Bella only allowed herself to take one final look at the building when she had already made it through the open air parking lot to her silver 2011 Chevy Silverado 1500 Pickup truck. The only type of vehicle she ever bought for herself since her dad made her fall in love with them when she was seventeen, though admittedly it was helpful that the newer models could go significantly over 50 mph, unlike her 1963 Chevy Pickup back in Forks.

She presumed this was the last time she was going to lay eyes on the Navy Yard, feeling a little guilty for inevitably standing Abby up the next day. On that note she turned her phone – the one her colleagues could reach her on – off.

The agent hitched herself up into the elevated seats of her vehicle and took a moment to take a deep breath before actually starting up the engine, then backed out of her spot and headed towards the gate. There she flashed her ID and waved the familiar guard goodnight. People usually took no notice of personnel like the cleaning staff, doormen or chauffeurs. They were taken for granted. But on this evening Bella couldn't help but pay attention, being the last she saw him too. George, was his name, waved back, startled for a moment by the friendly gesture.

As she turned onto the street, Swan pondered briefly if she should stop by Capitol Park Plaza where her apartment was to get some clean clothes and stuff. If you were wondering how a federal agent could afford such a nice place with $1300 for rent, let's just say she had a special arrangement… In any case, she needed to drop by despite being short on time. Who knew how long she would be away and honestly she wasn't keen on wearing the same outfit without end.

The moment she stepped out from the elevator on her floor she had the feeling that something was amiss. She got her gun out of the holster on her hip and made her way to her door. It stood slightly ajar, and the lights were on inside. Did someone seriously break into the home of a vampire? Not that the culprit would have known that fact.

Bella entered cautiously with gun pointed, meticulously checking behind the front door and every corner too to make sure the place was secure, but her visitor wasn't exactly hiding. In her living room a dark-haired, brown-eyed man, oozing ancient elegance and confidence, was sitting on her sofa.

"Nice place you've got here, Isabella," that was the Original's form of greeting as he stood from his place, fastening the middle button of his dark grey suit jacket one-handedly with practiced ease, gazing upon her beige-cream colored décor as if he hadn't looked around before.

"Elijah," the agent acknowledged, lowering her weapon and stashed it back in its place.

This handsome prick of an ancient vampire she had met before. Despite his much more pleasant front, he could be just as dangerous as his younger brother. The only question being: was he working with or against Klaus this time? In either case, a gun wouldn't be helping the situation.

"Care to tell me what you are doing here?" the immaculately shaven – Bella noticed as she just couldn't take her eyes off of his jawline – man inquired as he made his way with slow, deliberate steps towards her.

"I live here. And incidentally, that means my wardrobe is here too. I came for clothes," she furrowed her brows, turning to her walk-in closet to throw some garments into a sports bag.

"Let me rephrase that. How are you able to be here?" the older Mikaelson sedately followed her to the doorway, then leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"What are you talking about?" the agent knew attempting to trick an Original was a really unhealthy life choice, but she wasn't about to give up her only advantage against them without at least a try and forced herself to stay calm and nonchalant as she grabbed some shirts and pants off the shelves.

"Don't play games with me, I know Niklaus had compelled you to stay in Mystic Falls," Elijah snapped at her, clearly starting to lose his patience but still in a lot less violent manner than what Klaus's explosive reaction would have been. Ever the gentleman.

"You know I have never met him, right?" Bella glanced his way as she continued packing, opening up some drawers and throwing a few lingerie in the mix too, not really caring if the other vampire saw her underwear or not.

"I know he had also made you forget that he visited you outside the sheriff's station, but compulsion doesn't work this way. You are either immune to the whole thing or not, not just parts of it," he surmised his opinion on the matter, but instead of cornering her into divulging the information like he had planned to, he had just given her the perfect argument to latch onto.

She was infinitely grateful that her back was to him at the moment as she grabbed some socks too because she couldn't help the little smile that tugged at the corner of her lips. If there was one thing she learned in her law enforcement carrier was how to never unintentionally reveal her cards, asking roundabout questions that made her opponents trip up.

