A/N- Yep, finally updated and we're getting close to the action now!

Bang.

Klaus shot up into a sitting position, looking around the room wildly, trying to locate the source of the noise.

Raina had thrown herself into the room, pushing the door open so quickly and forcibly that it had smacked against the wall.

"Erik's gone!" she shrieked, "I put him to bed last night as I do every time but when I woke up five minutes ago…"

Klaus' shoulders sunk in relief and silently, with the hint of a smile on his lips, he pulled back the duvet to reveal his son's brunette head of hair pillowed on his arm, his chubby little fist clutching the silk sheets. Raina pressed her hand to her heart,

"Oh my God," she gasped, "Don't ever frighten me like that again. I had three heart attacks, next time you take him, wake me up!"

Klaus arched an eyebrow, this woman was ordering him about with a tone that only Caroline Forbes had ever got away with, but he allows it because she loves his son,

"I shall," he promised, "I thought it would be cruel to wake you, sleep is such a blissful escape."

Raina frowned and padded into the room, still in her pink boxers and old blue singlet, which had fallen down to expose her left breast when she had run but she covers herself now with little concern. She knows where his heart lies.

"Are you okay?" she asks, perching herself on the edge of the bed, "I've noticed things have been changing around here."

He shakes his head ruefully, "The more things change the more they stay the same."

He doesn't want to explain to her that the situation wasn't changing so much as it was reverting back to the norm.

He could no longer trust his siblings.

Rebekah had dropped her knickers for another man who was just using her either for her name or her power.

Elijah's actions were undermining everything they had built together, the peace they had striven so hard to bring to the Quarter, the stability and power structure.

All that work had been destroyed in one day.

By throwing Katherine out of the house and trying to banish her from New Orleans, he had given their enemies cause to think that all was not well in the Mikaelson household, that there was contention in the family and any power player worth the name would be trying to capitalize on that.

And that wasn't even considering what Katherine would do once she found her feet, how she would retaliate against the man that had abused and humiliated her.

Who had possibly murdered her friend.

He had yet to confront him about that.

Then there was Caroline. Whom he'd been so close to winning over, so close to convincing to move in with him, to join him in his world instead of dancing across it briefly.

It had been a wondrous dream and then everything had gone back to normal. His siblings apparently once again punishing him for his actions.

But he doesn't have a single idea what he did wrong this time.

He even thought he'd done everything right.

He'd welcomed Katerina Petrova into New Orleans and turned a blind eye when she decorated Le Coeur Jardin without even consulting him, he'd let it be known that she was to be considered royalty and part of the family.

He'd raised his son lovingly and ruled over the Quarter fairly, preferring Elijah's diplomacy to his usual brutality because he thought that it would be more beneficial for him to be a benign dictator.

He'd rescued Elizabeth Forbes from the backwoods of Virginia and found her a home and job in Baton Rouge when she hadn't wanted any part of the supernatural town of New Orleans.

He'd offered the Salvatores' and Gilberts' refuge in his town, hell he'd offered them rooms in his own house.

And yet here he was, alone except for his son Erik who couldn't abandon him because he was still learning to walk and Raina who wouldn't abandon him because she loved his son.

He slid from the bed with a sigh and wondered which part of his crumbling kingdom he should see to first.

"I promise you" he kissed his son's forehead, "I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe and then I'll work on becoming a man worthy of being your father"

Elijah looks down with a grimace of distaste as the wet ash splashes onto his leather shoe.

How had they not begun the clean-up process yet?

He makes his way through the crowd of spectators, the ones who are merely pausing on their way to their end destination.

Yesterday, they would have stayed to watch but yesterday the building was burning down.

Today, it was nothing but hollowed ruin, blackened wood, shattered glass and scraps of paper fluttering through the air.

A stark contrast against the beautifully sunny day.

According to the news, the fire had begun downstairs, theoretically, a pipeline must have exploded, it was the only way to explain the strength and heat of the fire, the speed with which it destroyed everything. Officially, there was no fatalities and one survivor, name unknown.

Theoretically, if it hadn't been a bomb that had started the fire then in all likelihood it had to have been a curse of dark magic, for even the brick walls of the backyard had been destroyed in the flames.

