EDITED OCT22

Southern Italy, 1111

"Thank you for coming with me Finn," Brenna smiled as the two of them walked through the village.

"Of course," Finn smiled back, "I couldn't let you go out unaccompanied, it wouldn't be safe, and you were pretty determined to get out of the house."

"Yes, I was."

"It's obvious you're avoiding my brother," Finn said making Brenna freeze and look at him. "It's alright. It's no secret I'm not overly fond of my brother, but I do care for you. You can always voice your concerns to me."

"I know, I just… he scares me is all."

"He scares us all."

"We had a fight," Brenna said reluctantly as they began walking again after a moment's silence.

"I'm aware."

"It happened a couple of months ago, right after he found me. I just got so angry."

"Your father was not a good man Brenna. I don't want to defend my brother harming human beings, but he thought he was protecting you. While I do not condone my brother's behaviour in general, I will never begrudge any of my siblings for doing what they can to protect you. You're more family to me than they are. I know we weren't close when I was human, but I am very glad that changed. Besides, at least Kol didn't kill him, it's more mercy than he shows most," Finn said quickly.

"He usually takes lives only when we are apart. But since I called him all those names and accused him of all those things… he just doesn't care."

"I assure you, he does care. More than he cares about anything else in the world. I'm sure you both said things you didn't mean, you'll find your way back to one another."

"That's the thing, Finn, he didn't say anything bad. I did. He sat there while I just tore his character apart, and questioned his motives. He never said a bad word to me. He feels hurt. He lashes out because he feels he doesn't belong, that he's not accepted. When I'm with him, he belongs somewhere."

"You think he feels alone after your fight?" Finn asked and Brenna nodded.

"Stop! Thief!" a man yelled from near them, making both Finn and Brenna turn to see the commotion. "Catch her!" he yelled as he ran after a red-headed girl.

"What is going on?" Brenna asked Finn, moving closer to him.

"I'm not quite sure."

As the girl ran past them she tripped and fell in front of Brenna, dropping a loaf of bread in the process. "Oh, my," Brenna said bending down next to her. "Are you alright?" she asked placing her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Brenna," Finn warned bending slightly to touch Brenna's arm.

"No, please," the girl wailed in despair.

"Did you steal that loaf of bread?" Brenna asked ignoring Finn.

"Ah my Lord Finn, Lady Brenna," the baker greeted as he came to a stop in front of them. "Thank you for stopping the thief."

Brenna turned to look at Finn and shot him a pleading look and he sighed. "What is she accused of?" Finn asked.

"She stole a loaf of bread from my shop, and it's not the first time. You'll hang for this you witch," he spat.

Brenna's eyes widened and she stood up. "How many loaves has she stolen?"

"Three."

"Three? She should be hung for stealing 3 loaves? No. That's alright. We'll pay for the loaves."

"Brenna," Finn said trying to stop her.

"I can't let him hang her," Brenna whispered to Finn before speaking louder. "We'll pay for ten loaves, to cover for the inconvenience of her crimes. Does that sound acceptable?"

The baker hesitated. "How am I to know she won't steal from me again?"

"Because I will employ her at the manor. She won't have a need for your bread. She will eat in our kitchen. I promise you, she will not steal from you again. Do we have a deal?"

The baker frowned before nodding. "I want my coin by the end of the day, if I see her in my shop again I promise you, she will hang," he growled before storming off.

"Why did you do that?" Finn asked quietly.

"I could not save Kol's victims. I will save her though. Do you mind going and paying him? Before he has a chance to change his mind."

Finn nodded. "Stay here, do not move. I'll be back shortly," he said hurrying off.

"It's ok my dear," Brenna said kneeling down and slowly helping the girl stand. "You're safe."

"Why did you help me?" the girl whimpered.

"Most people who steal bread don't do it because they are evil. They do it because they are desperate. Do you have any family?"

"They died. Last month, in a fire."

"The one in this town? That decimated four houses?" Brenna asked and the girl nodded. "I'm so very sorry."

"I didn't want to steal. I was just so hungry."

"I understand. What's your name?"

"My name is Sage."

"I'm Brenna. I promise you, Sage, you will not need to steal again. You will be safe with me in my family's manor. You can be my lady-in-waiting."

"But I am not noble, I can't be a lady-in-waiting."

"I do not care, Sage, you seem to be a girl of sweet disposition and to tell you the truth, I really need a friend here."

"Thank you," Sage said smiling through tears, "thank you so much!"

