driver opens the door for them, Klaus jumps out and offers his arm to Caroline who blushes as she slides into the open air, Elijah does the same for Katherine but at least has the decency to remember his sister.
Rebekah takes in the scene around her, the guests from the party all leaving their cars to stand together, still chatting animatedly but apparently with more self-awareness than before.
After all, they were being watched.
The crowds that prevented them from driving into the very heart of the Quarter were now watching as they lingered on the road, obviously all connected, giving off the air of belonging to an exclusive group that didn't advertise or even encourage membership.
The crowds were a mixture of citizens and tourists, well dressed and casual, all excited and curious.
Especially when the police escort for the Mayor approached and they all fell after him, Mayor Moyne leading the way with a determined gait, a politician's smile stretched across his features and his lined hand poised and ready to start waving at the voters.
Security had cleared a small walking area along the road with black posts and velvet rope so that the most important people in the city wouldn't all be vulnerable amongst the crowd at one time. However it only left room for two to walk abreast.
And somehow, by some rules of precedence Rebekah had yet to figure out, the procession automatically sorted itself.
Niklaus and Caroline were first after the Mayor, their arms linked and Elijah and Katherine a step behind, Rebekah awkwardly followed alone as Father Kieran walked with an unpretentious Camille, the werewolves behind them and the witches trailing in their wake.
The procession was led down Bourbon St, moving slowly as they reached the festival area where several stands had been set up and the press of the crowds against the barriers hindered the movement of the escort.
The Mayor continued to be jovial but in spite of the obvious recognition on the faces of the citizens and the realisation on those of the tourists, he was not the centre of attention.
Nobody is going to be watching a sixty year old wrinkled man in a nondescript suit when there were five amazingly beautiful well-dressed people standing right behind him with wondrous smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices as they formed a merry party.
Cell phones were held up high to take photos and Rebekah shook her hair back as she pretended not to notice, the flashing of the press cameras was harder to ignore but she understood why it was that Klaus and the leaders of New Orleans had chosen to arrive together in such a fashion.
It was a chance to be seen.
The admiration of the crowd, the curiosity of the onlookers, the envy as they watched the elite pass them by and wanted to be one of the lucky ones.
The attention partially soothed Rebekah's wounded ego.
Her smile is even partially natural when they reach the centre of Bourbon St where a large stage had been set up, the crowd was thicker here and the barriers even tighter, so Nik pulls one of them aside and they all filter into the sweating crowd of bodies. Rebekah following her family as they take front row of the audience. The Mayor is being clapped and cheered on now as he climbs onto the platform and approaches the microphone,
"Thank-you!" he announces, "Thank-you everyone and welcome to our first annual New Orleans Food and Fashion festival!"
The entire street has been decorated with banners and ribbons, stalls line the pathways in front of the shops, restaurants and bars which are all doing a roaring trade. Galleries have been converted for the fashion shows and Rebekah can see the models and starlets watching the speech from the balconies.
The Mayor holds up his hands to silence the cheering, "Now, before we begin. I want to remind everyone to stay safe but I'd also like to extend my gratitude to the two people who organised this event. My personal friends Niklaus Mikaelson and Katherine Pierce"
Personal friends?!
The Mayor gestured down to the two people in question, Klaus nodded graciously although Rebekah could see the affronted look in his eyes.
Katherine merely gave her catlike smile and waved a hand back to the mayor that showed off her grace and her ridiculous engagement ring at the same time.
Rebekah wondered if she had ever performed an unpractised movement in her life.
"Now" the Mayor laughed, "I had hoped the sun would set a little sooner tonight but to kick off this event and to show my gratitude…Enjoy the fireworks!"
The loud bang of the brocade fireworks sounded right over their heads and every werewolf and vampire on the street momentarily panicked at the unexpected noise, wincing and putting themselves on guard as their sensitive ear drums shattered from the noise and deafened them, leaving them partially vulnerable until their healing factors kicked in.