Unofficially, Giacomo Farnese, a man who'd survived Renaissance Italy, countless wars, and the twentieth century, had died.

Unofficially, he was likely not the target.

Although nobody was quite sure how Katerina had survived, or where she was now.

Well, almost nobody.

Elijah suspected that Niklaus and Ms Forbes were quite aware of her location and were simply choosing not to divulge it.

And that was…

He stops in his tracks, his right hand picking at the skin around his thumb nail, ignoring the police and investigators around him as they went about their business, securing the area and seeing to the building, trying to prevent it collapsing or causing injury to bystanders.

They are red and yellow shapes with sharp edges moving in amongst the grey and black smudges.

He frowns as he tries to finish his thought, draw it to its natural conclusion.

Katerina had escaped the flames, and that was…

Katerina had escaped certain death and that was…

What was that word?

He can picture it in the back of his mind.

The word was an adjective and a noun, the synonym of nice, the antonym of bad.

Katerina Petrova.

And that was…

He growls in frustration, choking on the moisture in his throat as he finds himself unable to breathe.

Why can't he ever breathe?!

"Elijah?"

He spins on his heel, glaring as he searches the crowd for the interloper on his reverie and when he sees curls for a moment he thinks that Katherine had sought him out.

But it is not her, it is…

"Ms Laurent," he greets with a polite nod, "Good morning."

"Oh please," she smiles, "Call me Sabine."

She looks over his shoulder with a sardonic smile, "Wow, somebodies been playing with fire."

There's a hint of malice buried in her eyes and…

"Yes," Elijah finds himself agreeing, "Most unfortunate, Farnese had such a wonderful array of books."

She gives a sympathetic sigh, "And Katherine Pierce?" she asks, "Did she survive?"

He frowns slightly, what a strange way to phrase the question, why…

"I have not seen her but I have been assured by Caroline Forbes that she is alive and well."

A flash of fury across Sabine's face before she gives him a simpering smile,

"I was just about to go get lunch," she looks to a restaurant across the street, "Come join me."

Elijah's gaze flickers to the building, he knew the restaurant, he had dined there with Katerina only six weeks ago.

So much had changed since then.

"I'm afraid I must decline," he apologizes, "I have duties to attend to."

"Well how about dinner?" she offers eagerly, hurrying after him as he ducks under the police tape and begins moving up the street,

"Tonight? I know a new place that opened up last night, just off Canal St…"

She trails off but he pauses in thought.

A new place.

A place where he hadn't dined with Katerina.

Here he had been assuming that he would have had to go out of the Quarter, perhaps even the city to find such a place.

"Eight?" he finds himself suggesting and she beams, "I'll see you there."

He manages a tight smile and continues walking, noting with pleasant surprise that he can draw deep breaths of air into his lungs.

It feels…

What was that word?

How much pollution could there possibly be in the Mississippi?

Katherine considered this as she stood at banks of Algiers Point, looking into the fast flowing river.

She wanted to dive into it, to sink beneath its depths and lie on its floor.

But she's pretty sure the viruses in the water would kill her, even if the current and whatever debris there was didn't.

Or with her luck, it'd be a stray alligator.

Behind her someone clears her throat and she turns to see Nadia, standing there with an impatient expression on her face,

"What's the plan?" she demands.

For a moment, Katherine wants to lie, to tell her that she hasn't thought up a plan yet, that she's still exhausted from the day before- which she is, that she needs rest- which she does, that she needs to heal from her injuries, mourn her friend, whatever it takes for Nadia to let her go back upstairs and to bury herself underneath her pillows and blankets.

But she's Katherine Pierce and she doesn't get sick days.

Not when her life was in danger.

She crosses her arms and begins striding across the wide expanse of grass,

"We are going to get in your car and you are going to take me out to the Bayou where you're hiding your witch." She explains and her daughter's shoulders drop in disappointment,

"How did you know?" she asks, put out that her secret had been discovered and Katherine smirked,

"That you had allied yourself with a witch?" she shakes her head,

"Sweetie, you're a Petrova, you don't walk into a situation unless you have an exit strategy planned and a powerful ally onside."

