A few days later, Cora was helping Damon and Elena fill bottles in the bathroom of the house. "We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us." Elena said.
"Oh really. Cause these Original vampires are usually so reliable." Damon pointed out.
"Bonnie was right. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now but - he is her brother." Elena sighed.
"Yeah, I know." Cora said. "Is it weird that I feel bad for her?" Damon turned and looked at her. "Hey, you weren't there after she got the news. She was really upset." She ran her hand through her short red curls. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."
"Trust me, I don't like it either, Cora." Elena said, putting her hand on her shoulder. "But we don't have choice if we're going to take Klaus out."
"I know."
"Still, There are too many things, that can go wrong with this plan. Too many people that can make it go wrong." Elena pointed out.
"You're telling me. I have to face my other "sibling"," Cora air quoted, "Who probably doesn't even know that I'm still alive. Last he saw me, I was just a human girl ready to start her life over."
"Relax, girls. I'm forming a back-up plan in case things go wrong." Damon told them.
"What is it?" Elena asked.
"Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a secret." Damon pointed out. Just then, Stefan entered the room.
"I need to borrow a tie."
"You have your own ties." Damon pointed out.
"I'm a hundred and sixty-two years old and I'm going to a Homecoming Dance. I need better ties!" Cora frowned. This definitely wasn't the Stefan she knew.
"You could not go." Elena told him.
"I'm compelled to protect you. And if I look your track record at high school Dances- it's pretty tragic." Stefan said. "My luck, you go and get yourself murdered by the Homecoming Queen..."
Elena turned and picked up one of the grenades.
"Hey, careful!" Damon warned her.
"I know how to do it! Alaric taught me!" Elena pointed out.
"Elena! If this thing blows up in our face- just remember: only two of us heal quickly." Damon pointed out. He placed it down without setting it off.
"Please tell me that you have a better plan than wolvesbane grenades." Stefan said.
"Never your mind, brother. Less you know the better." Damon pointed out.
"My freedom from Klaus rests entirely upon you guys executing your plan perfectly. So, excuse me if I'm a bit cynical." Stefan told them.
"You're the one we should be worried about. If Klaus asks you one wrong question- whole thing falls apart." Elena pointed out.
"You do have reason to worry, but if I look back in our history of epic plan failures, it's usually because one of us let our humanity get in the way. Upon taking odds on how this thing goes down, it's certainly not gonna be me who screws it up." He said. "I'll see you at Homecoming. I can't wait." He left the room.
"Wow. He is really cold without his humanity." Cora said.
"It's not like you've never shut off before." Damon said.
"I never did. Not even after I first turned." Cora said. "And you remember what happened to my real sister. Because of her, I vowed to never shut off my emotions."
"You have a sister?" Elena asked.
"Had a sister." Cora corrected. "She would've been gone by now either way."
"What happened?" Elena asked.
"Long story short, she got turned, flipped the switch first chance she got and tried to kill me. I was still human at the time, so I took her out in self-defense." Cora explained. Elena seemed surprised. "But I refuse to let that happen with Stefan."
"Hey, we'll get him back." Damon told her. "I know we will."
"Yeah."
"You should pick out your dress for Homecoming tonight." Damon told her.
"But I don't have any dresses." Cora pointed out.
"You know, once this Klaus thing blows over, you've got to come shopping with me and Caroline." Elena told her. Cora nodded.
"You might want to check your wardrobe again." Damon told her.
Cora headed up to her room. There, on the bed, lay a strapless navy blue dress. She smiled to herself.
A few hours later, she had changed into the dress. Her red hair fell in curls just above her shoulders. She touched her small, glass pendant, then walked into the next room. "Hey, are you…what happened?"
"We couldn't take the chance she wouldn't turn on us." Elena told her. She looked a little upset about it. Damon came in and covered her body.
"In the back. Harsh."
"It had to be done! Rebekah was never gonna be completely on our side." Elena pointed out.
"I'm not judging you. It's very- "Katherine" of you." Damon told her.
"Not the way to make me feel better about myself, Damon." Elena said.
"It was a complement. Sort of..."
"Right…" Cora said. She sat down next to Elena.
"Stefan's right! Someone's gonna let their humanity get in the way and screw the whole thing up. It's probably going to be me." Elena said.
"Elena, you just daggered somebody. You will be fine." Damon told her.
"Yeah, but I feel bad about it. I care too much, that's the problem, Damon! I'm the weak link!"
"If it makes you feel any better, she's not really dead."
"I know it's hard getting used to this stuff." Cora said. "But sometimes we don't have a choice." Elena turned to her, smiling. In some ways, Cora reminded her of herself.
"Do you trust him? Mikael?" Elena asked Damon.
"No."
"Even I don't trust him. That guy seriously gives me the creeps." Cora said.
