A/N: (6/29/2021) Hiya! Thank you so much for the comments on previous chapters! In hindsight, the premise for this story may have been a smidge too ambitious for me; certain plot threads and scenes reviewers have mentioned they were looking forward to take place in this chapter, and I gave it my best. My own critique is that things escalate quickly and maybe could have been more fleshed out.

Apologies in advance for the melodrama and contrived plotting in this next installment, I needed to get the characters where they needed to go. Sophia's going through a lot, and I hope everything she does and feels tracks and reads well.

In this chapter: Sophia adjusts to the new normal as Silas wreaks havoc in Mystic Falls.

Warning: Canon typical violence, somewhat graphic (?)/vague torture description.

Season 4: Dark Reunion (Part 5)

Sophia had spent a fair amount of her time at Hannah's mostly catatonic, with weeping jags to break up the monotony.

Her lips wobbled as Hannah placed a steaming mug of tea in front of her. Time and time again she retreated to Hannah's, and whether it had to do with a problem of the palia psychi variety, or needing somewhere to retreat after being struck by tragedy, the old soul welcomed her with no hesitation.

"I'm horrible," she sobbed. "You've done so much to help, and I'm just awful. I owe so much to you-"

"Sophie, Sophie, it's okay, you're always welcomed here," Hannah said, grabbing Sophia's hand from across the table and reassuringly squeezed it.

An unknown number had been routinely calling Sophia the day after she arrived at Hannah's. At nearly two in the morning, her phone began to vibrate once again. (She couldn't bring herself to put it on silent, not when she had a good idea of who had been calling her so relentlessly). She had been laying on Hannah's pulled-out sofa, her eyes closed in a mockery of sleep. Now they stung as Sophia squinted at the number on her too-bright cell phone.

"Hello," she whispered, finally answering.

"Sophia," Klaus exhaled in relief. "You weren't at Caroline's, not at the Salvatore's," he noted in contempt. "From what I gather, your witch is rather unstable, so I suppose it's good you weren't found with her-"

Sophia gently closed her eyes, nestled on her side as she found solace in the lilt of Klaus's voice. "I needed to leave Mystic Falls, Nik. Just- just for a bit."

"You're with this Hannah- I presume?" he asked, his self-restraint palpable.

Drowsiness relaxed Sophia's muscles. "You presume correctly."

"Wh- You could have gone to me, love," he said softly.

"Jeremy killed Kol, and now- Jeremy's dead." Sophia's voice cracked, still quiet as she tried to be mindful of Hannah in the other room. "I- I know what my siblings cost you- but he was… he was-"

"We are both well aware of the threats I've made against your family," Klaus interrupted, his voice gravelly. Subdued. "I arrived at your home as Kol was daggered, I stared on as he burned- My temper had behested me as I confronted your siblings…" Sophia held in her breath throughout the resounding silence. "All this to say- I did not wish for you to know the loss of your brother, and I am sorry for your loss."

Sophia wiped at the tears that had fallen to the wayside of her face with the back of her hand, deliberating Klaus's words. She could believe that he was sorry about Jeremy's death, in that he thought it was a shame that the hunter who killed Kol and her brother who died happened to be the same person.

She nodded to herself, accepting his condolences. "I just- I need some time."

"... You have my number if you run into any trouble, and, ah-"

"I'll see you soon, Nik."

"Really, that guy?" Jeremy scoffed, lips twisted unpleasantly.

They sat at the docks near the lake house, the sun rising behind them, their legs swinging above the water.

"He- he can be-" Decent? Sweet? Certainly not to her family.

Jeremy looked at her, unimpressed.

"I know you're both- I dunno, connected somehow?"

Sophia's brows creased.

"You both have the silver- aura type thing- And you and Elena! You both have this gold glow, and it's not pretty. Kind of like when that necklace turned your neck green- gives me the skeeves, to be honest."

"The skeeves? Auras?" Sophia raised an eyebrow, lips twitching.

"It's a ghost thing," he said defensively, finally smiling. Then he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I think it's an understatement to say Klaus has serious anger issues, and ignoring the Salvatores, he's single-handedly ruined our lives. Jenna, Elena- and this isn't counting what his siblings and his mom have done! Seriously, Sophie, you shouldn't be involved with any of them."

Sophia nodded defeatedly. "You're right. But- it's like this, okay? I sort've known him since we were both kids, and I've basically loved him since day one- I was five and he saved me from the dark, scary forest." Sophia said dryly.

Both of them were startled as the marigold and dark blue sky, along with the murky, spruce blue water ahead of them, completely disappeared.

The scene Sophia had just mentioned played out in real-time before them, it was as if she and Jeremy were there.

The deeply dark forest, and Sofija at age five, too skinny with a mass of hair. Young Niklaus spotting her, a shimmering silver cord ephemerally lighting the way. Sofija, age thirteen, crushing hard on the kind and humoring Nik. Her at seventeen, him twenty-three, married in a simple meadow. Sofija telling her husband she was pregnant. Her dying in his arms of fever leftover from her babe's stillbirth, him shaking in body-wracking sobs as he cradled her.

The scenes played out in a disorienting, nausea-inducing whirl around them.

"I see," Jeremy said wryly, if a bit shaken, still a tad muddled as he massaged his head. "I get it- I do- he wasn't born a monster. But how can you still give him a chance after everything he's done? Don't you think altogether, both lives cancel each other out?"

Sophia pulled up a leg, bending it at the knee, resting her chin on it. "Maybe he's not good for me, maybe pursuing… Whatever it is that's going on between us is an extraordinarily horrible mistake. But you know what, my entire existence has been one shit show after another, and maybe that's just life. I know that one of my happiest lives has been with Nik, and with you gone and Elena basically an empty shell of herself, is it so wrong that I want to see this through- Don't answer that, I know it's selfish and awful of me to do exactly that, but it is what it is."

Sophia rested her forehead against her knee as she hugged her leg, her own miserableness choking her.

"Where are we Jer? How- how are you? How am I here?"

"I'm on the other side, watching you and Elena short circuit before my eyes, and that hasn't been all too fun from where I'm standing either. The hunter's mark is a curse that's keeping me from mom and dad and Jenna- I try not to think too hard on that. At least I've managed to find Ric, or- he might've been the one to find me. As for you- I'm not sure." Jeremy smiled sadly at her.

Sophia felt her heart splinter, a fog of despair descending on her as she learned that her little brother didn't even have the warm comfort of being reunited with their family after death.

Sophia sniffled. "I sorry Jer, I should've done more- I should have gotten Niklaus to back off- or try to buy you more time with him. Or when the Salvatores weren't looking, I could have changed our names and we should have run away to California- or Washington- or wherever! I already had access to the money mom and dad left me for college, it was enough to pay for tuition out of state- Elena had convinced them-" Sophia burst into a fresh wave of tears, full-on ugly crying now.

Her nose hurting and full, she blew into the sleeve of her sweatshirt as she calmed down.

"Gross," Jeremy laughed, although she heard a quake in his voice, saw the discontent in his eyes. "Ah, coulda shoulda woulda, Soph," he consoled as he loosely threw an arm around her shoulders. "Towards the end- yeah- I think you were probably capable of leaving Elena to adjust to being a vampire without us. But, I wouldn't have agreed to abandon her, even with the hunter's mark on my brain- and you wouldn't have left me. There's no point in getting stuck on the what-ifs."

Sophia's pulse rate slowed down as she tried to take in Jeremy's words, relaxing her head against his shoulder.

"Obviously, I can't tell you what to do about Klaus- you won't listen. Just promise me that if he crosses the line - with you- If he hurts you or threatens to lock you up for decades and throw away the key- you'll run. You'll get into contact with Hannah, she has a lot of connections, and get away from him. Please. Promise me."

Sophia took in a shaky breath. It wasn't an insulting request or one made without reason. Klaus was the sort of immortal who locked up his family when they disappointed him- and that was just a handful of the in-your-face red flags. He practically checked off every box on the pamphlets passed out at school with warning signs of a toxic or abusive relationship. Sophia sure wouldn't be pleased if either of her siblings would have wanted to run off with him.

"I promise Jer." A sense of finality rippled around them as the sun behind them shined a little too brightly.

She stood up and he followed suit. She pulled him into a hug. "I love you and I miss you and I'm more sorry than you'll ever know. It should've been-" Jeremy pulled back, his eyes pleading.

"I know you realizing that you were an old soul has given you kind of a death wish, but no, it shouldn't have been you. When she's ready to hear it- please tell Elena that I don't blame her. Be mad at her all you want for her burning down our home, but not for what happened to me." His eyes, so like Elena's, flickered warily to the dawning sun. "I love you too, Soph."

Sophia gasped awake, desperately trying to cling to her conversation with Jeremy. The words spoken...of reservations, disapproval, promises… Had she really seen him? Or had the loss of him turned another screw loose in her brain? What had she- had she promised?

"I think I gave you bad advice," Hannah frowned at her later that morning, after insisting Sophia have some oatmeal.

"What bad advice?" Sophia asked.

"Based on your memories of Silas and Qetsiyah, you're older than I originally guessed. I hadn't met someone else like me, and I assumed all old souls would be about the same age. I just- the more reading I do, the more I'm realizing I'm relatively young for an old soul, and it hasn't been too much of a hardship for me to relive all my past lives. For you though- Sophie, I know you were probably expecting me to tell you to relive another one, but don't. Try to learn from your dreams as much as you can, but then leave it be."

Sophia's sleep was mercifully undisturbed with visions of Qetsiyah or Amara (And, regretfully, of visions of Jeremy).

Unlike with her other past lives, she wasn't tempted to relive the particular one that had been preoccupying her dreams. The confusion Katherine had spurned within her and the wickedly tempting riddle that was Klaus had been provocation enough to recollect the lives she had lived with them.