"Okay, let's get this straight to see if I understood you correctly," the NCIS operative straightened from her crouch, facing her visitor once again, her features now in a careful poker-face. "Klaus told you he had compelled me to do something and also to forget the encounter. Now you, and maybe him too, believe I have somehow broken and acted against said compulsion, right? What is it exactly, word for word, that he had me compelled to do again?"

There was a momentary silence as Elijah thought the whole thing through.

"Ah. He really should have been more careful with the loopholes he left you with," he said finally, but never disclosed the actual contents of the compulsion. "I presume you have your suspect behind bars now then?"

"Yes…" the brunette tentatively affirmed, feigning confusion as to how he knew about this. Yes, it had been rather fortunate that Klaus also told her to bring their killer to justice, which was Joey Bates if you took into account that she was compelled to forget that the Original had revealed himself. She was just doing her job and what she was compelled to do, and that incidentally took her out of town. Quite the perfect loophole as Elijah put it. "I was just getting some clothes for my stay in Mystic Falls," she carefully worded that one too. The compulsion was to stay in town, and this little detour was surely pushing the limits of what free will she should be having under its influence.

"Alright. Then I look forward to seeing you there soon," the ancient vampire started for the exit from her apartment before stopping and turning back towards Bella contemplatively. "It's a real pity though. This union might have been a whole lot more interesting if you were actually immune like Niklaus had thought. For a moment I was quite taken with the notion that he might have finally found his equal in this world."

The front door closed behind him, and it took everything in the agent to keep her heart beating in the same rhythm as before since Elijah could still hear her, despite losing visual on her reactions. With him, she could never tell what he was thinking exactly, and she wasn't quite sure if she had fooled him or not.

Not to mention all the subtle clues that so far pointed to one thing. Niklaus Mikaelson, the Original Hybrid, wanted to make her his bride. And she wasn't really sure how she felt about that.

Hastily she finished her packing, wanting to get out as fast as possible, not feeling safe in her own apartment anymore. Logically speaking, she never entirely was, not from an Original, but until now she somehow hoped that her place of residence was a secret from them.

Right along with that, another thought occurred to her. How did Elijah get in? He should have needed an invite from the owner. She specifically didn't want to buy the apartment, knowing full-well that her being a vampire rendered that protection useless if she was the proprietor. The agent checked the locks. They weren't busted. That could be a good sign. She quickly swung her bag over her shoulder, locked back up and ran three floors down, taking two steps at a time on the stairs, to check on Mr. Robinson, the person who owned the place.

Bella knocked frantically on his door. Moments later she heard shuffling steps coming to the entrance. Either he or his wife. She could only hear one set of heartbeats in the apartment. Not such a good sign.

"What is it, Bella dear?" Mr. Robinson looked confusedly at his tenant. She sighed in relief. At least he was just compelled, not killed. Thank whatever Lord you might believe in, Bella thought, being an atheist herself.

"Did you invite a man into my apartment this evening?" she asked softly, unable to think of something else on the spur of the moment and not wanting to sound harsh with the man, but inwardly cursing her luck anyway. She had previously compelled him to not invite anyone into her apartment, knowing that if repairmen needed to be let in they wouldn't be so polite as to wait for one. But alas an Original's compulsion trumped hers.

"I… what are you talking about?" the greying elderly became even more perplexed, trying to recall something he was made to forget.

"Never mind," the agent shook her head, knowing that trying to override the compulsion was futile and not too inducive either, she had already her answer. Or at least partially. The apartment was in both of their names with his wife. "Is Mrs. Robinson home?"

"Oh, the old coot is out in the bridge club with her lady friends," he explained with a laugh. Bella wondered briefly if she really was, or this was part of the compulsion, but he didn't seem dazed when saying it, so it was safe to assume that all was fine with his wife.

"Alright, have a good evening," she turned away from him heading back towards the stairs. Another place she needed to say her farewells to soon enough.

"Goodnight, dear," Mr. Robinson called after her before going back into his apartment.

Bella got into her car once again, swinging her bag onto the seat beside her, and drove towards the highway. In a hopeless attempt to drown out her hammering thoughts she turned on the radio where Castle by Halsey happened to be playing. She laughed out with a shake of her head as she turned the volume louder. The lyrics were aptly fitting to her situation. Her whole life actually.