"Morning," Brenna groaned as she stretched.

"Good morning," Kol replied as he watched her.

"Ahh," Brenna sighed before turning over to look at him. "What? You're staring."

"I'm happy," Kol smiled at her.

"Oh," Brenna laughed. "I thought I must've had something on my face." Brenna smiled and sat up slightly to lean her head onto her hands, "I'm happy too though. Kiss?"

"Absolutely," Kol smiled as he leaned in to kiss her while also pulling himself on top of her. "I tell you what love, getting a room outside of town, it's probably one of your best ideas," he said as he kissed her jawline.

"Oh yeah?"

"No one can interrupt us here," he breathed just before her phone buzzed. "Well, they wouldn't if this bloody technology you all love so much didn't exist," he groaned as he moved off Brenna, grabbed her phone off of the nightstand and handed it to her.

"Thanks," Brea smiled taking her phone from him before scooting over to rest her head on his chest as she checked her texts.

Matt - Hey, I was worried when you didn't come home last night, but I just heard what happened. I'm so sorry Brea! Let me know if there's anything you need but I understand you need space, I'm really sorry

"Read this," Brenna said showing Kol the text. "Now do you feel bad for breaking his hand?"

"Why are you two talking about how scary dragonflies are?" Kol asked quickly scrolling up through their texts. "They're perhaps one of the least scary animals in existence."

"Don't," Brenna laughed snatching her phone back. "One landed on Matt on the last day of school and he freaked out. It was hilarious. Such a wuss," she smiled as she looked over the rest of her texts. She had 5 missed calls and 10 texts from Elena that she didn't bother to look at. "Ric texted me," she said out loud as she opened her text.

R - Hey, sweetie, I'm really sorry about what happened last night. I really want to explain it all to you, I swear I didn't want to hurt you, I felt I had no other choice. I'd really love it if you could meet me at the Grill in the morning at 9 am. I just want to explain to you why I did it. I didn't mean to betray you, I love Jeremy, Elena and you all as though you were my own.

Brenna stared at the text in silence. "You should go," Kol said kissing the top of her head.

"What?"

"You should go. I saw you with him last night. You care for him. You need to go hear him out, for yourself. I don't think you can handle not talking to him."

Brenna lifted her head and smiled at him. "I love you so much," she whispered before kissing him and then getting up out of the bed and walking into the bathroom. "You coming?" she smirked at him and ran further into the bathroom giggling when she saw Kol throw himself out of bed.

Brenna sat at a table in the Grill 5 minutes early to meet Ric so she decided to pull out her phone and call Elijah. "Hey!" she greeted as he answered.

"Brenna," he responded. "I am very sorry for leaving last night."

"You didn't say goodbye."

"Some things my mother said last night… I know they were true, but they hurt."

"If you feel guilty about using my sister last night, don't. You did the right thing. Your actions saved our entire family."

Elijah then very quickly changed the subject, "I will try and track down your ring. I'm in the process of getting in contact with some witches I know, hopefully, they can shed some light on what Esther may want with it and hopefully we can find it."

"No need," Brenna said looking down at the ring on her finger. "Finn grabbed me last night. That's where I disappeared to. He wanted to explain his actions to me, say goodbye and whatnot, but he gave me my ring back. He said he took it from Esther before she had a chance to do anything, he said I was safe for now."

"Did he mention what my mother intended to do with it?"

"He said Esther wanted to remove the reincarnation spell she put on me. I suppose the ring is a personal effect she needed for the spell. I can't believe it though, Kol and I searched for so many centuries looking for a way to remove the reincarnation spell and the illness spell but we couldn't find any, yet Esther is back for a day and she manages to have a cure for one. But Finn was very specific, he said reincarnation spell, he said nothing about the curse Helga put on me."

"Meaning that you would still fall ill."

"I would still die. Only, we don't know which spell prevents me from becoming a vampire."

"So if it's Helga's spell that prevents you from becoming a vampire, and Esther removed her spell, you wouldn't come back."

"I'd be dead for good. Unless it's the reincarnation spell that stops me from being able to turn which means I could turn into a vampire. It's a 50/50 chance."

"Not odds I'm willing to risk."

"Me neither," Brenna sighed. "I'm not willing to risk that for civilisation's sake, if I was never to come back can you imagine how psychotic Kol would be? He's already renowned everywhere for being a psychotic maniac just from how he behaves when we are apart. Imagine if I was to stay dead? He'd kill anything that moved and end up daggered in a box again. I can't let that happen Elijah."