With Silas… She held a healthy amount of fear and a certain amount of resentment towards him, yes, especially after he killed Jeremy. But Qetsiyah. Brilliant, formidable, malevolent witch that she was- she stirred a rather debilitating neurosis within Sophia.

As a result, the old soul didn't want to know more than she had to.

Malaise ennui had Sophia in its clutches. It was her fourth day at Hannah's, and she had rarely left the couch in all her time there. Whatever else happened in her dream with Jeremy, she felt wary in a way that hadn't occurred to her in a long while of reaching out to Klaus.

She could hardly stomach the food she ate under Hannah's watchful eyes, threatened with nausea if it wasn't something bland as toast or a dry cracker. She cried herself to sleep and woke with the tell of puffy eyes, her sleeping pattern not unlike that of a housecat.

Whatever, she thought languorously, it was better than being awake.

"Hailey," Sophia nodded in greeting that night as she opened Hannah's door.

The brunette stared at her with repentant eyes. "I tried to throw her off, I swear. She- she got to me not long after I met Shane, and I worked for her willingly enough at first, but when I got to Louisiana, she almost killed me- She would have if I didn't tell her what I knew about the cure."

Hailey had been Katherine's reluctant mole, the reason for how the 500 years old self-serving vampire knew of her friend's plans and whereabouts.

The young werewolf had gotten into contact with Hannah again after high tailing it out of Louisiana, paranoid Katherine wouldn't keep her word about letting her live. She had been right, of course, and luckily had managed to get into touch with one of Hannah's friends, a witch by the name of Poppy, just in time for her to burst the blood vessels of the vampire who had been sent to kill her. Hailey had taken the opportunity to finish him off with a stake. Now, she was back at Hannah's to recuperate.

"I don't blame you, Katherine's not one for idle threats" Sophia sighed later on, despondent on the couch.

"Still-" Hailey began.

"If it wasn't you it would have been someone else, and ultimately… Katherine got Jeremy killed." Jeremy being gone didn't feel real to Sophia, who half expected to find him when she returned to Mystic Falls, their home still intact.

Of course, her friends worried about her.

Well, to be frank, the Salvatore's had their hands full with Elena who was priority numero uno, and Bonnie seemed to be busy dealing with the aftermath of Shane and her own grief. So, Sophia didn't hear so much from them.

Matt checked in occasionally with texts, sweetheart that he was. And then there was Caroline.

"I'm okay Care," she had reassured one morning after Hannah force-fed her toast.

"When are you coming home?"

Sophia choked out a laugh, surprising herself. "You mean the one Elena burned down?"

Caroline stayed quiet for a few seconds. "I'm sorry. I can't believe Damon- Oh wait, I can," she remarked acidly.

Sophia nodded. "Speaking of, how is Elena?" That was appropriate of her to wonder about, wasn't it?

"Damon's trying the fun approach, trying to get her to let her guard down. Elena is being very-" Caroline huffed and sighed.

"I know what you mean." Brown eyes dispassionate as she dropped the flame that ignited their home, and all its innate warmth and ghosts of happier times.

"Anyhow, when he's not entertaining Elena, he's trying to track down Hailey."

Sophia raised an eyebrow. "What does he want with her?"

"Hailey," the blonde scorned, " was the one who told Katherine about the cure, and hopefully, she can tell us where she, and it, is."

Sophia nibbled at her pinky nail as her gaze drifted listlessly over to the young woman in question, who was currently snoring softly on Hannah's daybed.

With Hannah, who was a teaching assistant, essentially doing the professor's job and living and breathing research when she wasn't, Hayley and Sophia only saw the honey blonde in the morning and night. Throughout the day, they were left to their own devices.

"Hannah's been put into an uncomfortable position by both of us. The least you could do is not kill her plants with how pungent you smell," the wolf declared frankly as she tossed a bright pink loofah and a recently bought toothbrush bundled in a downy white towel onto Sophia. The old soul lowered her head to smell it, comforted by the familiar scent of fabric softener.

She ran her tongue over her teeth as she met Hailey's eyes, her brows furrowing at the plaque that had built up.

Had she really not showered since- since…

"And we're going out for a walk afterward, maybe get something to eat, whether you like it or not," the she-wolf said, domineeringly officious.

"You're right, I need a shower," Sophia admitted, her mouth downturned as she clutched the roll of towel to her. "But please, don't make me go out, I'm fine- It's fine in here."

Hailey sat at the edge of the coffee table across from Sophia, her eyes sympathetic."Look, it was actually Hannah's idea to- she asked me to try to get you to go out today, to get you to breath in some fresh air, stretch your legs. And I think she's right- If right now is too much too soon, let's try going out later tonight, alright?"

Hailey's idea of baby steps was sneaking into a dive bar a fifteen-minute walk from Hannah's apartment that evening.

"Excellent." Hailey's eyes lit up, reflecting green under the light of the neon sign declaring they were at "Ben's Bar", after spotting the white page of paper posted on the mirror across the dim-lit bar declaring mango margaritas were only four dollars.

"I'll take three to start with." Sophia feigned a smile at the dark-haired bartender who took their order, pretending not to notice how his eyes trailed over to her as he poured their drinks, and even more so throughout the night.

"He was cute," Hailey declared, a bounce in her step as they walked back over to Hannah's apartment. Werewolf metabolism really is something, thought Sophia, who had compulsively watched on as Hailey drank over ten margaritas, complaining about the lack of alcohol content (Sophia had stopped at six). "Like a teddy bear. Not my type, but for you…"

Sophia shook her head, amused. It had felt… nice- to be hit on by the baby-faced bartender who definitely did not look old enough to be employed to serve alcohol. Not that she and Hailey were in any position to point fingers (As it turned out, the she-wolf was only a year older than Sophia). For the first time in days, she had craved something other than toast and ate a greasy, cheesy, hamburger with flourish along with her drinks. Ben's Bar made some damn good comfort food.

She felt delightfully numb on the walk back to Hannah's, the alcohol and balmy night air unwinding her.

Sophia looked on as Hailey checked on her phone for the umpteenth time that day.

"Okay, what is it with you and your phone? Are you spying on me for Katherine? Because that- would actually track, more than anything else. My life is not what it used to be..." Sophia was grimly amused by the thought.

Hailey looked startled. "No! I'm finished with that bitch, I swear. Look- I wasn't sure if I should mention this because it was a… sensitive topic last time, but Klaus returned my call- from a few days ago."

Sophia tripped over her feet, and Hailey was quick to steady her.

"What- Why did you call-" Why do I care so much?

"During one of my… pettier moments, on the run from Katherine- I texted him an anonymous tip about the last time I saw her. I'm sure he wants more information on her- And, oh, there he goes again."

Sophia bit the inside of her cheek. The part of her that gravitated to Klaus has become dormant in all the calamity. They had both kept their distance since that initial phone call, and what followed was a curious sensation of him being out of sight, out of mind as she came to terms with Jeremy's death.

Now, just the sound of his name electrified her, brought her back to her darkroom, her pillow soft bed. The feel of his steady breathing, his body curled around hers. His disbelief as she told him she loved him. Why had she gone so long without talking to him?

"Can I answer?"

Hailey raised an eyebrow but nodded.

Sophia answered the call and raised the phone to her ear.

"Finally you answer, little wolf. I thought-"

"Nik?" Sophia asked, her voice a smidge too breathy. She cleared her throat, spying Hayley smirking at her from the corner of her eye.

"...Sophia? Where-?"

"I'm with Hailey, and- Well, obviously you know this is her phone. I'm assuming you wanted to ask about Katherine? Hailey hasn't a clue where she is, by the way." Sophia's words were clumsy, tripping off of her tongue.

"...Where are- Ah, what does she know, love?"

Sophia looked thoughtfully at her friend.

Hailey let out a breath and rolled her eyes, probably figuring it wouldn't do to be on Klaus's bad side. "Names. I can give you names of Katherine's lackeys," she offered loudly.

"Did you get that?" Sophia wondered.

"When are you returning home, sweetheart?"

"Didn't you hear? I don't have a home." Sophia let out an uneven breath, the thought sobering her all too quickly.

"I miss you Nik." She was alarmed at the truth behind her words, the relief of admitting them somehow lessening the heaviness she carried. "I'll be in touch soon with those names."

"Sophia-" she heard him call out faintly as she pulled the phone away from her ear, and hung up.

"The cute bartender wasn't your type either, I take it?"

The other night had been exactly what she needed to set her into motion again, along with the ingrained courtesies her parents had instilled in her kicking in after she managed to shrug off her desolate lethargy. Hailey had shared her plans to take off again soon, and Hannah's goodwill most definitely didn't deserve to be taken advantage of.

The next afternoon, after profusely thanking Hannah and asking Hailey to keep her updated, Sophia was on the road to Mystic Falls.

Not ready to reach out to any of her friends when she arrived, she drove around aimlessly through the picturesque streets that she knew like the back of her hand. She felt strangely untethered, with nothing to ground her. Her family, her friends… they had been a beautiful privilege. It was dizzying to think upon how good, how perfect everything had used to be.

Now, Jeremy was gone. He was- dead. Like Jenna, like their parents. Then there was Elena. Elena, who wasn't so much her sister anymore, but some bitch who broke her heart and burned down her home.

So. For all intents and purposes, Sophia was on her own. An orphan, with no family to speak of.

Maybe she should be more invested in getting her sister to turn her humanity back on, but she couldn't be bothered. It was all she could do to hold herself together. And hey, who's to say her sister wasn't better off this way. Sophia wondered if she would choose the same, to turn it off, if she had the option.