Klaus is looking murderous when he raises his head, his eyes glaring gold on black but the Mayor doesn't seem to notice, he's too busy posing for the reporters on the stage, laughing amiably and Elijah is suddenly at his arm.
"I do not think he meant it as an attack brother" he tells him as the Original Hybrid bares his teeth, ready to maim at will despite being in a ridiculously overpopulated area.
"It was an accident!" Cami appeared breathless and nearly ran into Rebekah, "Kieran just found out about it from a staffer about thirty seconds ago, nobody realised that it would be so…"
Another bang, strobe fireworks this time and the creatures wince but react less violently to the noise as their senses start to adjust.
Caroline takes Klaus' hand,
"Chill" she tells him, "They're just decorative. It's not a festival without fireworks"
He blinks and his eyes are blue again. "Of course love, who doesn't enjoy fireworks?"
Merriment is restored and Camille darts back off, probably to assure her uncle that he wouldn't be needing to perform the Last Rites en masse tonight.
Meanwhile her brothers are entertaining their dates while she stands there awkwardly.
She watches the two couples enviously, Rebekah hated being the fifth wheel.
Standing in the street glancing sideways to the two couples. Niklaus and Caroline with linked arms, taking a selfie. Katherine nestled in Elijah's embrace watching the fireworks.
All of them apparently oblivious to the surreptitious stares of the onlookers in the know.
They were all so picturesquely happy and it stung Rebekah in her lonely heart.
"I'm going to get food!" she announces sullenly, pushing past them and weaving her way through the crowd, "Bye Bekah" Katherine chirps at her back.
She settles for eating pierogi and a pasty white man with dreadlocks and a Bob Marley t-shirt.
She walks amongst the happy crowd and takes in the food stands representing every restaurant in the city that could afford a stand for the festival.
She compels herself a front row seat to a fashion festival and afterwards compelled herself several new outfits to be delivered to the mansion in the Garden District.
She is in a bar deciding to have her first hurricane when she senses someone at her shoulder,
"I'd have thought you'd have had enough of my family for one night" she muses as she turns to take in Francesca Correa with two thugs at her side.
The older woman rolls her eyes, "Not at all, I've had enough of Katherine Pierce to last a lifetime but unfortunately she doesn't seem to be going anywhere"
Now there's an attempt at camaraderie if ever she's heard one.
"Hmmm" Rebekah sips her bright red cocktail and contemplates her choices.
Oh, what the hell. She didn't have anything else to do tonight.
"It's bloody crowded in here" she complains as she reaches down and breaks the hand of a man trying to take an up-skirt photo of her, he falls to the ground with a shriek of pain.
"Let's go somewhere private" Francesca offers, clicking her fingers at the bartender who nods as she sweeps down into the staff hall and leads Rebekah up a flight of stairs to a private lounge.
It's nothing much to look at, a few armchairs and a poker table but Rebekah is halfway to being impressed.
"Do you own the bar?" she inquires as she's offered a tray of food, Francesca shakes her head and accepts a wedge of cheese,
"No but most of the managers on the street are willing to allow a certain, small group of people access to their private areas at any time…for a small fee of course" she smiles depreciatingly,
"I know your brother was given the option when he first arrived in town but, well, he prefers to perform for an audience"
No need to clarify which brother she's referring to.
Rebekah only shrugs, "That's Nik, through and through, he figures the more public the display of power the better, it discourages opposition"
Francesca makes a sound of agreement as she sips on her own drink, "And the reason I wanted to speak to you tonight, I figured our little tete-a-tete could be a chance to catch you up on what's happening in the Quarter"
Rebekah knows she should bristle at the implication that she isn't in the know, that she should be offended that this human is presuming to tell her what is happening in her own brother's kingdom.
But perhaps she has something to gain from feigning friendship with this woman.
To begin with, she doesn't tell Rebekah anything that she couldn't have guessed.
Niklaus is King of New Orleans.
He issued commands and laws, holding power over every supernatural creature in the city.
Elijah was his right-hand man, he oversaw the alliances between the factions, handled the issues that arose weekly and kept everything running smoothly.
