Warning: There will be graphic violence in the final section
Katherine stared down at the mug of coffee Rigby had made her. There was the perfect amount of sugar and cream in it. She was fairly certain she'd only made coffee in front of the other woman once or twice and – well, it made her feel strange to know that Rigby paid that much attention to her.
Katherine was used to being adored. She was beautiful and enchanting and could manipulate anyone she wished. She had been in relationships that sometimes stretched years with both men and women for the sole purpose of getting things she wanted. The only reason she had reached out to Rigby and started seeing her consistently was because one of her contacts had let Katherine know that the two women she had partied with decades ago were connected to the Originals.
Though she had been officially pardoned by Klaus, it was useful nonetheless to know what the Originals were up to as well as the band of misfits in Mystic Falls. It was perfectly timed with the fact that Rigby had been dumped by a human just weeks before.
She had not planned to grow genuinely fond of the woman.
She was startled out of her thoughts when the woman in question sat down next to her on the couch and bumped their knees together. In response, Katherine turned to face Rigby, who rearranged herself so that her legs were crossed and she was directly looking at Katherine.
"I want to date you."
Katherine only barely managed to keep the expression of confusion off of her face. Instead she let a seductive smile spread on her lips and dropped her voice into a purr when she said, "I don't know where you've been but – "
Rigby rolled her eyes and cut her off with a tone somewhere between fondness and exasperation.
"I mean actually date you. Not just serve as your source of information about Kol and the other Mikaelsons after we fuck."
Katherine froze and knew her expression was probably giving away her displeasure at being called out so blatantly. But Rigby extended her hand and grabbed one of hers, lacing their fingers together before squeezing lightly.
"I'm not oblivious. This relationship is just convenient for you. But I like you – the manipulative, petty, sarcastic you - and I think you like me, too. I want to take you on dates without any motives. So. I'm asking if you'd actually want that."
Katherine paused and let herself think before answering. When she did, it was in a slow and slightly mocking voice.
"I've been using you. You'd have to be incredibly foolish to-"
Rigby interrupted her once again with quite frankly an inappropriately fond laugh for this conversation and released her hand.
"Christ, Katie. I know that, I'm not stupid or disillusioned."
Katherine didn't feel a spark of warmth in her chest at the nickname every time the woman used it. Really, she didn't.
"You're incredibly naïve. I don't do love. Not in hundreds of years. Why on earth do you think you're at all special?"
Rigby caught Katherine by surprise when she leaned forward. Her intention was clear when her lips hovered only inches from Katherine's own, but instead of kissing her, Rigby started speaking earnestly – strangely soft for the snarky, often sarcastic woman.
"I'm not some immature mess you'll drive away by prodding at my insecurities. I'm an awesome woman and so are you. I'm pretty confident we could be amazing."
Fuck. Fuck. Katherine hated Rigby in this moment. Because –
Well. Katherine wanted that. So she leaned forward the last few inches that separated them and pressed her lips against Rigby's.
This wasn't going to last, obviously. Katherine had been in brief relationships and had some genuinely fun flings. She had nearly convinced herself that this would inevitably be the same.
When Rigby licked into her mouth and tangled her hands in Katherine's hair she couldn't keep in her content sigh. But a second later the door to Rigby's apartment slammed open.
Rigby pulled back and without breaking eye contact called out, "And hello to you, too, Kol. You're always welcome to barge in. Really."
When Katherine turned to look at the Original vampire, she saw that his clothing was coated with blood and seemingly had some in his hair. She took note of the look of amusement on his face before he spoke to the other woman.
"Why Rigby, do you truly not think yourself capable of wooing someone who isn't a doppelganger? And my brother's seconds, to boot. He won't be too upset with you, I'll likely take the brunt of his anger what with the tree branch I put through his stomach at the start of our evening on the town."
Katherine had yet to actually see either Beatrix or Rigby interact with the man in front of her, so she was taken aback when Rigby snorted and turned to the youngest Mikaelson brother before throwing a balled-up napkin that had been on the coffee table at his head.