Elena was able to do this because she was a vampire. The implication momentarily disconcerted Sophia, who was only just realizing her sister could potentially go on for decades as being homicidally hedonistic if Caroline's accounts were anything to go by.

She had lost her siblings in one failed swoop. She was alone. There was no one to be accountable towards. The thought might have been freeing if she hadn't found it so depressing.

She was 18 years old, nearing 19, and finishing high school seemed a fanciful notion. Laughable, given the steep dive her grades had taken.

She could just keep on driving straight out of Mystic Falls, anywhere she wanted, and would only have Caroline and Bonnie to check in with and reassure.

Her heart panged. Well, that's not quite true, she was reminded. Blue eyes bleeding into yellow flashed in her mind.

Her car pulled before Klaus's ostentatious mansion. Nerves ate at her. She hadn't seen him since- since before. She had barely unbuckled her seatbelt when he was at her car door, his face reticent as he opened it for her.

"I told you I'd be in touch?" She greeted Klaus with an awkward smile as she stepped out. While the sight of him lifted her spirits plenty, she felt butterflies racing in her stomach as his worried gaze canvassed her person.

Clearing her throat, she was overtaken by a proper, full body yawn that had her stretching like a cat.

She blushed as Klaus's lips quirked at the corners, his eyes ever so slightly squinting at her. She felt exposed under his searching stare.

"I'd say a nap is in order, love."

Tired from hours on the road, Sophia agreed to a quick nap... Then proceeded to wake up, disoriented, over two hours later.

A simple note on the pillow beside her.

Make yourself at home, we'll have dinner when you awake.

-Nik

The lavish, cream-colored bedroom was adjoined to an equally lavish bathroom, fixed with towels and small toiletries, not unlike a hotel. Sophia spent about five minutes debating over whether she should shower, then reasoned it would be a brisk one.

Sophia was a girly girl. She loved bright florals, boots that gave her even more height and accenting jewelry. Her wardrobe had muted somewhat after her parent's death, and now, she was stuck with the bare minimum.

As she showered, she took a mental inventory of the clothes in her suitcase. Not that she would ever admit it out loud, but she didn't want to just wear her jeans and ragged hoodie to dinner with Klaus. Replace jeans with sweats, and that had essentially been her uniform for the past week.

With careful thought, she opted for a clinging, black cotton blouse and paired it with a silky, black skirt that fell just below her knees. The kind of skirt that childishly tempted her to spin in circles while wearing it, diverted by how it swirled around her legs. An old gift from Caroline, of course.

She had been aiming for simple and cute, but sylphlike yet witchy suited her as well.

Sophia avoided studying her body too closely through the mirror, as days of unintentionally starving herself had made her uncomfortably thin, and she resolved to work on upping her appetite.

As she adorned herself with a gold charm bracelet and a complimenting necklace, she questioned why she didn't wear all black more often. It was ridiculously flattering, and an all-too-appropriate color scheme. Her dark hair, which now fell below her collar bone, dried in waves as she quickly touched up her face with a compact and mascara out of habit. After doubling her rosé stained lipstick as a cream blush, she wrinkled her nose in the mirror and decided to stop there.

Sophia hummed nervously as she walked down the hallway she thought led to the living room when a painting caught her eye. She's never been one for art, really. Sophia didn't know the technical terms or how to pick up the subtle details that personified a painting. But it didn't take a duly educated connoisseur to admire the remarkable seaside landscape of an ocean storm. The haunting blend of aegean blue and pewter grey.

"It's the island Paros," a voice breathed in her ear.

Sophia curbed a shiver, and continued to stare at the painting."It's beautiful."

After a ridiculously decadent dinner, Sophia was mildly tipsy from the dry wine that was paired with it. Not her cup of tea, but it did the trick.

"I didn't- I wasn't expecting any of this when I showed up earlier."

"Oh?" Klaus raised an eyebrow. "And what were you expecting?"

Sophia stared at him contemplatively. "I- it wasn't- I'm not sure," she laughed.

He seemed to be lit from the inside as he stared across the table at her, doing this neat trick where he appeared to be completely smitten with her.

And it had to have been a trick because Sophia hadn't been particularly charming company. Her emotions no longer dormant under a blanket of enervation, she was a whirlwind of flustered turmoil who hadn't been able to have a decisive, clear thought since… Really, since Jeremy died and Elena abandoned her by turning off her humanity. And since then, Sophia hadn't been well. Far from it.

Instead of appropriately seeking refuge with friends who knew her and wanted to be there for her, she gravitated towards more anomalous confidants.

A too-kind, fellow old soul like herself and an erratic werewolf girl she barely knew.

And… Well, then there was Klaus.

And so Sophia found herself in what had to be Klaus's drawing room trying to admire his sketches and paintings. Trying being the operative word.

She held her breath as Klaus stood at her side, his elbow occasionally brushing against hers as he explained the inspirations behind his work, and she slowly lost all concept of personal space as she involuntarily drifted closer to him.

Honestly, she wasn't even paying that close of attention to what he was saying.

She felt like a live wire, her limbs impetuous and emotions unbridled. Being in his immediate proximity had her hands itching to pull him to her, to have a repeat performance of what happened in her living room so long ago.

Unfairly gorgeous even when dressed in a casual Henley and dark washed jeans, his expressions were endearingly animated as he discussed his love of painting. Oh no, Sophia thought, dismayed as she inhaled notes of his cologne. He smelled vaguely of earthy balsam and more distinctly of clean pine needle, triggering evocations of a dark and iridescent meadow.

"Sophia," he crooned, his eyes sparkling, "Have you heard a word I said?" He shifted his body completely to face her.

Sophia licked her lips as her eyes darted down to his own, thin and finely shaped.

"You left my bed without so much as a goodbye," she remembered, struck by his eyes, his shoulders, him.

Unable to help herself, she raised one hand to comb through his hair, shining gold in the lamplight. She missed his curls. As it was, his tamed-down waves suited him quite nicely.

He raised a hand to cup the nape of her neck, tantalizingly smoothing his thumb up and down.

"I thought it best to leave before you kicked me out yourself." He grinned wolfishly. "Leave you wanting more- or some such sentiment."

She forgot to breathe.

Who would kick him out of-

Nope. No. That did sound like something she would do.

Sophia looked down, avoiding his gaze as she used both of her hands to play with the beaded necklace he wore, resting her forearms against his chest as she leaned against him.

He loosely held onto her waist as he bowed his head, and she felt the artful scruff of his face against the skin of her neck. Sophia breathed in sharply as he teased and lightly kissed all the right spots. The entirety of her neck, really. He had discovered that rather quickly when she had been Sofija.

She raised a hand and scraped her nails sparsely along his scalp, then laced her fingers through golden locks, tugging his hair gingerly in an attempt to raise his head towards hers.

She heard a growl, low in his throat, and hastily grabbed onto his shoulders as his fingers locked firmly onto her hips, pulling her harshly to him. Sophia made an impatient noise as he kept his lips just out of reach, eyes dark and laughing.

Her eyes closed as she bridged the gap between them and took his bottom lip between her own, stubbornly keeping them compressed as his tongue playfully darted out, one of his hands bunching her skirt in its grip while the other rested on the small of her back.

Of course, her mouth fell open, her breath hitching as the hand at her back skimmed recklessly lower. After briefly kneading her, Klaus deftly lifted her up, his lips upturned as she pressed herself further into him. She instinctively hooked her legs around his waist as he coaxed her mouth with his.

Next she knew, she was beneath him on a grandiose bed. He had both of her wrists pinned above her head with one hand, the other massaging her waist beneath her shirt. Sophia felt rough kisses down her face, then the pinprick ends of fangs back at her neck, and tilted her head obligingly.

Klaus briefly raised his head, staring at her through burning, wolf-yellow eyes.

"Please Nik," she gasped.

A feral grin as he ducked his head and Sophia shut her eyes, exhilarated as she felt his teeth sink into her, finding pleasure even in the initial pain.

She saw gleaming silver stars as her eyes closed.

Klaus furrowed his eyebrows and shifted uncomfortably, the mossy wet ground beneath him seeping through his too- thin clothes. With a grumble, he opened his eyes.

Moonlight poked through the canopy of trees above him, the forest he woke up in lush and exuberant. At his side was Sophia, her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. The iris of her eyes ringed gold as she looked up at him. Trying to return the gesture, he found himself once again rendered mortal.

She smiled impishly. "There are not many merits to being a palia psychi, although I suppose being able to withstand your vampire manipulations is not nothing."

Klaus glared tenderly down at her. "How are you doing this?"

Letting out a tired sigh, she curled even more against him, her eyes closed. "Please stop trying to sift through my memories, Nik. They are locked away for good reason."

With an exhale, Klaus carefully rolled so that his body blanketed hers. Teasingly, she opened one dark eye, then both.

Cautious of his weight, he lifted a hand to graze his knuckles against the soft skin of her face, tracing her lips with his thumb. She seemed happy and whole in the confines of her mind, in a way she never quite was outside of it.

No, that wasn't outrightly true, the demons in him susurrated.

Sofija had always carried a spark of easy joy, even amidst the constant hardship that made up their mortal lives together. He assumed it was a disposition she inherited from her father Haldor, but now, he wondered if it was an innate trait shared in all her lives. And it either flourished or languished, depending on how she was nurtured. By all accounts, the Gilberts had nurtured it, and him being laughably ignorant, had nearly snuffed it to embers.

His eyes stinged, and he felt overwrought with something that another might mistake for remorse, his body burning and pyretic. He closed his eyes at the feel of her cool hands, one at the back of his neck and the other cupping his jaw.

"I love you," he whispered. Fevered and on edge, he repeated himself.