And then she gets to Katherine Pierce.
Even she had a position in this new order.
Famous for being one of the best information traders in the supernatural world she kept Elijah abridge with any and all gossip regarding the Quarter, who was sleeping with who, which factions were on the verge of all-out warfare, which were discontented with Klaus' leadership.
Those who were looking for an introduction to the Original men went knocking on the doors of Petrova's favourite haunts first, seeking her favour.
They went to that Bulgarian peasant.
Not to her, Rebekah was ignored, unknown, as the slut that had wreaked havoc on Niklaus' and Elijah's love for one another was pandered to and showered with attention.
And now, enter stage right Caroline Forbes.
A nineteen year old beauty queen who could potentially become an actual queen and push Rebekah even further into the shadows.
Francesca was eager to know all about Caroline, after all, every woman and a great deal of men had thrown themselves at the Original Hybrid but no-one had ever seen him catch someone until now.
"Oh, don't worry" Rebekah waves her hand dismissively, showing a nonchalance she didn't actually feel,
"She's a socialite from Virginia here for college break, she'll be gone in two weeks…sooner if Nik gets bored in the bedroom"
Francesca laughs humourlessly, "Thank God, we had enough trouble surviving the first regime change, I was hoping we'd have at least another year to recuperate before having a queen thrown into the mix, bad enough we have Katherine Pierce sticking her nose into everything"
"Yes" Rebekah slammed her empty glass down on the table with more gusto than she had meant to, was this her sixth hurricane or seventh?
"She is an interfering, life wrecking bitch, ask any of her ex-boyfriends or her last fiancé, my brother Nik"
Francesca laughed again before an alarm went off on her phone, she pulled it from her pocket with a sigh,
"Uh, I have to go handle the latest shipment my people have coming in at the docks…but this has been mutually beneficial hasn't it, we should get lunch sometime"
Rebekah murmured in agreement and rose to her feet, swaying slightly before her healing kicked in and she sobered up, "Definitely" she announces as her parting words, sweeping from the room and down the rickety staircase.
If she'd thought Bourbon St had been crowded before it was beyond chaotic now.
She had to use her vampire strength to push her way through the crowds, she couldn't find anyone in the press of flesh, could barely determine whether the people that were knocking her every which way were human or supernatural.
She fought her way to the Manor, where an exceedingly long line of people from both worlds were waiting impatiently to get in.
Even if they didn't know who the Originals were, everyone knew that the most important people in the city partied here and they wanted the chance to mingle with the powerful.
Rebekah didn't even contemplate setting foot in that line, she marched right up to the archway and would have gone straight through to the courtyard if she hadn't been stopped by a beefcake with more beauty than brains, "Sorry honey" he held up a hand, "Unless you're on the guest list you aren't walking through"
She spluttered with disbelief, "Do you honestly have no bloody idea who I am?"
He rolled his eyes, "Look, nothing personal okay, but just because you're a vampire doesn't mean you get a…"
"I'm Rebekah Mikaelson" she stomped her foot, "A bloody Original, now get out of my way before I repaint the archway with your blood"
He paled and stepped aside as she stormed through into the large area where multi-coloured lights shone down on the dance floor filled to the brim while rented red leather sofas gave the exhausted party goers places to sit and two wet bars at either end of the courtyard kept them drunk.
Security was posted at every entrance but at least these fools knew who she was, she leapt up onto the balcony and stared down over the scene of hedonistic pleasure, bitterness overcoming her as she stood apart from it all.
Here she was all bloody alone, again.
The party was at its bloody zenith and she could see the familiar blonde head of Caroline Forbes, Captain of the Cheerleading Squad, Miss Mystic Falls, beloved by all.
She was in the middle of the dance floor, wrapped up in Klaus as they ground and swayed together, catching the attention of those around them with their sheer chemistry.
Elijah was in a dark corner, pressed up against Katerina, who had her arms wrapped tight around him as they sought to figure out how long they could go without breathing.