"I won't let that happen."

"Hey, Elijah, I have to go, I have another call coming in," Brenna said pulling her phone back slightly to see Sheriff Forbes was calling her. "Do me a favour, no questions asked, don't go to Italy please."

"I won't," Elijah laughed gently, he knew she was trying to protect her sister. "Have a good day Brenna, keep my brother out of danger."

"Promise. Bye," Brenna said hanging up Elijah's call and answering the Sheriff's. "Hi, Liz."

"Brenna, I'm glad I got you, look this is a bit of an awkward call, I'm hoping you'll support me on it, I'm in a tricky spot."

"What's going on?"

"We have a suspect for the council murders."

"Liz that's fantastic!"

"It's Ric."

"Oh," Brenna said after a shocked pause. "Not so fantastic. That's surely not right."

"I've had to detain him."

"Oh my god."

"I have evidence against him so I have to keep him here until we can find proof he's innocent and we can let him go."

"Oh my god," Brenna whispered shakily as she dropped her head onto the table.

"Look, he asked me to call you, he said you were going to meet this morning. I'm not meant to do this, but he asked, so if you agree I'll allow it, but you can come and talk to him if you want."

"How is he?" Brenna asked sitting back up.

"He's not happy, he was just really upset to have let you down."

"Can I grab a coffee and some breakfast and bring it?"

"Yeah, Brea, you can, just, this has to be off the books ok? I'm making a huge exception for you."

"I promise I'll be good?" Brenna offered jokingly.

"I have to call your sister, so just find me when you get here and I'll take you to him."

"Elena's coming?"

"No, she can't come in. I can't break the rules twice in one day, I'm just letting her know your guardian's been detained."

"Ok, cool, I'll be there soon. Thank you, Liz," Brenna said before hanging up the phone and running up to the bar. "Hey," Brenna greeted the barman. "Could I please get one coffee, one black tea and two egg and bacon rolls to go please?" she asked.

"Sure, no worries, that'll just be 5 minutes," he said.

"Thanks," Brenna said paying before stepping back and pulling out her phone and calling Nik.

"Brenna! How lovely of you to call," Nik answered cheerily through the phone.

"Wow, hey, um, you seem a lot more chipper than last night."

"Always delighted to get your call love. Still on for today?"

"Absolutely. How about dinner at 6?"

"Sounds good."

"Awesome, but that's not the only reason I called."

"What can I help you with?"

"Weird question but do you definitely not know anything about the killing of the council members? I know you said you didn't, but it wasn't intended as one of your warnings to Elena, or a rogue hybrid thing or something?"

"Not me love, sounds like a human problem to me. If it was me doing it, it'd be much more… creative."

"Lovely," Brenna said sarcastically. "Ok, well, they've arrested Ric on suspicion of being the killer, but he's not, obviously, so I just thought I'd check."

"I'm so sorry love. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I think this is a matter best left to the Sheriff, I don't think she'd appreciate supernatural intervention on her case. See you at 6?"

"See you then."

"Bye."

Brenna was speed walking towards the police station and happened to get to the front at the same time as Elena. "Hey," Elena greeted.

"No thanks," Brenna said tensely before walking off from her sister towards the doors of the station.

"Wait, Brea," Elena said running after her as Brenna opened the doors and walked in. Brenna shut the door hard behind her and heard Elena grunt as she caught them. After entering, Brenna looked around, hoping to see the Sheriff, but instead, she saw Damon.

Brenna just groaned and rolled her eyes to herself. "Seriously," she muttered.

"Were you just?" Elena tried to ask before Damon cut her off.

"Ric's fine. Sheriff wants me to stay out of it."

"Of course she does, everything you touch goes to hell," Brenna muttered to herself as she avoided looking at him.

"You're not going to? Are you?" Elena asked.

"Seems just as good a plan as any," Damon shrugged.

"Your friend's in jail for murder you have to do something," Elena pleaded.

"Well, I guess I could rip out Dr False Accusations throat, or maybe her tongue," Damon suggested making Elena grimace. "You know, I could chew it up in little tiny pieces and feed it to the squirrels," he said as he mimicked squirrels eating.

"Stop it, Damon!" Elena snapped.

"Guess me staying out of it suddenly sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? I saved your life last night, you're welcome," Damon said to Elena.

Brenna glared and turned to him. "You saved one life while signing the death warrant of five, so well done, you self-serving, arrogant assholes," Brenna congratulated sarcastically.