"And that she was in the Bayou?" Nadia asked as she climbed into the driver's seat, checking that Katherine had clipped in her seat belt before starting the engine, and she shrugged,

"It's the biggest plot of wild, untamed land where you could get lost for days and not even be more than half a mile from the nearest road. Where better to hide a person?"

However, for all her showing off, Katherine and Nadia weren't even twenty minutes into their trek through the Bayou before she began to feel out of breath.

Which was strange.

Because she shouldn't be struggling so hard to recover.

After she dived into the Fountain of Youth, she had been granted heightened senses and healing abilities.

Two strengths that seemed to have left her.

And she's pretty sure that she has an idea why.

Nadia offers her an arm, "I can help," she murmurs but Katherine waves her off,

She doesn't want to appear weak in front of this witch. In front of anyone.

To be weak in front of someone was to ask them to take care of you.

To give them that trust…

Doing that had led to Giacomo's death.

She would never be responsible for the death of a friend again.

They have to be careful, the werewolves still called the Bayou home, but they stick to the touristy areas, where the weekend warriors hiked for an hour or two, sat down and ate a homemade meal before taking lots of photos nobody would ever care about and heading home.

They were just past a particularly rancid smelling swamp when Katherine senses a presence.

Heat shoots across her shoulder blades and she winces, reaching behind her to rub them,

"Interesting," a voice calls, "Those with our magic aren't supposed to feel us so strongly."

Katherine rolls her eyes, "Gee, I'm honoured to be in pain right now,"

She turns around and takes in the woman standing in front of her, "What the hell?!" she screeches.

Nadia steps forward, between the two women in concern, "Mother, this is Scarlet Rose."

Katherine glares at her, "Bitch, you were my personal shopper in Paris!"

Scarlet Rose gives a disdainful snort, "And you are a peasant turned lady, turned vampire turned human…or at least you're pretending to be human. Life is ever changing and so are we."

"I tipped you, you lying spying c-"

"Mother!" Nadia interrupts, "This woman got me in touch with the travellers in America and helped me to locate you. She is our ally!"

Katherine glares and digs her heel into the soft dirt but nods as graciously as she can under the circumstances, "Thanks."

The word is spit like venom but Scarlet Rose still takes it as well intended.

"In truth, we only helped your daughter because we had been watching you for a while, ever since you came alive again, we were hoping that your lineage would reassert itself. We know that you died before your father," she adds when Katherine opens her mouth to interrupt,

"But when you resurrected, when your heart was placed back in your body and the witch performed the spell, the possibility was there and after the Fountain of Youth, your magic started returning, growing inside of you, am I wrong?"

Katherine bit her cheek but didn't make any denials,

"My father was an Earth Guardian," she admits, "I'm not sure if…he never taught my sister or I any magic or spells."

"Not that its stopped me from trying," she continues, confessing before she could be accused,

"I've been teaching myself for the last year or so, in complete secret, little spells at first and then…when I was certain I wouldn't screw it up, I put a protection spell around Elijah…just a small one," she explains hastily when the witch's eyes go wide with worry, "Nothing too ambitious."

"Perhaps you should have put a protection spell on yourself," Nadia suggests in a snarky tone and Scarlet Rose shakes her head,

"Be grateful she didn't, otherwise they would have had to use a deadlier curse."

What?!

"Excuse me?" Katherine and Nadia demand in unison and the witch sighs,

"I would have thought you two would have figured it out by now. Your enemies have been moving against you since before Mystic Falls, my sister, they attacked you where you were most vulnerable, your heart. I tried to stop it, I tried summoning the rain every time they began but in Mystic Falls, the white oak stake was stronger than your spell and left him open to attack. They weren't able to kill you but with a little rumour and a little poison, a hex or two…"

"They hexed my fiancé," Katherine realizes, "I assumed my spell was still in place but I was wrong and because of that, some wart-nosed, hemp wearing witches hexed Elijah and…Farnese."

His name escapes her lips like a lover's sigh, "The fire yesterday was them trying to kill me."

"I don't think it's personal," Scarlet Rose says, "You're simply a means to the destruction of Klaus Mikaelson."