"I love you, I love you-"

Sophia laid dumbfounded on Klaus's bed when her eyes blinked open, pleasantly light headed as she tried- and failed- to sit up.

"Bloody hell love," Klaus cursed as he bit his wrist and held it over her mouth.

She clasped her hands over his forearm, allowing his blood to revitalize her. All too soon, Klaus pulled his arm away. In the next moment, he sat with his back propped against the mahogany bed frame. Sophia was settled in his lap facing him, her legs bent at the knee as they bracketed his waist.

Feeling ruminative- really, more dreamy than anything else, she didn't feel as offput as she maybe should have been at the amount of blood loss Klaus inflicted on her for the second time. She might've considered it a kink of his (it was on the fast track to becoming one of hers) if his eyes hadn't given away that it was a loss of control more than anything else.

"Do you mean to nearly drain me of all my blood-" Sophia trailed off as Klaus grasped her hands.

"No, little love, I didn't," he said roughly, looking at her with accusing eyes.

Sophia inclined her head. "Do you blame me-" She frowned as she tried to remember. There was no meadow this time, but a forest...

"You were trying to get into my head- to sort through my memories?"

Klaus looked charitably at her. "You don't remember?"

The forest- the first time she really saw him, and he ceased to be a stranger who lingered at the fringes of her world. Something- something important was eluding her.

The splash of his tears on her despite his best efforts, his voice low and thick...

"It gets foggier by the second, like a dream- but I remember you telling me something as I came to. You- you..." Love me. Sophia mouthed the words silently, the impact of them striking her like lightning.

Klaus hummed, eyes shying away from hers as he freed one of her hands in favor of tracing the indentations on her left palm.

"The first time, I meant to relive our wedding. Reaching into your mind- It was as if being taken in by the tides." His face turned puzzled, his eyes worried."I admit, this time I had more…intrusive intentions in mind, and nearly overfeeding from you- Knowing when to stop- It was as if I was losing direction-" Klaus eyed her dourly. "I admit, I've tried to poke into your head before- The only time I've succeeded is when-"

"When you feed on me," Sophia murmured thoughtfully.

Even though it nearly killed her, she found she didn't regret either occasion.

For one, she knew deep down (an ancient knowledge that was beyond her) that her mind was reasonably locked and bolted. Klaus wouldn't have been able to get anywhere near her inner psyche if it wasn't what she wanted, and it seemed blood had to be drawn to do so.

For another, it felt too damn good.

The intimacy of Klaus feeding from her made her feel warm inside, like glitter was exploding inside her. It sublimated her grief, and all the reasons they shouldn't be together withered away. She loved him and he loved her. What was so wrong about that?

With renewed urgency, Sophia took her hands from Klaus's in favor of wrapping her arms around his torso, crushing his lips with hers.

A muffle protest against her mouth. "Sophia?" He questioned, pulling away. Something within the neighborhood of concern clouded his eyes, deciding what to make of her fervor.

"Nik, I need you. I need you to-'' Make me forget. Make it go away.

Harrumphing in irritation, she slipped her hands underneath his shirt and began to work it off of him. His eyes glinted wickedly and his lips quirked as he finished the job, then he helped her own blouse off of her.

"Need me to what, sweetheart?" His voice was all rasp and gravel as one of his hands wound through her hair while the other looped around her waist as he dragged his nose along the curve of her cleavage.

In response, she grinded her hips against his, eliciting wolf-gold eyes.

Sophia woke up in bed that morning on her stomach, arms crossed underneath her head. Hannah's couch isn't this comfortable, she thought suspiciously. Belatedly, she felt a calloused hand splayed across her bare back.

Nik, she remembered as she opened her eyes. And there he was, still asleep on his side, facing her. Dread. Panic. These are probably the emotions this morning should inspire. Instead, she felt… content. Sated. As if a particularly frustrating itch had been scratched.

He looked so young, she observed in fascination. As she rolled off her stomach, carefully shrugging off Klaus's arm, she counterintuitively blushed at the state of her absolute nakedness, and averted her eyes from Klaus's.

It's nothing either of us haven't seen before, she told herself, remembering their wedding night as she shrugged on his discarded Henley. Right next to her panties, she noted gratefully, sitting at the edge of the bed as she shimmied into them.

Before she could shift her weight to stand up, Sophia yelped as a leanly muscled arm wrapped around her and effortlessly pulled her back into bed. She helplessly writhed and giggled as he nuzzled the crook of her neck, his fingers playfully tickling her along the curves of her hips.

"Working me blue, little love," Klaus purred into her ear, hugging her to him.

She winced as she shut the bathroom door behind her, her thighs salaciously sore. Sophia made a face at the mirror. She could very easily descend into a shame spiral right about now. Self- reproach twined around her. Sophia Gilbert had had sex with Klaus Mikaelson. A few times, for good measure. It had been at once avant-garde and thrilling, while also reassuringly old hat.

If the voices in her head had cared to tell her merely a year ago that this would happen, she would have said very interesting, now leave me alone.

Okay, deep breath. She was allowed a few lapses in judgment.

"Doing a bunk, sweetheart?" Sophia instinctively relaxed against Klaus as he hugged her from behind, wrapping one arm just above her breasts, his other arm enfolded right below them, effectively trapping her arms.

He had caught her packing up her suitcase. "Anything I can do to dissuade you, hmm?" Sophia bit back a sigh as he expertly bit her earlobe, his teeth bluntly human.

"Elena attacked Sheriff Forbes and nearly staked Caroline. Her and Stefan want a powwow, not to mention Caroline hasn't seen me for days. She'll wrangle a search party if I don't show up."

Klaus loosened his grip, and was silent as she turned to sit on the bed, her smile tinged with melancholy as she stared up at him. It might've been more of a grimace.

"Have you ever- As originals, can you and your siblings 'turn it off'?"

Klaus sat beside her, his thumb running small, soothing circles on her jean clad thigh. "I've never understood the appeal myself. The only one of the lot of us who bothered is Rebekah, and even she ceased to pay mind to that sort of recourse after her bicentennial- From what I gather, it's no longer an option after a certain age. A baby vampires' defense mechanism, if you will."

Sophia nodded pensively.

"And where are you meeting Miss Forbes this-" Klaus raised her palm to kiss the back of her hand, dimpling and wagging his eyebrows he did so,"- fine morning?"

A snort escaped Sophia as she grinned. "The boarding house, why?"

Klaus held up his cell, a text message on display. "Looks as if Stefan's invited me to the powwow."

Sophia never thought she would be in a position where she would have to reprove Klaus for being a doting and considerate… one night stand? Then again, there were lots of things she didn't think would come to pass.

"Okay, ground rules," she began rather bossily, "No more touching me- at all. No little loves, no meaningful looks. Absolutely no hinting about last night." Sophia flushed. And this morning. "As far as anyone knows, this morning at the boarding house is the first time we've seen each other since...since-"

A week.

Had it really been only a week since Jeremy- Since he…

"Pull over Sophia," Klaus prodded gently, helping her steer the wheel to pull off to the side of the road. Unbeknownst to her, her chest had been heaving in shallow breaths.

"Deep breaths- with me, Sophia… Excellent job, love," Klaus encouraged patiently. Sophia swiped at a stray tear that had fallen down on her cheek, focusing on steady breathing.

"This is what I mean," she said hoarsely. "None of this in front of Caroline. It's a dead giveaway, and even without any obvious hints, she has a bloodhound's nose for this sort of thing, and that was before she was a vampire."

It abjectly occurred to Sophia that Klaus could have very easily found her request and her paroxysm anxiety to hide what happened between them as a grave insult, as he was wont to do. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, she didn't let herself overthink his remarkable solicitude, how his caresses soothed her.

"As you wish, love," Klaus murmured.

Thanks to her setback, Klaus wouldn't let her kick him out of the car until she was a five minute drive away from the Salvatore's. It's better than arriving together, she told herself dryly as she parked.

She entered the front door with bated breath and wary eyes, the courtesy text from Stefan flashing in her mind, letting her know Damon had taken Elena on an impromptu road trip to New York.

"Hello- oof."

"You're here!" cheered Caroline as she gathered Sophia in a hug. The old soul immediately relaxed in her friend's arms as she hugged her back, letting her brightness wash over her.

"I missed you," Sophia whispered.

Caroline pulled back, taking Sophia by the hand into the den. Sophia surveyed her surroundings with wide eyes. The boarding house was trashed, an abundance of red plastic cups and mostly empty bottles of cheap liquor littered on every available surface. Clearly the leftover vestiges of a rager.

"You really need to introduce me to this Hannah with how often you visit her. Alright, casa Salvatore doesn't have much in the way of food, but I managed to scrounge up some pancakes and coffee." Caroline said, gesturing for Sophia to take a seat at the dining table, the only tidy surface in the room.

"Oh, Irish coffee," Sophia laughed approvingly after taking a gulp, despite her chest aching.

"Thanks Care," Sophia smiled limply, knowing her friend would register her guilt as grief.

Remorse churned in Sophia. She had spent the night in the arms with the person responsible for why Caroline (who deserved the world) couldn't be with her boyfriend. She might've thrown the coffee in her face had she known. Not to mention her sister-

"I'm so sorry about Elena, your mom. I mean- God, I didn't expect-"

"It's not your fault Sophie, it's Elena's." Caroline's laugh was brittle. "And it's not like I can blame her, as she's not exactly herself right now."

Despite her protest, Sophia helped Caroline clear up the house. Both in somber moods, she joined the blonde in finishing off the leftover drinks.

"Desperate times, I take it," Klaus greeted from behind their backs.

Caroline hedged beyond Sophia, narrowing her eyes at him. "Shouldn't you be out chasing Tyler to the ends of the earth? Or are there still some hopes and dreams you want to crush around here?" Caroline jabbed. Sophia's face clouded in guilt.