"Brea…" Elena started talking.

"Don't talk to me," Brenna said so firmly it made Elena flinch slightly and turn back to Damon.

"Um," Elena stuttered. "You, um, should show a bit of compassion about Bonnie."

"I know," Damon sighed. "You're both right. But Bonnie and her mom must be really hurting right now, should I send lasagne? I didn't kill her mom permanently, which is a lot better than you tried to do to Brenna's little boy toy," Damon said and Brenna shot him a death glare.

Elena looked down sadly. "Ok, now you're just being mean."

"I'm mean, you hate me. The Earth is back on its axis."

"You know, if you keep pushing people away, you're going to end up alone."

Damon then walked past Brenna and in front of Elena angrily. "Me pushing people away!" he snapped. "How are you looking at this? I said to you before they were undaggered that I wouldn't hesitate when it came to killing the Originals, but then, you may remember, I told you the second you walked into that ball to look at Brenna with Kol. I said that I couldn't kill him because I could see with my own eyes all the fairy tale stories that Rose told me of their relationship weren't exaggerated. I said I wouldn't make a move a move against Kol, but you went behind my back and allowed him to be included in Esther's death spell anyway. And you want to talk about me pushing people away?" he scoffed. "Look at Brenna, look at your twin," Damon hissed pointing to Brenna and making her frown. "She was already on the brink of giving up on us and I was trying to make amends! But then you went and pushed her away forever, look at her, do you think she'll ever forgive us for this?" he snapped.

"Damon," Elena choked.

"What?" he asked before turning to Brenna and asking, "what? Am I wrong?"

"No you're not," Brenna said harshly, Elena's face fell and she ran out of the police station.

Damon then turned to look at Brenna. "I'll give you space," he said gently before walking out of the station as well.

"Liz," Brenna sighed with a smile when she saw her appear.

"Hey," Liz said ushering Brenna out of the entrance. "I heard most of that," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," Brenna said giving her a small smile.

"Caroline told me what happened last night," she said stopping and turning to Brenna. "Look, I don't like having vampires in my town, but you're like a daughter to me, I've known you since you were so little," she said. "All I want is for you to be happy. I don't know everything, but Caroline's told me enough to have a vague understanding. For a love like that, you have to fight for it," she said as she placed her hand on Brenna's cheek. "I'm saying this as someone who loves you, not as the sheriff, don't let them hurt your relationship with that man, you deserve to be happy and Elena should know that. Alright," she said removing her hand. "Ric's just through here," she said leading Brenna into the cells.

"Ric," Brenna sighed as she saw him in a cell.

"Brea," Ric said standing up and running to the bars. "Thank you," he said to Liz.

"Don't tell anyone," Liz said to the two of them. "I'm serious, I could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"We won't," Brenna smiled.

"Alright," Liz said opening the door to Ric's cell. "In you go."

"I have to go in?" Brenna whined.

"Yeah, well unless you want to talk about everything loud enough for anyone to hear."

"Good point," Brenna said nodding and walking in as Liz shut the door behind her.

"Just call me when you're done and I'll come to get you out," Liz said to Brenna as she sat down on the bed in the cell and bounced on it slightly to get a feel of it.

"How's my case going?" Ric asked.

"I'm working on it."

"You have to agree, sheriff, there's no motive here," Ric argued.

"Look," Liz sighed. "Both the medical examiner and my ex-husband got into altercations with Meredith Fell before their deaths. She said you were a witness to her fight with Brian Walters."

"So what are you saying I was defending her honour? I barely knew her then," Ric argued.

"She said she also told you Bill threatened to report her to the medical board for giving him vampire blood."

"No, she didn't!"

"A 2 am call on the night he was killed? I pulled her records. You spoke with her for over an hour."

Ric sighed and came to sit down on the bed next to Brenna. "Okay, I uh… yes, I… I remember calling her, but I was drinking and I don't remember the conversation."

"That's true," Brenna said. "We were training the next morning, he was very, very hungover."

The Sheriff sighed and then asked, "do you have an alibi for the night Brian Walters was killed?"

"I was there the night of the bridge fundraiser ok, until midnight, you saw me there!"

"Time of death was between 1 and 3 am."

"Well then I uh, I must have been home, sleeping, I'm sure of it," he said, but he didn't sound sure at all and Liz nodded and left.

"Coffee?" Brenna offered cheerily holding out the cup.

"Please," Ric smiled taking it and sipping it.