With a screech of frustration and fury, Katherine whirls away from her and storms over to a tree, smacking the bark with her open hand three times before she can spin back around to face them,

"Nothing personal! They came after me, they came after the love of my life and the only reason they haven't gone after my daughter is because they don't even know she exists! But nothing personal? Well, I am going to rip them to shreds, burn their houses, their covens and throw them atop the flames, I am going to eradicate their names from this city, I am going to destroy them and dance on their ashes, oh but don't worry, it's nothing personal!"

She sneers and clenches her hands into fists, "First things first, you're going to figure out what hex has been placed on my fiancé and then remove it, then you're going to help me locate these witches and, if need be, help me with the Molotov cocktails."

Scarlet Rose gives a half shrug, "Very well, but it will be easier said than done, I'll need the day to gather the ingredients."

Katherine sighs and runs a hand through her hair, "Fine, see you tonight."

With the conversation over, she begins walking away, having not yet developed the habit of waiting for her daughter. Nadia watches her leave and looks to Scarlet Rose,

"Is she safe?" she asks and the witch sighs,

"Not since her fifteenth year when she looked into the watery abyss on the night of darkness and wished for love." She kicks at the dirt,

"It was really stupid of your grandfather not to teach her magic, especially when she already had it within her."

Nadia swallows back her fear, "Is there any way I can protect her?"

The witch closes her eyes, trying to force another vision before opening them in disappointment,

"I don't see a way, but when the time comes you can forgive her, for she won't ever escape the curse."

Nadia blinks in confusion, chills running down her spine, "What curse?"

Scarlet Rose gives her a sympathetic smile, "The curse of all-consuming love."

.

Rebekah was feeling very uncomfortable.

Ironically, because she was feeling so comfortable.

She was lying on Ollie's bed while he massaged her feet, asking her questions about her day and offering to cook her dinner, whatever she wanted.

He was being very sweet.

Absolutely perfect.

And her instincts were warning her that something was wrong.

As much as she wanted to believe that she had hit the jackpot, that she had fallen in love with a guy who absolutely adored her, she simply didn't trust that life had turned out so well.

Especially when just this morning she'd had the joy of breakfasting with her brother where instead of the slices of fruit and tea he'd eaten paranoia and drunk fantasies of bloody vengeance.

Rebekah was more than used to Niklaus' paranoia, she'd been dealing with it ever since he'd recovered from the Hunter's curse, but instead of brushing it off, her brain had drawn a connection between one brother's fantastical claims of an invisible enemy and another's increasingly bizarre behaviour and she'd begun to wonder.

What if they were right?

If someone were to go after the Originals, they wouldn't leave one standing, able to avenge the others, they would take them all out at once.

Which meant that she herself was under attack.

But in lieu of insanity or paranoia…she had a lover who'd popped up out of nowhere, a werewolf who surprisingly didn't have prejudices against vampires and had fallen in love with her immediately, declaring it after only a week or so.

What was it her brother had once said?

"You don't capture the Princess; you woo her, so that she walks out of the tower on her own"

Here she was, outside of the tower, in the hands of the man she'd thought to be her white knight but instead had turned out to be another obstacle in her path for her happy ending.

Unable to bear the charade a second longer, she pulls her feet away and stands up,

"I'm sorry," she apologizes as he starts in surprise and asks her what's wrong,

"I…I fought with Nik this morning and…I have to go make it right or…he won't let me see Erik again."

Ollie shrugs, still kneeling on the bed, "Okay, I didn't think you liked that kid much anyway."

She gives him a pout, "We're Mikaelson's, none of us actually like each other but we love our family beyond reason or belief…it's our curse."

He holds out his hand, "Is there anything I can do? Do you want me to come with you for emotional support?"

What kind of backwoods Bayou werewolf man used the words emotional support in a sentence?

One who was trying to play her.

She gives him her best faux-innocent smile and leans in for a kiss, slipping her tongue into his mouth teasingly,

"Best not, when Nik's in a mood he tends to get violent, but don't go far, I'll be home tonight."

He gives a lopsided grin, "Home, I like the sound of that."

