Caroline woke with a splitting headache. She found herself on the couch in Josephine's sitting room. The first light of morning was hazing through the windows, making the dim room glow. Looking around she saw Stefan asleep in a chair. Bonnie slept with her on the couch, with Caroline's legs in her lap. Hayley and Kol sat at the piano, speaking in soft whispers that Caroline could have made out when she still had her supernatural hearing, but as it was, she could barely make out the low tones of their whispers. She watched them for a long time, the way they both were leaning toward each other, but not touching. Just talking.

There was something far more intimate about the way they were talking than all of their barbs banter and rendezvous combined. They whispered like confidants, lovers. The way two people talked when the words that passed between them weren't meant to belong to anyone else in the world.

Caroline doubted whether Hayley even knew it yet, but she could tell. The Hybrid and the Original were falling for each other. It wasn't just a fling. It wasn't just lust and taunting. They could pretend that there wasn't anything real between them, and probably would for a long time, but Caroline could see it.

Hayley stiffened slightly and looked over, catching Caroline's gaze.

"Caroline, you're awake." She rushed and took Caroline's hand.

"I'm awake," Caroline agreed as she sat up slowly, willing her head to calm down, "Though I'm sort of wishing I wasn't."

"The headache will subside." Kol assured her. "They had to root around in your head quite bit to get Esther out. No permanent damage, though. Just painful."

Caroline held her aching head, "Esther? What happened? I don't remember."

"Esther hijacked you, using magic to make you come to her." Kol said.

"Luckily, Klaus found you and brought you back here for Bonnie and Josephine to break the connection." Hayley said. "And they were able to trace it back to Esther. Klaus and Elijah went to track her down."

Her heart stuttered instinctively at Klaus's name. She shook her head slightly, wishing that he didn't still have so much power over her feelings.

"So they are going to end this?" Caroline asked, hopefully, so ready to go home, far from Klaus and the feelings she couldn't keep buried.

"Well, that's the hope," Kol said, "But as we all know… Esther is rather hard to keep dead."


Elijah and Klaus stood at the gates of the cemetery, home to the remains of countless New Orleans witches. Elijah frowned. He knew that most witches in the city drew their power from their ancestors. It was a wise place for a witch to hide with access to so much magic. He looked at his brother, debating speaking, but he refrained when Klaus pressed his finger to his lips to silence him and stepped over the threshold and into the passageway of tombs.

Elijah took a deep breath and followed his brother. A cold chill ran down his spine. After a thousand years, he had a sense for when he was in the presence of strong magic. He was sure his brother felt it as well. She was here. He took a deep breath. He had loved his mother dearly as a boy and young man, but that time was long dead. The tender mother and adoring son had been twisted beyond recognition. She was Ahab to his Moby Dick. He and his siblings were albatrosses. Monstrosities in her eyes, something to be stopped… destroyed.

They made their way through the cemetery, eyes carefully scanning for sign of an ambush. It was quiet. Too quiet, Elijah realized. There must be a spell to suppress sound and take away of their advantage. He felt a sinking feeling, feeling suddenly quite certain that Esther was here and aware of their approach. He looked over at his brother.

"Niklaus…" He started.

"I know." Klaus replied in a low, half growling tone.

They rounded a corner and Elijah was surprised by the loud, sharp crack of breaking bone. He looked over just in time to see his brother crumple to the ground with a broken neck. He looked around, frowning, expecting to be taken down next, for everything to suddenly turn dark, but it didn't happen. Instead his mother walked into view and met his gaze evenly.

"Hello Elijah."


Bonnie walked into the courtyard of Klaus's home. She'd been given directions, but she was still nervous walking into the unfamiliar place alone. She knew she was perfectly capable of protecting herself and she knew it was more important to keep Caroline protected, but she still didn't want to walk into the den of the Original Hybrid.

"Hello?" She called out, knowing that any vampire in the area would hear her.

No one answered right away and she turned in a slow circle, taking in the grand house. It was daunting, just the sort of place she'd expect Klaus to live and the thought made her frown.

She really did loathe vampires, and Klaus was worse than most. If it wouldn't wind up killing her friends, she'd spend her time looking for a way to put him down permanently. She didn't care that he was the father of Caroline's babies, if anything that made it more crucial to get him out of the picture for good. He'd already gotten his hooks into Care, and she wasn't sure if her friend would ever get over the games he'd played with her head completely. Honestly, Bonnie thought Esther had the right idea trying to cure all vampires. It was actually a more merciful solution than most of them deserve. But not if the cost was Caroline's life. As much as Bonnie liked the idea of ending all vampires, harming one of her oldest friends was not a sacrifice she was willing to make to achieve that end.

She finished her slow circle and gave a startled yelp when she found herself face to face with man with a cap pulled low, shadowing his eyes.

"We've got company." The man called over his shoulder.

"Don't be so rude, Theirry." A slim man with dark features and a killer smile stepped into view. "Invite her in."


A knock came from the front door and Stefan opened it to find Cami standing with a crockpot.

"I know the whole casserole thing is pretty clique, but I figured those of you who actually need to eat could stand to have a warm meal." Cami explained.

Stefan stepped outside and pulled the door shut behind him, looking her over with a small frown.

"Cami, you can't be here." He whispered. "It isn't safe for you."

"Safe went out the window when I decided to come back to New Orleans to find out what happened to my brother." Cami said, a little sharply.

Stefan frowned, they'd touched briefly on her brother, only enough that he knew she'd lost him to a hex.

"I just… I don't want you to get hurt on account of me, Camille." Stefan said, reaching out and taking the crockpot so she didn't have to stand there holding it while they talked.

"I appreciate that, Stefan, but isn't it my risk to take?" Cami asked, reaching out and resting her hand on his as she looked up into his dark eyes, her own light and still so naïve.


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