"Big words from the man who set the microwave on fire two days ago."
Kol paused and seemed to think over her words before shrugging in acceptance. Without acknowledging Katherine any further he spoke again.
"Where is my better half? She's going to be wonderfully cranky after having to wait up so long. Dinner went on quite a few hours longer than expected – Elijah is probably still going about cleaning up the remains of my dessert. There is nothing quite like mangling a dozen corpses and disposing of them in public places to watch my older brother scramble to cover the evidence."
Katherine watched as Rigby's posture stiffened minutely. When she answered, her tone was a bit confused.
"Bea isn't with you?"
Kol's bemused smile immediately vanished. With a small frown, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Scrolling through his contacts, Katherine assumed he was calling Beatrix. Both she and Rigby could hear exactly what was on the other end. After four rings, someone on the other end picked up.
The silence on the other end of the line clearly prompted Kol to speak as he asked tersely, "Who is this?"
Katherine startled when Damon Salvatore spoke back.
"I'm sorry, Beatrix can't come to the phone right now, she's a little tied up. I can let her know you called."
The dial tone rang out before Kol could respond.
After a minute of silence, without looking away from the spot at the wall he'd been staring at, Kol Mikaelson spoke in an even voice that didn't waver.
"They have made a grave mistake."
Following his proclamation, Katherine watched as the man became the bloodthirsty, psychotic maniac she had only ever heard stories of.
Klaus listened to the voicemail on his phone and immediately slumped back into the incredible luxe cushion of the couch he'd recently bought.
He'd assured Elijah that no, he hadn't had any part in Beatrix's kidnapping, but he knew that Kol must still be enraged and even more dangerous than usual, considering he had thrown Klaus through a wall when he was last upset.
Looking down at his phone once more, he acknowledged that Caroline's random call regarding Beatrix and Kol's reasoning for being angry with him likely had to do with Beatrix's capture.
The voicemails from both Rebekah and Elijah let him know that Kol's wife had been taken captive and the Salvatore brothers were involved. His siblings were doing their best to control Kol, but he had apparently already burned down the doppelganger's house and was doing the same to the Salvatore boarding house while slaughtering anyone he came across. His younger brother had evidently been enraged to find the homes of all of the Mystic Falls group empty, delaying his vengeance and mission to rescue his wife.
Klaus was pragmatic. In fact, that might have been his most prominent feature. He knew that Kol wanted him dead. There was no way around that. But perhaps – well, perhaps delivering Kol's wife to his very doorstep could be the first step in his endeavor to restore their bond.
The problem, once again, was Caroline.
He fancied the girl, this was true. And she was involved with the disappearance of Kol's wife. It was easy to track where Caroline's phone call had originated from – he wasn't inept when it came to technology – so within ten minutes he knew the general area that Caroline had been in when she had called him demanding random details about Kol's now-missing wife.
If he didn't alert his siblings to what he suspected he could retrieve Beatrix by himself. It wouldn't change the fact that he had killed her, but there would be an undeniable measure of debt or even reluctant gratitude on Kol and Beatrix's part if he played his cards right. However, if Caroline was involved she may very well be collateral damage. In fact, it was likely she'd meet a brutal end at his younger brother's hands for taking his wife. Klaus suspected that Kol would be even more vicious than usual, especially considering he had only been reunited with Beatrix for a few weeks.
It was quite a lot to think about. Klaus hadn't had feelings for anyone in centuries. But they were just that - feelings. He felt no all-consuming passion for the young vampire, and Caroline had made it clear that she did not return his affections. His brother... his brother was just that - a Mikaelson. So ten minutes later, Klaus had come to terms with his decision.
Bea was tired. Oh god, she was tired. Every time she took a breath it was torture. It was similar to the time she had bronchitis as a child- an inexplicable coughing and fluid in the lungs that could not be dispelled. In a weak way she held on to the hope that she would be rendered unconscious from the pain.