Her heart is breaking and the predator within her is screaming for blood, for vengeance against this creature who'd played her for a fool, but instead she keeps her smile on her face and focuses on walking out of Francesca's house as quickly as possible without letting anyone see her worry.

Because she sincerely doubted that puppy was working alone.

Caroline was being followed.

She'd sensed it the second she'd left her class.

One of the benefits of having a cop for a mom, the police force had been her family and she'd received extensive training on what to do in the event that someone was tailing her.

So, instead of heading to her next class, she began meandering to her favourite on-campus café, taking the least direct path, adding a good five minutes to her journey and, yep, she could still sense the person behind her.

They don't follow her into the café but she buys her coffee anyway, whilst trying to keep an eye out for anyone looking suspicious. She doesn't see anyone who looks familiar or anyone trying to look inconspicuous or keep an eye on her.

She walks out to the green, while tossing up whether to text Camille or Klaus to meet her.

She nixes both ideas.

She doesn't want to put the very human and very vulnerable Camille in danger and Klaus would be of the kill-first and maybe consider a question later mind.

She can't even consider Katherine, who was probably still recovering from yesterday's events.

Sitting down on the lawn, she takes out her phone under the pretence of taking a selfie and uses the camera to study the people behind her, keeping her smile fixed as she spotted one sleeping stoner, two girls making out, one girl deep in a Harry Potter book and one guy…

Vincent.

He clearly realises he's been spotted because he lopes over and she releases an inaudible groan, her worry being replaced by annoyance.

She knew Vincent had a thing for her, but she'd told him time and time again that she had a boyfriend and there was no way that he didn't know who Klaus was by now. Not when she'd seen him at the Masquerade party.

"Hey Caroline." he sits down beside her without invitation and she struggles to keep her voice light and airy,

"Hi Vincent, how are you?"

When he sits too close to her and stares at her too eagerly, she wonders how to get rid of him as quickly as possible without being rude. Thankfully, he gives her an opportunity when he mentions that she usually has class now- and how creepy was it that he knew her schedule? And she takes the chance to pretend to hurry off, when instead she goes around the corner and waits.

He doesn't leave but stays sitting on the grass and takes out his phone, making a call and she tucks her hair behind her ear, listening to him from across the lawn.

"Hey, it's me…no, I wasn't able to…because she has a boyfriend and I haven't had the chance to…yeah, I'll keep following her…yes, I'll make sure to…okay, I get it! Bye."

He is so caught up in the conversation that he doesn't see her skirt around and approach him from behind until she sits right back down, startling him.

"Hey," he gives a nervous laugh, "I thought you had class?"

"Oh I do," she smiles, "But I thought it'd be more interesting to find out who you're working for and why you're following me."

His blanches and begins stuttering as she shifts forward and hisses, her fangs dropping from her gums and her eyes turning red,

"Lie and I eat you."

Even in his fear he manages to chuckle and look around,

"Not here you won't," he argues, "Too many witnesses."

She smirks, "And what will they see? A guy and a girl making out? People don't look for danger and I'm so far from the image of the monster in their mind that they won't even blink as I drain the life from your body."

He is shaking with fear and the vampire in her hope that he runs, she wants to chase him, she wants to hear him scream as she tears into his neck and feasts on his hot blood.

Instead, he runs a trembling hand through his hair, "Okay…but…not, not here, because I'm not entirely sure that I'm the only one watching you."

She glares but allows him this, "My place," she decides, "But you should know, I have Klaus on standby right now, he doesn't hear me give him the code word in ten minutes, he'll be sending every last vampire in New Orleans to this campus to find me. You'll never get me out in time."

She's lying but she figures that he won't risk calling her bluff.

"Okay," he holds up his hands, "Lead the way."

As confident as she sounds, Caroline isn't one hundred percent sure she knows what she's doing. Threatening someone into spilling their secrets is easy in theory, especially when you're a vampire, but in practise…it's awkward.

Especially when it's a good long walk to her room.

She picks up her pace, forcing Vincent to jog to catch up and is so eager to reach her room that she doesn't even remember just how deserted the thru-way is in the middle of the day.

She only just registers his whispering as she spins around, gets caught in the sensation of falling and the world goes black.

A/N- There we go!