"What about Stefan?"
"No. Not as long as he is under Klaus's control."
"Then we need a better plan."
"I know what to do. Your just not gonna like it." Damon told Elena.
"Why not?"
"Because when this all goes down, I don't want you having any part of it." Damon said.
"What does that mean?" Elena asked.
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Then you have nothing to worry about." Damon told her.
"Elena, why don't you get ready?" Cora asked. "I'll help him out here."
"Okay. You look great, by the way." Elena told her on the way out.
"She's not lying, you know. You look amazing."
"That's cause I have a great friend." Cora pointed out. "You love her, don't you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Come on, Damon. You know you can't fool me." Cora said. "I see how you look at her when you think she's not looking."
"Okay, okay. You're right. But she's still hung up on my brother." Damon told her. "I'm happy just to have her in my life, even if I'm not the guy she wants to be with."
"You're a really good friend, Damon. Maybe one day she'll feel the same." Cora said. They looked at each other for a moment.
"You should get to the dance." Damon told her. "I'll meet you later." Cora touched her necklace again, as though to make sure she was still wearing it. Then, she left.
A couple hours later, Cora found herself headed to the party with Elena and Matt. "So much for Homecoming." Elena said.
"This is weird." Matt commented. "Us being here together."
"Tell me about it." Cora said.
"There's Caroline. She doesn't know anything. Act normal!" Cora nodded. Of course, she knew it was really Katherine. Damon had told her about this part of the plan: in order to keep Elena out of danger, he called Katherine to take her place.
"Hey- Klaus is here!" Caroline said, approaching the group.
"What?"
"Yeah! Apparently our sired hybrid-friend Tyler thought it'd be okay to let his master throw a party!" Caroline said. Everyone just looked at her. "I expected more surprise!"
"I've learned to not be surprised by anything Klaus does." Katherine told her. "I'm gonna go find Bonnie." She left.
"What's going on? And what are you two doing here together? Thought you were supposed to be here with Rebekah." Caroline said.
"Plan has changed. I need a drink!" Matt said, walking away from her.
"Well, that wasn't awkward at all." Cora said.
"You're telling me. I haven't seen him act weirder since he found out about me over the summer." Caroline said.
"Well, it sounds like he's still getting used to the supernatural thing, from what Elena's been telling me." Cora said. "It'll be okay."
"I hope so." Caroline said.
"I'm going to catch up with Elena." Cora told her. She found Katherine outside. She saw a man walking toward her. She guessed it was Klaus. She stayed near the door and listened in to their conversation with her vampire hearing.
"Well, seems I have you to thank for Mikael`s demise." Klaus said.
"He came at me. I didn`t have a choice." Katherine said, playing her part as Elena so perfectly, it almost scared Cora.
"Still, I´m impressed. It`s not easy for a human to dagger an Original."
"It wasn`t the first time."
"Right. Elijah." Cora turned toward them, but stayed by the door. "You seem nervous."
"I´m not nervous. I just don`t like you."
"Let`s get straight to the point then ,shall I, my love?" Klaus said. "People have been after me for 1,000 years. And I am always one step ahead. So whatever it is you`re thinking of trying, go for it, give it your best shot. You won`t succeed."
Cora was still listening to them. "You won't be for luck of trying." Katherine said.
"You'd be smart to tell Damon to mind his manners tonight, because if I die, I've already ensured that he'll die along with me!" Klaus told her. "Even in death my hybrids have their orders. So, you kill me you're killing him too." He walked away.
Cora's blue eyes met Katherine's concerned gaze. "Elena." She said, keeping her cover.
"I know. We can't let him get hurt."
"I didn't think you cared about him."
"I don't, but if Stefan gets his humanity back at the cost of his brother, it will destroy him." Katherine pointed out. "I have to go. You stay here and if anyone asks, tell them I'm in the bathroom."
"What are you…"
"I know how to save him, but you're not going to like it." Katherine said. "I'll catch up with you later." She left in a hurry. Cora watched after her for a while, until she heard Bonnie call her.
"You okay here?"
"Yeah." Cora said. "I just really hope this works."
"So do I." Bonnie said. "I should probably get in there. Can you cover me?" She headed inside. Cora looked out at the party outside. Then she heard something inside and ran in. She was surprised to see that Bonnie had incapacitated Tyler and Damon.
"What are you doing?" She asked. Bonnie's concentration broke and Damon got up. Tyler remained on the floor, passed out.
"You weren`t supposed to witchy migraine me!" Damon told Bonnie.
"You weren`t supposed to kill Tyler!" Bonnie pointed out.
"He tried to bite me!"
"Like once wasn't enough?" Cora asked. They both turned to her, surprised. "Elena told me. Besides, that's what started this mess to begin with."