"Tyler's made it his life's mission to kill me," Klaus said to Caroline, then turned austere eyes onto Sophia. "You can't hate me for driving him away."

Okay, Sophia breathed. Klaus was being his usual haughty, ruthless self. Nothing amiss here.

Sophia decided to intervene after Caroline snapped back at the hybrid. "Maybe you should go-"

"Actually, I asked him to be here." All heads turned to Stefan, who entered the room.

Oh, right, she remembered dumbly.

"We need his help. I think Silas is in Mystic Falls."

Sophia swayed where she stood, her heart beating rapidly.

Tis not what you think, he loves me! And I him, a too-familiar voice reminded her.

She grasped onto Caroline's arm, determinedly avoiding Klaus's stare.

"So some blood went missing from a few hospitals," Klaus questioned as he poured a glass of what she thought was bourbon. "What about Elena, don't vampires with their humanity off tend to indulge in human blood? Or were you the exception?" He asked cynically. After Stefan assured him it wasn't Elena, Klaus questioned how Silas's whereabouts affected him as he sat on the couch across from Sophia.

As Stefan gave Klaus the rundown of the catch 22 predicament Qetsiyah left Silas to grapple with, Sophia marveled at how Klaus hadn't heard this story before.

"How Shakespearean," he sniped with a smile, sipping at his drink.

"But if Silas destroys the other side altogether," Stefan spelled out, "He can take the cure, die, and pass on. But in destroying it, every dead supernatural being will return to our side."

"My interest is piqued," Klaus admitted blithely, "How do we stop him?"

"Bonnie said Silas needs to complete three massacres to complete the spell," explained Stefan. Silas was already two for two, Sophia contemplated grimly. One left to go.

After establishing that Silas's primary goal was to organize that last massacre, they all agreed that Shane's office would give them the best clue.

Caroline looked at her with sorry eyes. "Sophie, I hate to use this against you, but we're running against a clock. You- you could slow us down-"

"I'm going with you guys. I'll take a separate car if I have to, but listen, I might- I might be able to catch something that you don't."

Caroline raised her eyebrows, Stefan and Klaus exchanged a glance.

"What do you know, love?" encouraged Klaus.

Sophia blanched, her hands clammy. Whether it was for not sharing this sooner, or for having to tell them now, she didn't know. Most likely both. Either way, Silas being here changed things, and she no longer had the luxury of mincing words.

"Err, okay. So, sometimes I get dreams that are memories of past lives, but they don't really give me the full picture. Just- snippets. And lately those dreams have been about another life where I was Qetisyah's handmaiden and Amara was my best friend. I haven't seen Silas yet, but from what I gather, I've met him."

Charged stares from all the vampires in the room.

"Wait- whose Amara?" asked Caroline.

Sophia furrowed her eyebrows, realizing that while Amara had been a focal point in her dreams, her friends didn't know her name from atom. Who she was to Silas.

"Amara was-" My best friend. My sister."Another handmaiden, and the one true love of Qetsiyah's fiance, Silas."

Lost in the details of Silas and Qetsiyah, Sophia honestly forgot to mention how Amara was the mirror image of Elena.

"I just- how could you not tell us about any of this. You've been keeping so much to yourself-" Stefan interrupted the beginnings of a Caroline harangue.

In a more calm tone, he asked "I think what Caroline is trying to say- why keep this all to yourself?"

Sophia spared a glance at Klaus, who sat in Shane's swivel- type office chair, his expression hieroglyphic, then turned back to Stefan, who was by far the easiest person in the room to address.

Sophia raised her hands, gesturing wildly as talked. "Honestly, 70% percent of the reason I didn't want to go after the cure was because my instincts were telling me it was a horrible idea. My dreams were the other 30%, and they are sporadic and not really very informative. I mean, I don't even know what Silas looks like!" Sophia took a beat to lower her voice from its higher octave. "I knew that if I came to you guys with my doomsday vibes and threadbare dreams- at best, you might have pretended to consider them. But- and not unlike what actually happened- my concerns would have ultimately been shrugged aside. Can you tell me otherwise?"

A fraught silence abounded.

Caroline was the one to break it. "Is this what you dreamed about during- during the sleepover?"

Sophia turned back to the bookshelf she was working through as she answered. "I'm pretty sure Shane got Bonnie to spike me with a distorted version of the tea she's made for me to relive other lives, so the experience wasn't as... comprehensive. I did learn that I was reborn towards the end of the fall of the Incan empire, where Kol saved me from being sacrificed by Silas fanatics. I thought he might be helpful in getting you guys to call off the search but- well, you all know how that turned out."

Wanting to change the subject, Sophia addressed Stefan again. "Any word from Damon about Elena?"

Stefan eyed her with some disbelief. "Did you say Incan-" His thought was cut off.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Klaus eyeing her illegibly, then turning his attention to Stefan, mockingly jovial.

"Brilliant idea, that. Damon is probably relishing in Elena's emotionless company in New York." Klaus taunted.

"Damon knows what he's doing," the younger vampire defended.

"Does he? Don't underestimate the allure of darkness Stefan. Even the purest hearts are drawn to it." Sophia suppressed a sardonic smile at Klaus's twisted, but not unfounded, words of wisdom. In his own way, this was him being helpful. Or throwing Stefan's poor choices in his face, could be either one.

"Still, I'm sure it will all be fine," concluded Klaus as Sophia leafed through a book that might actually be of use.

"I found something," she announced.

Thanks to a tip from Bonnie's dad, and the coordinates of where the next massacre should take place in order to complete an expression triangle, they had a decent idea of where Silas might be. Apparently, he had been masquerading as Shane in order to manipulate Bonnie.

They also learned that Bonnie had asked her mom to call upon help from a coven of witches to help her forsake Expression. Twelve witches.

"Are you sure this is the right way? Are you reading the map right?"

"I know how to read a map, love, my friend Magellen taught me," Klaus remarked as she trailed behind him through the woods. Nervous at the thought of Silas watching them, lurking in the darkness, the forest seemed even eerier to trek through that night.

Sophia scoffed. "Name dropper. Was Magellen drawn to your darkness as well?" she asked loftily.

"I was referring to Damon and Elena when I said that. Has it struck a chord with you?" Klaus teased. Sophia had been looking at the ground as she walked, wanting to avoid tripping.

"Is that why you think I am drawn to you?"She was startled to walk into a chest, and lifted her head to meet Klaus's dusky eyes.

"Are you telling me that your attraction to me doesn't come from how someone who's capable of doing terrible things for some reason cares only about you." He spoke coarsely, his eyes burrowing into her. Challenging her.

Sophia repressed a full body shiver, and cocked her head slightly as she gave weight to his inquiry. It was a rather loaded question.

"Nik, I fell thoroughly in love with an equally besotted, sweet, illiterate village boy- and you wear his face. That combined with your inexplicable affection for me despite the terrible things you do- I'll admit, it has its appeal." Sophia summed up as she shrugged helplessly, uncomfortable with his query.

She was subject to the most inopportune arousement as he caged her with his arms against a tree, eyes heady.

She looked sternly at him. "Silas is this close to completing the triangle, we need to find Bonnie."

He eased away, lips twitching. "We're here. Although judging by the lack of witches, here is the incorrect location."

Sophia dizzily latched on to Klaus's arm as he set her down. He had had to hold her as he ran them to the correct location. The vertigo caused by the vampire speed made her see double. She let go of Klaus, staring on in horror as a circle of chanting witches surrounded a thrashing Bonnie who was screaming in pain. A lone witch was in the center with Bonnie, holding her down. Torches lit with growing flames appropriately set the scene.

Sophia heard Klaus and Stefan clashing behind her.

"They're linked- Bonnie's going to kill them," gasped Stefan.

"Not if the witches kill her first," declared Klaus.

"Nik, we need to save her," Sophia pleaded as she looked over her shoulder, taking in how Klaus was keeping Stefan pinned back.

"The only way to stop the witches is to kill them, and then Silas gets what he wants," Klaus said callously, matter of factly, his eyes on Stefan.

Sophia edged closer to the circle of witches, and thought she may have seen Caroline across it.

They took off at the same time, the witch aside Bonnie batting off Caroline with magical ease, colliding her with Klaus who had set out to grab Sophia. (The old soul wouldn't learn the particulars until much later.)

Sophia sprinted with pitiful human speed and tackled the distracted center witch, landing roughly on her back after the initial collision.

She turned her head and stared at the fallen, curly-haired witch she pushed aside with benumbed eyes. Her ambush has caused the women's head to become impaled upon a jagged, stone concreation. Granules of thick blood colored the fringes of the laceration.

Sophia timidly sat up, staring around her in mute terror as one by one, the witches that circled them collapsed to the ground, the fire blown out with them. Then Bonnie came into focus, and Sophia scrambled to her, on her knees beside her friend.

"Bon-" Sophia cried out in pain, clutching her head as she bowed it to the dirt floor. Prompt, deafening agony subjugated her body. A hint, a murmur, of things to come.

Swifty it had come, and slowly the pain subsided.

"Sophia-"

Sophia blinked up at Klaus, not quite seeing him, with wolf-yellow eyes.

Sophia's eyes remained gilded as she openly clung to Klaus, the wolf in her demanding and addled.

Twelve secret graves for twelve dead witches. Twelve women who she killed. She hadn't meant to.

"I couldn't let Bonnie die," she repeated brokenly.

Caroline's insistence that she needed to rest and Klaus agreeing, volunteering to stay behind to ensure there would be no evidence to be found.

She dreamed of running, wild and unfettered, under the full moon.

The wolf in her had only been allowed only a handful, before being tucked away with shadowed memories. Perhaps in suspension, but everwatching.