"How'd you convince her to let me visit you?" Brenna asked as she drank her tea and handed him the bag with his breakfast.

"Caroline told her what happened, she feels bad and when I told her what I wanted to talk to you about, well, she has a soft spot for you."

"I am pretty loveable."

"Thanks for the breakfast," Ric smiled at her.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Brenna asked nervously.

"I didn't know what Elena did, I swear to you. I would have told you. I'm not a fan of the Originals and I want to keep the humans here safe, but as I said last night, you're like my daughter and I saw how happy you've been the past two days. I'd never try and take that away from you. I got the call last night saying Rebekah was holding Elena hostage and that we only had to give Elena enough time to get away, I wasn't going to allow them to keep him daggered. It just had to be long enough for Elena to get to safety. I'm not happy Elena did what she did with Esther and if I ever get out of here I am going to talk to her, but I had to keep her safe from Rebekah."

"I understand. I forgive you," Brenna smiled and Ric smiled back at her.

"There were other things I wanted to talk about."

"Yeah? Like what?" Brenna asked.

"I know you pretty well but I was talking to Meredith last night, before she turned me in for murder and I realised, I don't know you at all," he said and Brenna's face fell. "No, no," he reassured. "Not in a bad way. I just want to know more, you've lived a thousand years and I don't really know much about the rest of your life and I want to, besides, I'm a history teacher," he smiled and Brenna laughed.

"Well when everyone was human I had a twin, her name was Tatia. She was always my best friend. She married a warrior with whom she had a child, before he, unfortunately, died in battle. The custom at the time was for a widow to throw herself upon a pyre when her husband died, and join him in death. But Tatia did not, so my whole family had to move settlements. That is we moved to what is now Mystic Falls and met the Mikaelsons, we immediately became friends with all of them and I slowly fell in love with Kol."

"Wasn't immediate?"

"No, not at all. Well, I mean, it was for him he always said."

"Not for you?" Ric smiled.

"I do not give my heart easy. He had to earn it. He had quite the reputation as a flirt," Brenna laughed. "We were engaged, very soon to be wed, when a witch cursed me. She wasn't a regular witch, her magic came from a different source, it's called Expression. The doppelgänger wasn't meant to have a twin, my existence messed with the balance of nature and she was trying to balance it back out, although it appears she made the matter worse in the long run," Brenna laughed softly. "Esther saved me, she knew Kol wouldn't be happy without me so she helped me. Then the Mikaelson's sweet younger brother Henrik was mauled by werewolves and they were all turned into vampires for protection. Esther couldn't sustain her spell on me as well as turn her family, so I fell ill again and she eventually found the reincarnation spell to put on me so that I could always be with Kol."

"What were they like? As humans?" Ric asked.

"They were truly good people, raised by a cruel father. Finn was a doting son, very domestic so was mostly ignored by the others, Elijah was an excellent warrior and very much in love with Tatia, Nik was hated by Mikael but an excellent artist, Rebekah was so sweet and kind, as was Henrik, and Kol, well he was a very skilled witch, his mother's prodigy, he lost that when he turned."

"Has it always been Kol? Were there ever any others?"

"I've only ever loved Kol. I have married him so many times," Brenna smiled widely. "Each time just as special as the one before. Although I was married to three other men."

"How?" Ric asked shocked.

"Well the first one I married in my first reincarnated life, so no one was looking for me. They just assumed that Esther's spell has failed, but he was the son of a count and very influential, so my family made the match. I had no choice but to marry him, he was a cruel man, but not to me, he had little regard for anyone but his sister and me. It wasn't a miserable life, but it wasn't a happy one. I thought I was insane until the Mikaelson's walked in one night and I realised that my memories were real and not just dreams. You should've seen all their shocked faces when they saw me for the first time though, hilarious," Brenna laughed.

"And what about the other men?"

"Well, the second was an awful man. He was a French prince, my family was very very pleased with the match and I was sent to the castle. When I got there it turned out the advisor who suggested the match was none other than Mikael."

"Their father?"

"The very same. He organised a very publicised match for me because he knew it would draw them all to the castle to stop the marriage and they would walk into his trap and he'd kill Nik."

"He didn't succeed though."

"No. I managed to get word to Katerina, I knew where she was at the time. She found Rebekah and let her know of the plan. They had no choice but to let me marry the man. He was a cruel and abusive man. Not at all a prince at heart. Mikael did do his best to protect me from him, but there wasn't much he could do, he'd gotten everyone in the castle onto vervain. When I told him that his children weren't coming he relented and managed to get me out of France and into Spain to safety. He never used me in any of his plots after that. My relationship with Mikael was… complicated. But I could never forgive him for what he made me endure that year."