"What is this?" Bonnie asked, noticing something under Damon's jacket.
"Nothing."
"Oh my god, is that the..."
"Shh! They`re everywhere!"
"Why do you have it?"
"Because I`m the only one who can get inside the house!"
"How'd you even get that?" Cora asked. "On second thought, I don't want to know."
"Cora, keep an eye on Elena." Damon told her.
"I think I saw her go outside." Bonnie said. "Come on." They headed back to the backyard.
Cora noticed that Katherine was back and waved her over. "Elena!"
"Guys, thank goodness." Katherine said. "I think Mikael is looking for me."
"What? Why?" Bonnie asked. Cora could see two hybrids behind Katherine, headed right for her.
"That's why!" Cora said, pointing them out to her. Bonnie turned to Elena.
"Run, now!" Bonnie told her. Katherine nodded and ran off.
"Think she'll make it out okay?"
"I don't know, a hybrid's much faster than a human." Bonnie said. "Though Elena's pretty smart, though. I know she'll be okay."
"You guys are really great friends." Cora said. They sat down at one of the tables, away from the party.
"Were you close with my family?" Bonnie asked her. "When my Grams showed up that time, she spoke as though she knew you."
"I guess she just got a feeling or something." Cora said. "It's like that with most witches. But yeah, Leslie and I were as close as you and Elena are. She wasn't just a friend, she was practically my family."
"Wow." Bonnie said. "That's pretty close."
"Yeah. I haven't had a close group in a long time. I spent last summer with a group of girls obsessed with theater."
"Considering our group consists of witches, vampires, and hunters, you fit right in here." Bonnie said. They laughed, when Cora's phone buzzed. She looked at the text message and frowned.
She looked up at her. "What's wrong?"
"Something went wrong." Cora said, showing the message to Bonnie. "I should go see how he's doing."
She found Damon in the hall. "Damon?" He turned around, noticing her. "What happened?"
"Stefan saved Klaus." Damon told her.
"What?" Cora hadn't seen that coming.
"Mikael got killed, Klaus is still alive, but he did give Stefan back his humanity."
"Well, at least there's one bright side to this." Cora said, trying to stay cheerful. He looked at her. "We've got to tell Elena what happened, don't we?" He nodded. She took his arm and they left the Lockwood's house.
"How did this happen?" Elena asked them. They'd found her sitting in the living room at home and had explained everything to her.
"We thought of everything, Elena! Klaus having hybrids. Mikael turning on us. We brought in Katherine so you weren`t in danger. Anything that could have gone wrong, we were prepared!"
"I don`t understand. Stefan wanted Klaus dead! More than anything! That`s what we were counting on." Elena said. That's when Cora realized this was Katherine's plan to save Damon from the hybrids-by sending Stefan in to keep Klaus from being killed.
"We blew it."
"No, we didn't." Cora said. They looked at her. "We lost one battle, we didn't lose the war. We'll find another way to stop Klaus. As for Stefan," She hesitated for a moment. "We should try to find him, get his side of things." She decided to keep quiet about Katherine's involvement.
Damon seemed to calm down as she spoke. Elena sat down on the chair.
"Where`s Katherine?" She asked.
"She ran away." Damon told them. "Who blames her? Klaus would`ve crushed her."
"He would've killed her." Cora corrected. "I know how close we were to getting him out of our lives."
"Yeah," Elena said. "I just can't believe it didn't work."
"On the bright side, we're all still alive." Cora pointed out.
"You really think we'll find another way?" Damon asked, joining her on the couch.
"Of course I do. I'm not going to let Klaus mess with my family." Cora said. "Besides, you taught me never to give up just because things look bad."
"Is it okay if I crash here tonight?" Elena asked.
"Sure." Damon said.
"You know, you can stay in my room with me." Cora offered. "It's been a while since I've had a sleepover and I've got some extra supplies."
"Thanks, Cora." Elena said. She got up and left the room.
"Are you okay?" Cora asked Damon after she'd left.
"I don't know." Damon told her. "I just thought I could save my brother."
"We will save him." Cora said. "I remember someone who told me it's important to keep fighting for the important people in your life."
Damon smiled. "Yeah, I really need to learn to take my own advice."
"You taught me to never give up. You and your brother." Cora told him. "So I'm not going to let you guys give up, either."
"I don't know what any of us would do without you, Cora." She put an arm around his shoulder.
"I feel the same way. At this point, I feel like we'd all be lost without each other."
"That's why we all fit together." Damon told her.
"I'm going to check in on Elena." Cora said. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I will be. Thanks to your help." She headed upstairs and found Elena already asleep. She realized she was still wearing her necklace from the party. She figured she'd better keep it on. She knew they'd find a way to stop Klaus and save Stefan. She wasn't going back on her promise now.