She remembered Niklaus. She had chosen him.

"How are you a- Do you think either of your parents had the gene? Or maybe your mom had an affair with Mayor-"

"Caroline I'm begging you not to finish that thought," Sophia pleaded."No, I don't think either of my parents had the gene. I was a wolf in a past life when I was married to- to Klaus. And I think that I was somehow reborn with the gene?" The old soul wasn't so sure herself.

"You were a wolf." The blonde smiled tightly. "Is there anything else that you haven't- You know what, never mind." The fair-haired vampire had returned Sophia to the Salvatore boarding house sometime late last night, and the old soul had slept in until noon.

"Have you seen my phone?" Sophia wondered, sipping water. It had only been an hour since she woke up, and she had done her best to hide this debilitating yearning to see Klaus.

Why hasn't he checked on me?

Sophie mentally swotted at the pesky thought, the clinging possessiveness that fueled it.

I killed twelve people last night, Sophia had recalled acutely when she had woken up. She had fallen into spasms at the memory, tormented that such a thing truly happened. That it wasn't a bad dream.

It was an accident, and you saved Bonnie. I would have done the same. I tried to-

Caroline's consoling words flitted through her mind. The baby vampire was currently doing her best to avoid Sophia's gaze.

"I put your phone somewhere around here-"

"What aren't you telling me Caroline?"

"You- you needed rest! To sleep and eat and just be. And Klaus," Caroline said contemptuously, "Has been calling you and texting you non-stop since this morning, wanting you to go to him. Sophie- last night, I couldn't get through to you after… You would only listen to Klaus- he had this weird hold on you, and your backstory of being a wolf when you first knew him is filling in a lot of blanks. I just knew if you had your phone, you would go to him- And frankly, I'm happy I managed to put you off until now."

Caroline grabbed her phone from a bookshelf, grumbling under her breath as she handed it to Sophia. "Honestly, I'm surprised he hadn't come to you."

Earlier that morning, Klaus had stared satisfactorily at the unmarked graves he had had to dig himself. As a result, no would be the wiser. Now, Sophia. He should have kept a better eye on her, but he never would have predicted she would- That she still was-

His wolf craved her, want boiling his blood. And her wolf unabashedly coveted him.

Ancillary, he found himself detesting how he hadn't cared better for the doppelgangers blood, and that Sophia would be subject to the torture of turning every full moon.

Klaus felt eyes on him as he tossed the shovel aside, his mouth falling open at the unexpectedness. Behind him, Silas in sheep's clothing. He continued to mask himself as the professor. The ancient vampire raised his lips curiously at the rival, immemorial evil.

"Thank you," Silas said gravely. "Of the three massacres, this is the one I was dreading."

"Silas I presume."

He inquired about the whereabouts of the cure.

Klaus patted his torso. "I'm sorry mate, I don't have it."

Shane's eyes glinted knowingly. "But you know who does."

"You know, you don't scare me Silas, or Shane or- whoever you are," Klaus let be known as he refused procuring the cure for the fellow immortal.

"I think I know what does," Silas said matter of factly, unsheathing the white oak dagger from his coat pocket.

Rebekah, Klaus cursed in his head. His lips curled cruelly as he rushed at Silas, who seemed to disappear into thin air.

Not an ideal party trick-

Klaus yelled in pain, falling to his knees as the white oak stake was plunged into his back, only just missing his heart.

"Don't worry," Silas assured cruelly against Klaus's ear, "I missed by an inch. I'm not trying to kill you, not just yet." He snapped the stake, leaving enough lethally embedded in him.

"Just a little something to remember me by. I'll be in touch." Silas clapped Klaus on the shoulder, then began to stroll away. "I never would have imagined Sofia doubling down on the 'big bad' evil type. That was a plot twist," he laughed.

The sheer layer of sweat on Klaus's torso made it all the more difficult to pry the dispersed splinters still in his back.

He was risking lodging them into his heart himself, the pain of it all making him lose control of his movements. He considered regretting throwing his phone out the window after Caroline had messaged him, informing him Sophia was still asleep and to not bother her.

The newly risen wolf was the only being he trusted to help him. His entire body suffering, even his ears stinging, he didn't notice until she was right before him that Sophia must've received his calls after all.

"Klaus what's-" she stopped herself, eyes widening in concern at the sight of him. "What happened to you?" The barest hint of relief coursed through him.

"Silas, he attacked me." Guttural despair imbued his voice. "He stabbed me with the white oak stake," Klaus rasped as Sophia took measured steps, surprise twisting her features. "Pieces of it are still inside me."

"Nik, that can kill you," Sophia worried.

Klaus barked a laugh as he latched onto an antique escritoire before her. "Well, I certainly feel like I'm dying."

"Hey," Sophia whispered as she lifted her hands to cup his face. Klaus was mesmerized by the unconstrained worry in her eyes. "As much as I would love to watch you die," her voice lowered sinisterly as she looked imperiously down at him, "- You still haven't found me that cure."

"Silas," Klaus roared as he fell away from her.

"That right," Sophia's face sang. "Last night I looked like Shane, today I look like Sophia- tomorrow, who knows?"

"Show me your real face," Klaus demanded. Then he shuddered, flinching in fear as Silas stepped closer to him.

"Wait," a twin voice called out. Sophia.

The creature masquerading as her visibly perked up, pleased as it stared down at Klaus. Then it turned to face her.

"Leave! Get out of here," he yelled distraughtly as Sophia entered the room.

"Silas!" Sophia heard Klaus yell as she made her way down the long hallway. Instead of her usual anxiety, a cautious fury sparked within her. As she stalked closer she heard a voice, eerily holding the same cadence as her own, croon to him. "That's right…"

Paranoia filled Sophia as she learned that Silas could appear as anyone he wished to be. Anger and fear entwined within her as she was able to take in the room.

Klaus cowering, huddled on the floor before her. No, not her. Silas.

"Wait," she called out, hoping to turn his attention to her. It worked. She hadn't thought this far ahead.

"Leave! Get out of here!" Klaus bellowed.

Sophia's eyes stayed on Silas, glued in place as she turned towards her, smiling wryly.

Silas clearly did his research, as he was an exact replica of Sophia, right down to the last strand of hair. Even their outfits were on point.

"Not fun, is it? To have bizarre carbon copies of yourself running amuck. Not a fan of it myself," Sophia saw herself comment disdainfully.

Sophia tilted her head, Silas's sentiment striking a chord in her. A missing puzzle piece.

"What do you want from Niklaus?" Sophia asked haltingly. She frowned as a slow smile spread across on her face. Dangerous. Amused.

"All the shit you gave Amara for falling in love with me, and that's who you pledged your immortal soul to. Not that you had much of a choice." Silas rolled her eyes in Klaus's direction. "I mean, I suppose I wouldn't kick him out of bed, he certainly makes the most of his Aryan good looks."

Sophia shook her head at the turn this conversation took, still stuck on the previous comment.

"Amara was a doppelganger too, wasn't she-" Sophia stopped as Silas twisted her features into a sneer, lips curled vindictively.

"Amara was the first. Every woman who's worn her face since are gaudy, negligible shadow selves."

"Sophia-" Klaus rasped as he struggled to his feet.

"Excuse me," Silas hedged bitchily, "I'm catching up with an old friend here." Silas manifested a fractured white oak stake and waved it threateningly to Klaus, then disappearing before Sophia's eyes. In less than a second, Silas was now behind the hybrid, kicking him back down. "You'll stay quiet unless you want me to speed this process up."

Klaus collapsed to the floor with a groan.

Sophia hurried to him, falling to her knees beside him, and pulled his head onto her lap.

"Aren't you two sweet? Tell me, Sophia, how can you so lovingly caress the man who's killed," a sudden shift in cadence, "your beloved aunt."

Sophia snapped her head up, lips curling up in a snarl of her own as she stared into Jenna's hazel eyes. She felt her wolf rise to the surface.

Jenna's reddish-blonde hair flowed loosely. Silas haughtily flipped it as he took a seat on the couch. "I know it's not nice to say, but if we're being honest here, Aunt Jenna played favorites. More of an older sister to you than a parental figure. You were clearly her favorite Gilbert of the bunch and you adored her." Jenna's eyes flickered to Klaus. "And he killed her for no discernible reason, other than just because he could." Hazel eyes narrowed balefully. "Has he ever told you he's sorry? That he would take it back if he could?"

Klaus growled, his body curling in pain. Sophia felt nauseous, her hand stilling in his sweat-soaked hair.

"I thought not- You know, I really do consider you an old friend, Sophie." Silas as Jenna smiled conspiratorially. "We're both of old magic, we both loved Amara. You've suffered almost as much as I at the hands of Qetsiyah's lunacy-"

The wolf faded away under a thick fog of grief. "We're not friends and I don't want your help. You killed Jeremy!"

Silas waved away her anger with Jenna's hand. A 'pfft, you're still upset about that'.

Sophia vaguely noticed Klaus struggling to turn on his side, and helped to steady him.

Silas paid no mind."Killing Jeremy was a necessary evil, and thanks to you, the expression triangle is completed. You'll see him again in no time. Moving on, I have to say-" Silas raised Jenna's hands, shaping her thin fingers before him, fixing her index fingers and thumbs into a square shape, closing one eye as the other peeked through the makeshift quadrilateral. "- its fascinating how the law of surprise transcends Sophia's multiple lives, really, you'd two make a riveting case study-"

Klaus hissed. "A fools wives tale-"

"Quiet Mikaelson, you might learn a thing or two," Silas deadpanned. "It's a legitimate magical law with a very distinctive magical signature." Silas dropped Jenna's arms. "Archaic and cumbersome, not unlike marriage," the immortal mused.

