Hello, looks embarrassed. Sorry, you had to wait so long for an update but I got stuck, this chapter was really hard for me to write. I hope I can now post more regular again.

Thank you to Senema for her beta, without her the story would be much harder to read.

Enjoy!

Chapter 19

Kol stood with his wife, sisters and Charlotte in front of the coven building, an old but very well preserved mansion in an otherwise run-down area.

Freya and Davina stood side by side and surveyed the building carefully, but Kol knew they were using other senses as well. Once again, he felt a pang of hatred for Esther for taking away what he had loved most - before Davina.

Rebekah also surveyed the building with her head tilted. "I hear at least twenty heartbeats."

Kol pushed aside his old bitterness and focused on what he could do. "Most are at the back of the building, they are stationary. From the snippets of conversation I hear, they are the council. The other heartbeats are not stationary; I suspect they are patrolling guards."

"They're talking about us", Rebekah murmured.

"Do they know we're here?" Freya asked quietly.

"No, they're talking about how to best protect the coven from us." Kol's mouth twitched in amusement. "From what I hear, they dramatically overestimate their powers and abilities. The only one they seem to have any respect for is you, Freya."

Freya smiled in a way that made Kol immediately think of Elijah. His two oldest living siblings were sometimes too alike when it came to dealing with enemies of their family. "Davina and I will shield you as best we can from their magic."

"Don't worry, Freya." Rebekah smiled lazily. "Kol and I can handle a few spells that you might miss and let through."

"Just remember, we need them alive to interrogate them." Freya seemed cold and determined now.

Kol chuckled. "I will do my best." He saw Davina frown. He was aware that she felt a little uncomfortable since they were going up against witches. However, she also knew how his family reacted when threatened. "You don't need to come in with us", he said softly.

Davina sighed. "No, I won't leave you alone. Ultimately, they started the conflict, not the Originals."

Freya looked over at Charlotte. "I don't know to what extent witches can harm you. Please stay back, I don't want anything to happen to you."

Charlotte nodded. "Your concern is unfounded but appreciated."

Freya and Davina entered the building first to discover and eliminate any traps the coven might have set.

A few seconds later Kol heard Freya say softly that they could now enter the building as well. Along with Rebekah and Charlotte, he joined the two witches. The foyer was empty except for two men lying on the floor but Kol could still hear their heartbeats.

"The way to the other guards is free", said Davina softly. "It is safe."

"Rebekah, you take out the guards, I'll stay with the others", Kol said quietly.

Rebekah nodded silently and left, barely two minutes later was she back. "The guards are unconscious", she reported curtly.

Freya started moving again and the others followed her. Sometimes she stopped before moving on. Kol knew she was disabling other traps. The Council would be in for quite a surprise.

Finally, they reached the backroom. Freya entered the room first again, while this time Kol and Rebekah followed first and immediately fanned out. Davina and Charlotte brought up the rear.

The witches present stared at them in bewilderment and shock.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" an older man said angrily.

"I'm Freya Mikaelson", Freya replied with a sunny smile. "Your spell wards, while not bad, were useless against me. May I introduce my siblings Rebekah and Kol to you?"

The man swallowed hard. "What are the Originals doing here?"

Kol suddenly stood in front of him and picked him up by the throat. The man gagged and struggled, but he didn't stand a chance against the vampire. Kol caught a glimpse of the other witches chanting, but Rebekah suddenly stood behind two of them and banged their heads together. The others grabbed their throats as if someone was choking them.

Kol smiled contentedly. "Don't ask stupid questions! You know exactly why we are here." He allowed his eyes and face to transform. "We want to know who is behind the conspiracy against our brother Elijah."

He lowered the man back to the ground and loosened his grip enough so he could regain his breath. As his complexion had turned a disturbing shade of red it was badly needed too.

Kol generously gave him a few seconds. "I want an answer", he then snarled menacingly.

Freya now stood next to Kol and smiled maliciously at the man. "I would answer him very quickly; Kol is not exactly known for his patience. And you shouldn't be unfamiliar with his other reputation either."

The man now looked suitably scared and intimidated. "Only the coven elders can tell you what the names are and what their plans are", he stammered.

"Aren't you a member of the Council?" Kol asked curiously.

"The Elders plotted behind our backs. They presented us with a fait accompli and we only found out about it after Elijah Mikaelson was arrested", the man reluctantly admitted.

"Typical", muttered Davina annoyed.

"Then tell me what you know", ordered Freya, who was now taking over the interrogation.

The man sagged as all resistance left him. "There were two, a vampire and a witch, both dark skinned. I don't know their names."