Fuck, she hadn't hurt these children and their tamed vampires. For them to be torturing her – well, it seemed more barbaric than any situation she had ever prepared herself to be tortured. Christ, she wanted to leave this fucking town with Kol, Rigby, and Katie. To be tortured for something she had done she understood, but this was literally a group of paranoid high school seniors and their deluded pets. In a strange way it was amusing to see how very, vey wrong they were in their assumptions. And Bea's faith in Kol was unwavering. She knew she would be broken out so she let the time in the basement pass dreaming up ways she and her husband could destroy the lives of all involved.
But instead of remaining strong, she was rendered blind and half-deaf in this hellhole - utterly infuriating.
It was incredibly strange when out of nowhere she heard the vampiric heartbeat of Caroline Forbes cease to be. A moment later, the witch's heart slowed to a point that betrayed the girl's unconsciousness.
Bea's restraints were suddenly moved and she realized that someone was trying to free her from the vervain-coated cuffs. That someone wasn't snarling savagely or embracing her, so it evidently wasn't her husband. Huh.
When the cuffs had fallen from her wrists, somewhat deliriously she murmured, "This isn't Kol."
A muffled voice she didn't recognize immediately said, "Quite right."
Bea instinctively shoved at the limbs that began jostling her and a moment later they stopped touching her. While she wondered at what was going on, the fans that were filling the spores of vervain were turned off. Christ. It was heaven, the fans being off. Almost right away her eardrums and corneas began repairing themselves, allowing her to recognize what was happening just as she was lifted into someone's arms and carried out of the basement.
To Bea's immense displeasure and terror, Niklaus was carrying her up the flight of stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs leading to the main floor, Bea began weakly batting at his chest in a gesture to be put down, which he quickly supported.
Wandering around slowly and carefully, Bea investigated the first floor of the house. An older human woman – most likely the original owner – was dead with what looked like a bit of fence shoved through her chest, most likely the work of Klaus killing her from the outside of the home.
When she wandered into the kitchen with Klaus trailing behind her, Bea came across the unconscious Bennett witch and Caroline Forbes on the floor, who seemed to have had her neck snapped. Deciding in that moment not to touch Caroline Forbes yet was a decision easily made. Bea was really, really scared of Klaus Mikaelson, and Bea didn't want to anger him when she was isolated alone with him without Kol by her side to protect her. So in a blithe tone, Bea addressed Klaus directly for the first time since he had killed her in 1914.
"This little group all love Bonnie Bennett, correct?"
Klaus shrugged in what seemed like a dismissal of her question, so Bea hobbled over to girl, still weakened by the torture she had endured.
With an indignant huff, Bea lifted her foot before stomping down, driving her stiletto heel through the eye socket of the witch and crushing a portion of her skull. Stepping away from the now-very-deceased teenager, Bea let out an upset sigh. She had loved these shoes, and they were unfortunately suede. On the bright side they were black, so perhaps she could clean off the blood and brain matter before the stain could set in.
Looking down at the mangled corpse of Bonnie Bennett, Bea felt another spike of anger. The girl had humiliated her and doled out judgement like it was her fucking job. Unsatisfied with the sight below her, Bea kneeled down next to the body.
Tearing the girl's heart out of her chest and throwing it against the wall in a tantrum was a bit therapeutic. Cutting off the bitch's head before putting it in the oven and cranking the heat up to five hundred degrees made her feel even better, especially when she noted that the oven door was glass and the head would be on display. After dragging what was left of the body into the backyard and depositing it carelessly on the grass, Bea let out a tired sigh. A second after, she turned to Klaus, who had an expression on his face that seemed impressed and somewhat fond... which was not only confusing, but mad her speculate about his mental wellbeing.
"I don't know why – I don't understand. But if you aren't going to kill me could you help wi..."
Without further ado, Bea's words trailed off and she slumped to the ground, utterly exhausted.