Oh, all of these minutes passing, sick of feeling used

If you wanna break these walls down, you're gonna get bruised

Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it

Already choking on my pride, so there's no use crying about it

.

(Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei, Agnus Dei)

.

I'm headed straight for the castle

They wanna make me their queen

And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying that I probably shouldn't be so mean

I'm headed straight for the castle

They've got the kingdom locked up

And there's an old man sitting on the throne that's saying I should probably keep my pretty mouth shut

Doing 120 on the interstate, pushing her truck to its upper limits, without the security blanket of the police lights was undoubtedly not her brightest idea. Bella got pulled over. By a former colleague. One who had never been too fond of her. She wanted to scream, but instead, put on a fake smile.

"If it isn't Isabella Swan, star of the academy," Officer Phillip Jenkins sneered when he shone his flashlight right into Bella's face. He always resented the fact that as a woman she managed to become a detective in six months after getting out of the police academy, where they have been classmates, whereas he got stuck being a traffic cop. "License and registration. Don't even think that being a federal agent will get you off the hook, you are clearly not on duty, and going about 50 mph over the speed limit."

"Phil…" the NCIS agent started to get his attention, quite bored with the whole thing already.

"That's Officer Jenkins to you," he snapped, but unfortunately looked the vampire in the eye, his pupils dilating as the compulsion took hold.

"Phil," Bella addressed him by his first name anyway. "I want you to get over this stupid rivalry you think we are having. Also, you found everything in order, and you are going to let me go."

"It was good seeing you, Bella. Been way too long. You may go, have a nice trip!" Jenkins waved goodbye to his former classmate as she pulled away from him without response, laughing to herself in the car. On some days, being a vampire really rocked.

Somehow she managed to reach Mystic Falls without further incidents. Although it was already nearing midnight, she called up Jeremy anyway, most likely everyone was still up.

"Bella, thank god," the boy sighed in relief on the other end of the line at the sight of the caller ID. "When you said you were going to be late I didn't think it was going to be four hours. Everyone's worried sick."

"Where are you guys?" the vampire asked just as she drove past the "Welcome to Mystic Falls" sign. Bella suppressed a groan at that. She had passed this stupid board way too many times in the past few days.

"Salvatore Boarding House," Jeremy told her, his voice a bit apologetic.

"I told you it might not be safe," the agent chastised, still not sure whether it was Klaus's original intent to send a suspect their way or only got the idea when he eavesdropped on them – if he did, in fact, listen in into her conversation with the hunter.

"I know, but we renewed the deed to the house, and Bonnie put up some protection spells. It should be fine. I'll explain when you get here," he tried reassuring her.

"Alright, I'll be there in five, I have some more news too," Bella relented. Truthfully that house had always been a safe haven to them, she could understand the attachment. She just hoped whatever voodoo Bonnie did would hold out.

The place was surely livelier than the previous day. The lights were on in several various rooms throughout the building, but interestingly enough she couldn't hear any footsteps, heartbeats or conversations going on inside. Must have been one of the wards the witch had set up.

Bella parked down behind a blue 1969 Chevy Camaro Convertible. Damon's car, she realized instantly and had the sudden urge to rear-end his precious baby just out of spite. In the end, she decided to act like a responsible adult, unlike the 170-year-old vampire and resigned to just rolling her eyes.

By the time she reached the door, it was opened by Matt.

"I see Jeremy got the sheriff involved too," the agent smiled apologetically and greeted him with a peck on the cheek, a level of familiarity she wasn't able to project earlier with NCIS around.

"Yeah, well whatever Klaus is planning with this town again is my business too, not to mention…" the blonde was cut off by the vampire.

"Let's continue this inside where no one can eavesdrop," Bella suggested, walking past him through the entrance, leaving the guy stunned.

"How… what? Don't you need an invite from me?" Matt gaped after closing the door, glancing between it and the girl.

"Oh, so you are the new owner," the brunette laughed out. "Good choice, way too conspicuous to do away with the town sheriff. I do hope you are on vervain. Also good idea to have it stashed on you in various pieces of jewelry in the weirdest places possible."