"Describe them to me", said Freya, her expression tense.

The man obeyed and the three Mikaelson siblings exchanged grim looks after he finished his descriptions.

"I was expecting Marcel, but I'm honestly surprised Vincent is on board as well," Kol said thoughtfully.

Freya suddenly turned pale. "I now know how they found out about Elijah's travel plans. Vincent was with me when Elijah called. He was upstairs to play with Nik and the baby monitor was on. I had the phone on speaker because I was heating milk for Nik and I always take the other baby monitor with me when I leave Nik alone." She shrugged. "It has just become a habit for me, even when someone is with him."

Despite her own dismay and horror that Marcel was indeed involved in this conspiracy, Rebekah hugged her sister. "Don't blame yourself! None of us expected this."

Davina was equally distraught. "But what reason do Marcel and Vincent have to do this?"

"Both hate Elijah", Freya replied in a brittle voice. "Maybe they just wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to catch Elijah alone for once. The rest of us travel alone often enough, but for Elijah, that's a real rarity. This trip is the first I can remember he took alone since I found you."

"Klaus won't be happy when he hears that", Kol muttered. "Even if we can't hurt Marcel, there's no way Vincent will survive this mistake." He looked at Freya, knowing how close her relationship with Vincent was.

Kol noticed too the slight smile that crossed her face as he mentioned Marcel's name and that they couldn't hurt him. Huh, it almost looked like his big sister had her own plans as far as Marcel was concerned. He certainly wouldn't stop her. He still owed Marcel for the bite that nearly killed him.

"I don't care anymore, there's no way I'm going to let any of them hurt Elijah. This time both have gone too far, their plan is putting the entire supernatural community at risk." Freya's expression was unyielding.

Kol saw from Davina's expression that while she was unhappy about Freya's words, he also knew that she would speak up if she disagreed. That she stayed silent and didn't jump to Marcel and Vincent's defence was telling enough for him.

"Who is this Vincent?" Charlotte asked curiously. She could understand enough from the exchange that the Mikaelsons now knew who they were dealing with.

Freya sighed and explained about Vincent and his relationship with Elijah and the family as a whole.

"Would you consider Vincent a hypocrite?" Charlotte asked thoughtfully.

"Well, it's definitely not the wrong expression for him", Kol replied with a shrug. "He's quite a toad, to be honest." He grinned slightly mockingly at Freya. "I might have chosen a different sperm donor."

Freya blushed and glared at Kol. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"So he would be one of those witches who, according to Elijah, could use a lesson in modesty and humility", Charlotte said with satisfaction.

"Well, when Elijah talks about hypocritical witches, yes, he usually means Vincent," Kol replied, amused. "He has quite the dislike for Vincent." He frowned. "I don't know exactly what happened between the two of them, but Elijah has that certain glitter in his eye whenever the topic of Vincent is mentioned. I'm sure Vincent would be dead by now if Freya wasn't so fond of him. I think it's quite likely that that was Vincent's main reason for donating his seed. He knew it would give him some protection from Elijah."

"Vincent is not that calculating", Davina protested indignantly.

"Are you sure about that, love?" Kol retorted just as hotly. "I seem to remember an instance where he and Marcel quite cleverly and calculatingly arranged your shunning."

For a moment, Davina opened her mouth as if she wanted to disagree but then she sniffled softly. Kol took her comfortingly in his arms.

"Kol, Davina, now is not the time", Freya admonished, now recovered from the shock. She looked at the man who had looked uncertainly from one to the other during the discussion. "I would suggest that you and the other witches get away from Los Angeles for a while." Freya smiled grimly. "At least while we're in town."

The man nodded eagerly.

"One more thing." Now Freya's voice was icy. "Not a word about the fact that we were here and that we now know who is behind it. If this becomes known, I will know where they got the information from." She pulled out a few hairs with the root from his head.

"Get me some from every witch around here too!" Freya commanded her siblings, who obeyed without hesitation. "No matter where you hide, now I can find you." She smiled maliciously at the man and he paled. He knew as well as she did that now they couldn't hide anymore.

After that, the Originals left the coven's headquarters, fairly certain that at least the witches here would get out of their way.

"And what do we do now?" Rebekah asked, still looking heartbroken after realizing that her husband really was involved in this conspiracy against her eldest brother.

"Either we return to Lucifer's penthouse or we check out what Elijah and Klaus are up to", Kol suggested. He grinned mischievously. "Somehow that wasn't enough chaos and excitement for me."