"Then why did it take a thousand years for us to find each other, only crossing paths once before-" Sophia's voice cracked. She didn't know why she thought she could speak so freely with Silas.

Silas clicked Jenna's tongue. "Yeah, Qetsiyah's hex screwed you over big time. My sympathies, sincerely- Makes me even want to root for you two kids, so I'm gonna level with your hybrid."

Silas stood up from the couch and walked over to Sophia and Klaus, stake in hand. The old soul felt Klaus quaver and shake in her arms. Silas bent Jenna's knee to the floor, crouching only inches away from the pair.

He spoke prosaically, if a bit wry, as he met Klaus's eyes."Murdering Aunt Jenna" Silas gestured to himself and tsked, then continued on. "You sacrificing the shadow self, sentencing her best friend to death on multiple occasions... nearly all of your nefarious acts against her loved ones, really- And somehow, Sophia's willing to look past all that. All of your macabre and unspeakable means that happened in between that you felt justified the ends," Silas cupped Jenna's hand around her mouth, and mock whispered "-That Sophie knows about, anyhow-" Silas dropped the hand and shrugged indifferently. "- somehow aren't deal-breakers. You've convinced yourself the heart wants what it wants when the only logical explanation is that she is unjustly tied to you. It wasn't her choice, it's supernatural Stockholm syndrome-"

"Shut up!" Sophia snapped.

Angry. Riled. Infuriated that Silas chose to walk and talk as Jenna, heartbroken and contrite over seeing her aunt's face- lively and animated. It knocked the wind out of her.

Killing Elena, attacking Caroline, terrorizing Tyler, sending hybrids after Jeremy… All his grisly, ineffable sins.

That night rose to the surface

Sophia, seventeen and anguished. Why wouldn't you trade me for Jenna?

And Klaus, haughty and corrosive. I don't take orders from humans.

Sophia stared down at him and plainly scared blue jeweled eyes stared back up at her.

Had she been better off with Klaus indifferent to her? Would him finding her- recognizing but still rejecting her… Even with the law of surprise in play, would she have been able to let him go? Did she have a choice? Sophia thought of her own confession to Caroline. To Jeremy? The devastating, dangerous truth revealed in Silas's mordant, perceptive words.

I don't care what he's done.

She was in love with Klaus, he was it for her.

But he had unflinchingly killed Jenna, and if both those things could be true, then she must be... broken. Irreparably so- why else would she gravitate to him like she did?

Sophia waited a thousand years to see him again, at one point the two of them ships passing in the night. Perhaps seeing Jenna needlessly killed to be sacrificed by Nik had driven her to madness. The pressure of carrying multiple lifetimes within one consciousness had just been icing on the cake.

Jenna's face smiled, self-satisfied and smug. A cat that ate the canary. It nagged at Sophia, and something else the immortal said came back to her. "What is Qetsiyah's hex? What did she do to me?"

"A change of scenery is in order for me to tell you that," Silas raised an expectant eyebrow, standing up.

Sophia encouraged Klaus to sit up, helping him to sit against the wall behind them. She placed a lingering kiss on his temple. "Take my phone, and call Caroline. Ask her, as a favor to me, to help you. Please, say please-"

His hand wrapped around her wrist, ironclad. "Don't go," he demanded.

"Ah ah ah, hybrid. Let her go," Silas ordered.

He had her drive out to The Falls, unsettlingly staying in Jenna's form all the while.

"Ah geez, I didn't point out anything you weren't already aware of y'know. Under this Gilbert girl window dressing, you're a two thousand-year-old soul. So you're tethered to your ruthless immortal paramour? That can only work to your benefit with how wrapped around your finger he is."

Sophia stayed silent. Going away with the bad guy so he could show her something was always a bad idea, but the way she saw it, she had little choice. Klaus needed that white oak pulled out of him and Silas clearly wanted something from Sophia. This way, hopefully, Klaus had recruited Caroline to help, and she could figure out what Silas wanted.

She kept her eyes straight ahead of her as she drove, then pulled up her car as she parked.

"Why here?" she asked as they walked over to the bridge overlooking the torrent waterfall.

Silas continued to enjoy the sound of his- well, Jenna's voice. He was comfortably glib and far too loquacious."Have you considered that that story you tell yourself- that you chose him- is just that. A story. A way to cope with this paternalistic connection to the guy your father inadvertently stuck you with. I imagine being shackled to Amara's shadow selves for over a millennia drove you just the tiniest bit manic, and in an attempt to rebel against what Qetsiyah had done to you, you decided to make the best of it. I mean, hey, the hybrid is certainly sweet on you and my god, those Mikaelson genes. Any poor, unsuspecting soul would tell herself she was in love."

"We came here so you can tell me what exactly Qetsiyah's done to me- so talk about that."

Sophia was shaking, and it didn't entirely have to do with Silas's needling. She hadn't been back here since she visited Mai's grave and her own. Unwillingly, the immortal's words spun in her head. That the law of surprise hadn't given her much of a choice, and as a result…

Sophia was barely able to react as Silas grabbed her hand, hastily slicing her palm with a sharp nail, drawing bright red blood, then doing the same to Jenna's. Her vision dimmed, and Jenna's face became unfocused. Silas caught her as she fell, gently bringing her to the ground as he held their wounded hands together.

"Your blood, that mental barrier of yours- it really is something and Qetsiyah knew it. Sorry for all the inner angst I had to throw at you and to bring you back to such a painful memory- needed to weaken that palia psychi barricade if I'm going to figure out the particulars of the spell the vindictive bitch used to create the otherside-"

It became harder to hear what he was saying as Sophia lost consciousness.

"I thought we were friends, Sofia. That I could trust you- count on you. As far as I'm concerned, you're just as bad as the whore herself. Keeping your mouth closed as I painstakingly made an entire garden for my wedding- As I forgathered unspeakable ingredients to make the immortality elixir. You love the little wench so much- Fine."

Sofia laid on her back in a tent far off in the wilderness where no one could hear her scream- if she had been able to scream. Qetsiyah's magic kept her bound and silent, yet awake and perfectly alert. Amara had been made unconscious, thrown to a corner.

"I know the truth of your blood- you're descended from the old gods themselves, and personally blessed by Persephone. That'll go a long way for my retribution for Silas. But, oh," The young witch looked disdainfully at Amara. "One thing to take care of first."

Amara was forced awake, crying as Qetsiayh forced her to kneel beside the still paralyzed Sofia. The handmaiden was forced to slice a dagger through both her own and Sofia's palms, and held them together as Qetsiyah chanted.

Unease flooded Sophia, the magic in her blood growing anarchic, causing her skin to burn.

"That ought to do it," the witch sniffed as she forced Amara to slam against the tent wall again, pinning her there. She sat with her legs folded under her near Sofia's head. "An elder warned me against making the damned immortality elixir, something of offending the deities and irreversibly altering nature. She saw generations of shadow selves- born as a way for nature to keep harmony- and I've binded you to Amara's. You'll be stuck with her face for the rest of your lives, a constant reminder at the back of your mind of your treachery," the witch derided.

Sophia fought for breath as Qetsiayh used the dagger Amara dropped to slash her wrists, then propping them so that her blood pooled into clean basin's.

"Now the fun part-" The witch smiled menacingly as she ripped Sofia's dress open, carving a bloody X over her bare chest, right where her heart beat.

Sofia silently wailed, her vision blurred by tears. "If I am to make a personal hell for Silas, an innocent heart from the spawn of fey is needed. Rare indeed that a nymph stumbled upon our village heavy with child. As this is your first life, for the spell's sake, you are innocent enough."

Sofia's first death was a butchering, hellish and torturous.

It had been unnatural, what Qetisiyah had done, defying nature as she did.

"Absolutely no agency. First Qetsiyah screws you over, then the customs of your backwards wolf tribe," she heard a voice mutter.

Sophia woke up curved in the fetal position. She flinched as she regained consciousness- her clothes soaked in blood. Blinking rapidly, she shook her head, realizing they were perfectly clean. She tentatively felt her chest, sighing in relief at the lack of an open wound.

"No," she whimpered helplessly as Jenna tried to help her up. No, wait, not Jenna. Nik.

"I've got you, love," he murmured as he cradled her, carrying her to the car and settling her into the passenger seat. She didn't question him as he drove over to a hospital and was compliant as he led her through the various hallways. After she was placed in a private room, she eyed the needles an orderly had stationed near her warily.

"I need your blood Sofia," Niklaus said softly as he stroked her hair. "I thought I might, needed to make sure. Don't want anything going wrong at the last minute."

Sophia frowned, not knowing what on earth he was talking about. With Nik holding her hand, she was docile as a nurse began to draw blood, watching morosely as it collected in the clear bag.

"You're really not all that special, are you sweetheart?" Nik said, dizzyingly indifferent as the nurse replaced a full blood bag with an empty one. Letting go of her hand, he continued on."And I'm stuck with you since I made the poor choice to rescue your father when I was a dull-witted child. Perhaps Qetsiyah's curse worked in my favor, keeping you from ruining my fun throughout the centuries."

Sophia recoiled away from him, stung, not understanding why he was saying these things.

"Be honest with yourself, Sophia. I took advantage of you. You're sad, you're grieving. Once you're in your right mind, or your brother returns, whichever happens first, we'll suddenly begin to feel so, so wrong- and not in a fun way." Sophia shrank as he leaned closer towards her. "I'm a beast, a monster. Everything I've done to your family alone, you certainly must be broken to somehow still fancy yourself in love with me." He smiled coldly. "I killed Jenna, Elena, nearly offed Jeremy myself, and I'm not sorry about any of it. You're confused, not in your right mind-"

"Stop it Nik! Stop- just stop!" Sophia demanded sluggishly. She was infuriated and- woozy.