"Yeah… already taken care off. But just how?" he still looked at her confusedly, his brows creasing in a funny way that almost made Bella chuckle again.

"I never needed an invite. To anywhere. Let's gather everyone, and I'll explain what I know," she suggested, heading to the living room where she assumed most of the gang was.

The moment she stepped into view, Caroline whooshed to her side enveloping her in a big hug.

"I can't believe you are back!" she cried out enthusiastically, practically crushing her friend. Good thing she was kind of indestructible now.

"Hi…" was all the brunette managed to say to the surprising close personal contact.

"Care, I think you are hurting her," Stefan chided, being the serious, responsible one as always.

"What? Jeremy didn't tell you? Or didn't you hear the conversation just now at the door?" Bella looked at the hunter for an explanation as to why her friends were still clueless.

"What didn't Jeremy tell us?" the blonde girl released her from the hug and looked between her friend, boyfriend and best friend's younger brother questioningly.

"No, he said you wanted to explain it yourself. And we make a point of not listening into private conversations if we can help it," the younger Salvatore shrugged. Only Stefan got a call from the hunter as he had assumed that he and Caroline were together, and he passed on the message to get back to Mystic Falls to her once she got back from her feeding trip.

"Well then, don't worry. I'm a vampire," Bella revealed, to everyone's but Jeremy's shock.

"Now that you mention it…" the Forbes girl glanced back at her contemplatively. "How come you are so hard under your skin? I have never felt something like this in any vampire I touched before."

"Hard?" the brunette quirked a brow at the expression.

"Yeah, like you have a second layer made from stone under the squishy surface," she tried explaining, pinching her arm in the process to get a better feel for it.

"Ow, that hurts," the agent rubbed the place on her skin that was assaulted by vampire fingers. "Anyway, are we waiting for anyone else?" she looked around the room. Stefan, Caroline, Jeremy, Bonnie, and Matt were there.

"Alaric might arrive tomorrow…" Jeremy started to explain when the front door opened with a bang and Tyler Lockwood marched into the living room.

"Are we seriously not locking the front door?" Bonnie turned to Matt with a pointed glare, who quickly got up to remedy that. Vampires and hybrids weren't the only members of the supernatural populace they might want keeping out, and there wasn't really a sense it making their job easier.

"Did I miss anything?" the newest arrival asked with a smirk.

"Who called the werewolf?" Bella jabbed playfully but went over to greet him. Tyler reminded her of Jacob very much, her best friend from back home, even though she found out that he wasn't a real werewolf, only a shapeshifter, whose form happened to be a wolf. A rather large one.

"What are you doing here, man?" Jeremy asked confusedly. He hadn't phoned him.

"If it's concerning Klaus, I want in. Matt said something in the afternoon that got me thinking so here I am," the werewolf smirked at his buddy, before turning to their lost lamb. "Hey, Bells," he went to hug her at first then looked at her funnily as if smelling something not so appealing. "Don't tell me you are one of them now."

"Deal with it. I have it on good authority that you used to date a vampire so shut up," the brunette shoved at him a bit, recalling that he and Caroline used to be an item. "Okay, so Rick. Who else? Where is Damon?"

"Upstairs. Sulking probably," Stefan supplied the info with a sigh.

"Let him be there, I'm not sure I have the patience for him now. Not to mention he can hear me perfectly well if he wants to. We will fill Alaric in on anything important later, but I just need to come clean about something..." Swan nervously sat down on the couch, waiting two secs until everyone gathered around for story time.

And she told them everything. From her moving to Forks, to discovering what she believed were vampires there, falling in love with Edward, everything else she found out about their kind. The Volturi who governed the cold ones. Her run-in with that other coven that led to her getting bitten by James but not turning because Edward managed to suck the venom out. The unfortunate birthday party that led to the Cullens abandoning her. The Quileutes and their shapeshifting ability that somewhat resembled werewolves – that part actually making Tyler snort but he quickly shut up when Bella glared at him.