"Of course, it wasn't", Davina murmured. "You and Klaus simply like to revel in chaos and destruction."

"You knew what family you were marrying into", Rebekah said a little smirk, "so don't complain. But I also think we should go to the others."

"Davina, Charlotte?" Freya asked for their opinions.

"I don't think it's a good idea if we keep going our separate ways", Davina admitted reluctantly. "Vincent and Marcel are formidable, when they are working together, we shouldn't give them another chance to hurt one of us."

Kol smiled softly as his wife spoke of us and meant his family with it.

"I'm coming with you too. It's been a long time since I've had so much fun." Charlotte enjoyed the unrestrained delight the younger Mikaelson siblings took in creating chaos and revelling in it. It seemed to be a trademark of all of them, other than Elijah of course. If all humans were like them, she would like them a lot more.

"What I still don't understand is why Marcel and Vincent wanted Elijah in prison," Davina said thoughtfully.

"Maybe that's not part of Marcel and Vincent's plans for Elijah", Kol replied with a shrug. "Remember, we are dealing with three parties, each with their own agenda. If it was just about killing Elijah, Marcel could bite him and hold him somewhere with Vincent's help until he's dead."

"What could be their agenda?" Charlotte asked curiously.

"Maybe Vincent needs Elijah for a ritual and when he has used him, he will leave him to Marcel so that he can finally kill him", Freya suggested quietly.

"I don't think revenge is Marcel's only motive", Charlotte said softly. "What if he learned somehow that Elijah found out something about him? Something he definitely didn't want Elijah to tell a certain person."

When Freya looked at her questioningly, Charlotte gave Rebekah a meaningful look. Freya pressed her lips together as she realized what Charlotte was getting at.

Rebekah picked up that it was about her and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "What's the matter, Freya? Is there something you don't want to tell me?"

Freya sighed. "It's about something Elijah told me at the police station. He has evidence that Marcel has been cheating on you regularly for some time."

Rebekah swallowed, but she didn't look as surprised as Freya had thought. "Did he say with whom?"

"Wait, Elijah said what?" Davina intervened appalled.

"You heard me." Freya smiled bitterly. "And I really can't imagine Elijah lying in this case."

"No, he wouldn't, not when it comes to Rebekah", Kol agreed. He stared at Rebekah. "You knew it, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't know, I suspected it though", said Rebekah sadly. "There were a few things that struck me as odd, but I didn't really want to admit it to myself."

"Good, so we have Marcel's motives. What kind of rituals could this Vincent perform with an Original?" Charlotte asked calmly. Her experience as a lawyer really came in handy now.

Freya, Davina, and Kol exchanged uneasy looks.

"Honestly, there are far too many", Freya replied dejectedly. "You have to understand, Charlotte, Originals are practically magic. Every witch who channels one of them practically has a super battery that never runs out. With their power, spells can be cast that would otherwise not be possible. Would witches use anyone else for certain spells, their victims would be killed before the witches could reach their goals."

"And Elijah is exceedingly powerful, more so than his siblings even", Davina said softly. "Klaus may be physically stronger, but when it comes to willpower, determination, and mental strength, Elijah is far superior to him. There's a reason the Hollow chose Elijah for its resurrection and not Klaus or Marcel, neither were powerful enough."

Freya shuddered as she recalled how close she had come to losing Elijah back then. And Rebekah and Kol also looked grave as they remembered how the other vampires had died in the club around them and they had known immediately what that had meant for Elijah.

"After what you told me about this Vincent, he's far too careful and subtle to risk your family's wrath over a trifle", Charlotte pointed out. "And he knows Marcel wants to kill Elijah, so it's a one-time ritual, which means it has to be really worthwhile. What would Vincent's greatest wish be, or should I say, what would he risk it all for?"

Kol looked at her with raised eyebrows. "Wow, you are really quite clever. I'm impressed." He looked at Davina and Freya. "Do you have any idea what ritual it could be under these circumstances?"

Davina shook her head. "Not at the moment, but I'm concerned and I will think about it."

"Like me", Freya said firmly. "But the priority now is for the others to learn what we found out."

They made their way to the Council's office hour. They were quite sure that Elijah had still a captivated audience there.

Dant3 = As you can see, this story is not abandoned; I just got a little stuck. Writers block are no fun!

Thank you so much for your lovely comment; getting comments like yours keep me writing. It really made my day and you can rant anytime you like 'lol.

I don't like the third season, I much prefer season one and two. I can't stand this plot with the prophesy and making Marcel the Beast. What a stupid idea, he should have stayed dead at the end of the season, I'm really not a fan of the character.