"I suppose I can't be too careful- Maybe another, in case something happens to the first two," Nik requested of the nurse as Sophia shut her eyes, tired and weakened.

Insidiously harrowed by faces of the woman she considered a sister over the next millennia had driven her spirit rather neurotic. Face after face after face, Sofia drawn to them time and time again. No freedom, no escape from them.

Sophia blinked awake on a comfy, expansive bed. The soft lamp lighting in the dark bedroom was much more preferable to the harsh fluorescents of the hospital. Sitting at a desk in the corner of the unfamiliar room- Caroline.

Orderly, reliable, lovely Caroline. "What happened?" Sophia croaked.

"Oh Sophie," Caroline sighed as she stood, then walked over and sat next to Sophia on the bed. "You left with Silas and Klaus tracked you down at the hospital in town, half drained of your blood- he healed you." The blonde looked at her fearfully. "Silas only made Klaus think he was daggered, the splinters disappeared and he was perfectly fine not long after I got there."

Sophia shook her head, inexplicably miserable. "But Nik-" Sophia froze, feeling as if someone were sitting on her chest. Her breathing grew short as she remembered...

Amara slicing her palm, Qetsiyah draining her of her blood- being awake and alive as Qetsiyah sliced her open.

Sophia brought up her knees, hugging her head to them. She thought of how numb she was after she woke up and blindly trusting Klaus to take care of her. Klaus- no- Silas? Cruel and uncaring at her bedside.

Everything I've done to your family alone, you must certainly be broken-

"Where are we?" Sophia mumbled against her legs.

"In one of Klaus's many bedrooms- he insisted on bringing you back here-"

Sophia immediately sat up, moving to get off the bed. "I need to leave now. We need to leave."

"Sophie, wait-" Caroline said as Sophia scrambled to find her shoes. Barefoot it was.

"Please before-" Sophia watched with wide eyes as Klaus entered the room.

"Sophia," he breathed as he walked in, hesitating as she backed away from him, eyes wet with tears as she held out her hands before her as if to ward him off.

Amara. Elena. .

Nik when he first saw her cousin Tatia, at once smitten. The Lord Niklaus courting Katherine, playing the part of the besotted suitor. And then Klaus, toying with Elena, centuries' worth of scheming coming into play as he finally had the means to remove the curse his mother had placed on him.

All the countless shadow selves. All inheriting Amara's grace and beauty, at once captivating and repulsive. She didn't choose to be binded to them. Sophia focused her head as she met Klaus's gaze. She didn't choose him and he didn't choose her. They were bound together by destiny- whatever that meant. There was no agency- no choice. Had it been the law of surprise that stirred their feelings- pulled their memories close to the surface, drawing them together all this time later.

Realizing her hands were shaking, Sophia folded her arms to her, digging her nails into skin as she tried to alleviate the sensation of prickling. Looking at him made her stomach hurt.

"I need to go, Niklaus," Sophia said tremulously. She thought her heart might beat out of her chest. She had been trying to breathe deeply, but her chest rose and fell at a rather alarming rate, her head becoming fuzzy.

She stumbled as she tried to walk around him, trying to exit the room. Suddenly, a slim arm around her waist- steadying her.

"It's okay Sophie- Please, slow down your breaths. We'll leave now, okay?" Caroline said, her voice carefully modulated.

"What did he do- What did he say!" Klaus sounded strangled as stepped towards her.

"Back off," gritted Caroline. "Can't you see she's…" Sophia saw from the corner of her eyes as her friend nodded her head meaningfully at Sophia, then looked warningly at Klaus. He met Sophia's anxious gaze, the frenzy in his eyes rapidly calming as he assessed her.

"Very well," agreed Klaus, giving them a wide berth as he nodded for them to exit the room.

"Love, please, talk to me." A quiet voice begged.

It was the next morning, and Sophia had been lying lifelessly sprawled on the Salvatores couch near the fireplace, staring into oblivion. The sound of Klaus's voice startled her and made her uncomfortably alert. She hadn't even seen him come in. He must've entered from the back.

"I need- I need space, Nik."

"Space?" Klaus asked flatly. He had knelt with his knee to the floor in front of where her head was resting on a couch cushion. Sophia cowered and shrinked away from him, remembering as he stroked her hair while the tranquil nurse took her blood-

No, that was Silas, she thought she remembered, still uncertain. (Was that what Klaus had put Elena through?)

Sophia turned to meet his eyes.

Perhaps Qetsiyah's curse worked in my favor…

"What happened between us was a mistake," she muttered, more so to herself than to him.

You're sad, you're grieving. I took advantage of you.

"Sophia," he breathed warningly. She sat up, staring regretfully at him.

"Silas was right," she bit out. "The law of surprise draws us together and we don't get much of a say in the matter. It's destiny- it's inescapable," She laughed darkly. "You're one of the most powerful creatures on the planet and I really don't see how you've benefited from all this. Given the way you deal with problems, I suppose I'm lucky you didn't opt for killing your pestilent child of surprise, I think that would've been within your rights without upsetting the powers that be. It's only when we avoid each other- intentionally or not, that we're tempting trouble if what the elders have speculated is true." She had been reflecting upon her time as Sofijah- on what the elders had shared about the ancient magic they were familiar with.

Klaus bared his teeth, a thunderstorm raging in his eyes. "Silas was trying to get inside your head-"

"And it worked!" Sophia shouted, her jaw tight as she sat up. "Think about it. When the law of surprise is not met- chaos abounds. You spent centuries on the run from Mikael, and I spent the next thousand years living one meaningless life after another. Until now. Until destiny. It's- it has to be the- Every terrible thing you've done… It's the only explanation for how I could love you after everything. You're a-"

"A beast. An abomination." Klaus's lips were twisted, as if he had tasted something sour. He was stern and devastatingly self-possessed as he continued on."You're latching on to this fanciful, all-powerful law to explain away your illicit unacceptable affection for me- Well, let me make it easier for you sweetheart. I'll go on and stay out of your hair- out of your life. As I had intended to. If you were promised to me to do with as I please- then this is what I choose."

Sophia trembled, cruelly wanting to take everything back the instant she said it. But no. This was good. If she was going to have any chance of untangling what was real and what wasn't- If she was going to live this life in a way that would make Jeremy and Jenna proud, then she needed this distance from Klaus. (The wolf in her snarled in disapproval, and the internal contradiction of what she did and didn't want nearly had her keeling over.)

Haldor's words whispered in her ear. The law of surprise does not dictate who you are to one another. That is of your own making. A kind lie from her father's deathbed, or the truth? She didn't know which she wanted more, and that was the problem.

She nodded once in response to Klaus, unable to meet his eyes, holding her breath as he made his way to the door.

Sophia stared out in a daze in the direction of the diner's floor to ceiling window, her suitcase at her side, tapping her fingernails rhythmically against the table.

She was thinking of Caroline, who had clearly heard every word of her- separating from Klaus. It wasn't quite a breakup, since there were only a handful of sweet moments and a one-night stand under their belt. Her friend had admirably resisted asking questions or telling her she had done the right thing…By trying to distract her with prom and finals and graduation. And Sophia couldn't be bothered. Going back to school, pretending to care about the perfect prom dress, not having any family to share graduation with… There was no point to any of it.

If the exhaustion at the mere thought of having to go through those motions weren't enough, Stefan had texted her that Elena was likely on her way back to Mystic Falls, as well as him and Damon. From Caroline, Sophia had learned the particulars- the most surprising one being that Elena and Rebekah had buddied up to track down Katherine and the cure.

Sophia didn't want to see her sister. Never mind the obvious issues at hand, she couldn't think about Elena without Qetisyah's chanting driving her unhinged, the feeling of her blood broiling and her veins being primed to burst as the scorned witch irreversibly bound her to Amara's shadow selves.

Sophia was looking for a reason to leave. She had longed to escape from Mystic Falls since she had become aware that that was an option, that she didn't have to follow in her parent's footsteps. Seeing Uncle John come and go as he pleased and Aunt Jenna being brave enough to break away from her family by leaving, albeit temporarily, for California had made quite the impact on a younger Sophia.

"Y'know, you don't have to go to some fancy college to justify leaving your hometown," Hailey had pointed out to her over the phone. "And if you seriously don't care about finishing high school, then there's not a better way to kick off the 'exploring the world outside of my podunk town' road trip than New Orleans. It'll be fun," the brunette had tempted over the phone. "I wouldn't mind the company, or someone to help chip in for gas."

And so, Sophia excused herself from Caroline's tutoring session and the Salvatore's attempts to use her as a gambit to help provoke Elena's humanity in favor of meeting up with the fellow she-wolf at the edge of Mystic Falls.

That's going to be an interesting conversation, thought Sophia, realizing she hadn't mentioned that bit to Hailey yet.

Did Sophia feel guilty about using the money her parents left her, meant for school, for an impromptu road trip? Yes. But she rationalized that she would be frugal about it, and look into a job, a GED, and… the rest of it, sometime in the summer. As for everything else… She would be of absolutely no help against Silas, as he had rendered her ineffectual by chewing her up and spitting her out once he got her alone. She had been perniciously successful in getting Klaus to write her off for the time being (and hated herself for it), she might as well be a gnat to Elena, and... she hoped her friends would understand.

A/N: (6/29/21) Some blink and you miss it & in your face references made: 27 Dresses, The Magicians, Bo Burnham (Inside), and Crazy Ex- Girlfriend.

This chapter ranges from Season 4, Episode 16- Episode 18.

(Rambling): Not feeling great about how that last interaction with Sophia and Klaus turned out; anyways, it's probably going to be a while before another update, and I wanted to clarify that that was Klaus she was talking to and not Silas. Until next time!