There's a heavy step on the balcony as a man reaches the top stair, he's her height, blonde and heavily muscled with an easy grin,
"Girl as pretty as you shouldn't be on her lonesome" he greets her flirtatiously and she rolls her eyes before he offers her a cocktail,
"Same colour as your pretty eyes" he brags, "Had the bar mix it up myself…careful though" he tells her as she goes to take an experimental sip,
"Had to mix blue absinthe and green curacao to get it just right, I'm worried I might have created the one thing capable of killing an Original"
She giggles and drinks anyway, the taste isn't brilliant but his attempt wins her over,
"So you know who I am then?" she teases, handing the drink to him for a taste, he grimaces and hands it back,
"Of course, saw you earlier, gorgeous blonde supernatural woman, you better believe half the guys in town were trying to get any detail they could on you before you even reached the stage"
He leans closer under the pretence of pointing out a man standing in the crowd glaring up at them,
"See that guy? He's from another wolf pack, he's been trying to figure out a way to get in with you for days…he's going to be furious that I beat him to the punch"
She smiles, flattered and allows him to shift closer and snake his arm around her, "Well, if you know so much about me, perhaps I should know your name?"
He grins and offers her his hand, "Oliver"
She finds herself matching his smile and it isn't long after that she's leading him to her old bedroom where he picks her up, wraps her legs around his waist, pushes her against the wall and kisses her madly while he pushes her panties out of the way.
The sun was just beginning to rise as Rebekah walked Oliver across the courtyard and kissed him goodbye, he left with a grin, still buttoning up his shirt. She yawned and tugged on her dress, pulling the hemline down as she re-entered the house.
She heard a familiar giggle and followed the sound to the study where she first saw her eldest brother's bare foot, it was dangling off the end of the couch that usually decorated the upstairs parlour, he had an arm tucked under his head as he lay across the leather seats wearing an undershirt and his suit pants with a blanket thrown haphazardly over his body and Katherine Pierce curled up atop him. His jacket and shirt were draped over the desk with Katherine's heels, he looked utterly relaxed
"Morning little sister" he murmurs cheerfully.
The sentiment is echoed by Nik who is lying on the other couch with Caroline Forbes stretched out beside him, the two of them snuggling under a doona, both of them facing the coffee table between the two couches where a board game was surrounded by several empty liquor bottles,
"What on earth are you doing?!" she asks as Katherine drowsily turns her head to observe her,
"We are now in our sixth hour of Monopoly" she explains as Elijah kisses her head,
"With less than a dozen moves between the four of us and no clear idea of who owns what…apparently this is not a game you can play drunk"
Caroline is snuggling with Klaus as Rebekah pulls over an armchair and sits down, tucking her legs underneath her so that nobody realises that her panties are still in her bedroom,
"Did you have fun last night?" the young vampire asks sweetly but Rebekah is instantly on guard,
"What do you mean?" she demands but Caroline doesn't take the bait, Elijah does,
"Perhaps that we saw you disappearing with that man last night…heard you too, the walls here are abominably thin"
"Fraternising with a werewolf" Nik taunted as he reached over Caroline for the dice, Rebekah felt her temper flare up,
"Yes, just like mother did all those years ago"
The atmosphere in the room immediately grew tense but after a moment Niklaus laughed it off,
"Truer words were never spoken" he rolled the dice,
"Ah, I have twelve…Caroline sweetheart"
"Go to Jail" she announced, "Go directly to jail, you are a heinous criminal and you are long overdue for jail"
Elijah chuckled, "My brother…you are quite the repeat offender you must have a wondrous cellmate"
Katherine snickered, "Maybe its Rebekah's werewolf"
The four of them dissolved into quiet laughter and Rebekah felt her cheeks burn in humiliation, her brothers always did this, always made her feel like a slattern when they took far more lovers than she did.
"Or perhaps it's you" she snapped at the doppelganger,
"God knows you're never happy unless you're sleeping with as many brothers as you can seduce! It'd certainly explain why you're allowed to decorate the entire house with your bloody roses!"