"…so that is why I left Forks. I traveled around the country a bit before ending up here with you guys. I really wanted to stay, you made me feel so welcomed and I'm sorry I hadn't told you all this before, but I just wanted a fresh start. I only ever confided in Damon, thinking he really cared about me despite his bad-boy front that he projects. But then he went and turned me despite knowing that I didn't want to become a vampire. I know you guys warned me against him…" the federal agent trailed off rubbing her face exasperatedly for her own stupidity and naivety with the older Salvatore brother.

"I'm going to kill him," Caroline stated with eerie calmness and a sadistic smile on her face, supporting the other girl wholeheartedly.

"You might want to hear the other side of the story before going psycho, Barbie-doll," Damon spoke from behind them, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"And what would that be? Some 'it was for your own good' bullshit?" Bella snapped at him angrily, unable to contain her contempt. "Give me a break!"

"I decided to turn you because Victoria was still tracking you," he revealed in a flippant tone, but underneath it all, you could tell that he didn't take it lightly. "You weren't safe. Not to mention the Volturi, who would have hunted you down if they ever found out that you knew about cold ones and were still human," the dark-haired vampire explained further, effectively rendering Bella speechless.

"Victoria? The redhead who was with James?" Stefan frowned, trying to piece together the story for all of them. "Why didn't you just kill her?"

"She had an uncanny ability to slip through my fingers," Damon mockingly retorted. "Must have been a gift that some cold ones have. I was trying to catch her for two weeks before I went and turned Bella. It was only after she left town that I was finally able to grab her because she got distracted by the change in her scent as she tried to follow her," he explained further the circumstances that led to the outcome that Bella had resented so much.

"Bella?" Caroline was more focused on her friend than the back and forth between the brothers. She was staring into space, trying to emotionally process the things she had just heard.

"Give me a minute," she said, standing up from her place and leaving the room.

"Cold ones have gifts? Like witchcraft?" Bonnie inquired, trying to find a topic that they could continue on until Bella got herself together. She wasn't heartless or inconsiderate of her, far from it, but time was of the essence where Klaus was concerned, and they needed information to be able to formulate some kind of a plan.

"Yes and no, not like the Heretics, and not all of them. Some humans have special talents – maybe they are dormant witches, I'm not sure – and when they get turned into a cold one, these get intensified. Bella's prick of an ex, Edward, for example, could very easily read people when he was human, which evolved into full-blown mindreading after his change," Damon told her the parts that he knew from the brunette's stories from five years ago.

"Except Bella," the witch reiterated from before.

"Yes, except her. I think she has a mental shield of some sort as an ability. I couldn't compel her when we first met. In the beginning, I thought she was on vervain, but then she told me all of this, and it became clear that wasn't it. Not to mention I could feed on her without any adverse effects," he smirked as he recalled her sweet taste. No wonder that sparkling fairy dipshit was so drawn to her, that she was his singer.

"You fed on her?" Caroline screeched with outrage, jumping from her spot, staring daggers at him for a few seconds before storming out of the room after Bella to comfort her. History repeating itself it seemed. Her initial encounter with Damon had been just the same, coupled with a compulsion that at least Bella was free of.

"With her permission. Duh," the older Salvatore called after her annoyedly, as if that excuse made it alright.

"But becoming a vampire… I mean regular vampire… God, this is confusing," Bonnie exclaimed exasperatedly, wishing that the spirits had given her a more detailed account than just informing her that "oh, by the way, there are different kinds of vampires and now a hybrid has popped up," preferably one that also listed the differences.

"Just call the others cold ones," Damon rolled his eyes condescendingly.

"Fine. So, vampirism isn't compatible with other forms of magic, her shield should have gone away," the witch reasoned. Besides the siphoning ability of the Gemini coven heretics, there hadn't been a single form of magic so far that wasn't suppressed by the blood magic that created vampires.

"Except, I believe from when she was bitten by a cold one, some of that venom lingered in her scar, which probably preserved and enhanced said ability," the dark-haired bad-boy revealed his suspicions at last.

"Tell me that you are not saying what I'm thinking," Jeremy chimed into the conversation, looking towards where Bella had left the room.

"That is exactly what I'm saying. I think Bella is a hybrid between the two vampire species," Damon surmised.

"Not to mention potentially a witch," Bonnie added.

"Yes, that too. Whatever," he agreed sarcastically.