Katherine arches an eyebrow but doesn't respond, apparently content to watch the female Original smoulder with anger. Her eldest brother doesn't share that desire,
"She didn't purchase the flowers" Elijah explained curtly, propping himself up on both elbows so that he can face her,
"I did, my fiancé loves Bulgarian roses and I wanted to do something kind for her. That is the very nature of love Rebekah, kindness"
Tears burned in her eyes and she stormed off down the hall, slamming her bedroom door behind her.
She hears the shifting of the doona, "Who owns the water works again?" Klaus asks.
Francesca wakes up with a dull hangover and the gritty feeling of make-up still on her face.
By midday she's washed and recovered slightly but still hoping for a lazy day even though she knows she should be walking every inch of the French Quarter and garnering what information she can.
She's still dreaming of wearing sneakers for the day when the secret panel in her bedroom opens and her hand reaches under her pillow for her handgun before the familiar face steps through,
"Jesus" Francesca rests the gun in her lap, "You know when I told you about the secret passageways it wasn't so you could scare me to death"
Celeste shrugs, "Sorry but I just came back from Whitmore and wanted to know how everything was going here"
Francesca sighs and rubs her face tiredly, "Well, Rebekah finally showed up with a chip on her shoulder the size of Louisiana. Caroline Forbes arrived yesterday as well, as Bonnie Bennett said she would. I haven't had the chance to speak to her yet but Klaus seems ridiculously smitten, almost as much as Elijah is with Katherine Pierce"
She enjoys the momentary pain that flashes over Celeste's features, before going in for the kill,
"By the way, every time we've tried to break them up thus far they've just fallen more in love with each other, although the engagement is travelling along without any signs of progress"
The witch in front of her drew a ragged breath before composing herself, "Right well, Katherine is our first target, she's the least able to defend herself in a fight and considering the centuries of distrust between her and the Originals, it shouldn't be hard to convince them all that they're conspiring against one another"
"Rebekah hates her" Francesca adds helpfully, "She can be used against Katherine, and hopefully if she gets caught doing so it will drive a wedge between the siblings. They're Mikaelson's after all" she laughs scornfully, "Sons and daughters of Mikael, hatred and distrust of each other is in their very blood"
Celeste rests a knee on the bed, "That's good, after Katherine we take out Elijah or maybe even overlap the two…after all, a heartbroken man? No-one will question irrational behaviour from him and he'll have to be acting pretty crazy before Klaus notices something out of the ordinary. Better still, if he's distracted and Caroline turns out to be more than a casual booty call for Klaus, he'll be vulnerable on two fronts…three if we can get something on Erik's nanny"
She waves her hand, "But I'm getting ahead of myself, what about Oliver? How'd he go?"
"Better than expected!"
The werewolf in question ambles into the room, holding a large takeaway coffee in hand,
"Been waiting for you to come out" he grumbles to Francesca,
"But anyway, I didn't make friends with Klaus last night but I did bone Rebekah if that helps"
Celeste and Francesca both raise their eyebrows but decline to warn Olly about Niklaus' unfortunate habit of killing his sister's less worthy suitors. Still, something troubles him,
"There's a new wolf in town" he reveals, "More than one actually, possibly a pack moving on our territory. Since Klaus did jack-shit for us, despite Hayley being one of us and the kid being royalty and whatnot we're still pretty exposed out there, 'specially since we know nothing about the bastard"
Francesca shrugs, "Help us take out Klaus and I'll gives werewolves the run of New Orleans" she promises.
Of course she'll slaughter every last member of the Crescent Pack and maybe torture Olly to death as punishment for working against his alpha but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
It would kill him.
And when the time came.
Hopefully it would kill the Original family as well.
A/N- Here we go. Also I'm tempted to write a one-shot about Marcel mourning his 'little sister's death' After all, he's been compelled to forget everything he knows about her so he'll believe that she is dead like everyone else, but the one time he held her he did it with such affection and he was willing to be compelled- something he's been fighting against from the get go- to protect her. And now he's the one being blamed for her murder but unable to mourn!