"What about the third man?" Ric asked, not wanting Brenna to dwell on unhappy times.

Brenna smiled and giggled slightly. "The third man was Nik."

"Klaus? You were married to Klaus?" Ric asked shocked.

Brenna nodded. "Not properly married though. I was betrothed to a man named Arthur, again, a match arranged by my family, they never seem to end well," she laughed. "Nik was in England at the time and heard and came to help. Arthur's reputation was infamous and Nik was scared for my safety. Kol was causing havoc in Africa so by the time they would have gotten word to him I might already have been married, so Nik stepped in and offered my family a better deal than Arthur's and married me the next day. Nik killed Arthur just in case he would retaliate. It wasn't a proper marriage but it was fun reconnecting with him as a friend."

"Favourite century?" Ric asked.

"1600's. I think it's the only century where nothing awful happened," she laughed. "Well apart from dying a few times," she said awkwardly. "I spent most of the time with Kol. We just travelled and spent time together without any supernatural dramas. It was amazing."

"Worst century?"

"1700's. Went from good to bad real quick. All the Mikaelsons were together at the end of the 1600s and we were living in Spain until I died in 1702, Kol went crazy as he tends to do when we're apart. He tore his way through so many towns, just causing so much destruction. Stories of the terror he was inflicting travelled to Mikael who figured Nik might be in the same area. Mikael arrived and murdered the horse I gifted to Nik, he put its head on a pike. Theo was the best horse," Brenna smiled. "Kol wouldn't flee with the others so Nik daggered him," Brenna said sadly. "He wasn't undaggered until 1821. It was the first time I had lives where I couldn't be with him, it was agony. I spent most of my time with my sister so that was lovely, but I was always heartbroken."

"You've lived so much life," Ric said sadly. "There's so much pain."

"There's plenty of happy times as well. None as happy as when everyone was human though," Brenna said sadly. "Every life I have there is always a sword dangling over my head. Whether it be threats from my association with the Mikaelsons or the curse that takes my life every time. In comparison, my first life was pure bliss."

"How does it work? With your families, do you love them all the same? It must be hard, you've had so many lives, so many different families to love."

"I don't love them all equally," Brenna answered honestly. "Some were not pleasant and I despised them. But some were perfect, but I just feel as though I will never connect or love any as much as I loved my first parents. They're my biological parents. All the others were still my parents, but it's just different, I guess. Hard to explain."

"You don't have to explain anything."

"Thank you, Ric. The only other person I've spoken to about any of this has been Matt, it means a lot to me that you want to know about this stuff."

"It's a part of who you are, I think it's better to embrace it than deny it. Plus it's an excellent insight into the history," he smiled and she laughed.

"Sorry guys," Liz said running towards the cell, "I have to cut this short. Sorry, Brea, the mayor's here, she'd kill me if she knew I was letting you in a cell with a murder suspect, sorry Ric."

"No, that's fine, Carol's scary," Brenna said getting up off the bed and looking back at Ric.

"Go," he assured. "I'll be fine, I promise."

"Call me as soon as you get out," Brenna smiled at him before walking out.

"There you are! Had me worried, love," Nik said as she ran into the Grill and sat down at the table.

"Sorry, I was at my house grabbing some clothes and lost track of time," Brenna said as she settled in. "Were you waiting long?"

"Not at all," he smiled. "Been up to much today?"

"I was with Ric for a while."

"Wasn't he arrested?"

"Yeah, the Sheriff snuck me in. It was actually really nice, he was asking all about my history and just wanted to get to know more about that side of me."

"That's nice."

"No one else has really asked, but he did," Brenna said smiling and he smiled back at her. "Is that Bekah?" Brenna asked leaning to the side to see Rebekah playing darts with Stefan and Damon.

"Indeed it is," Nik smirked and Brenna tilted her head confused. Nik just tapped his ear to indicate the Salvatores could be listening in to their conversation and Brenna nodded.

"Want anything to eat?" Brenna asked looking at the menu.

"Absolutely, my shout, choose whatever you want," he smiled as they settled down to eat.

Brenna laughed, "oh my god, I always loved that chateau I can't believe you didn't like it."

"I have something for you," Nik said.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, it's in the car," he said standing up and gesturing for her to walk in front of him as they walked outside and to his car. "Here you go," he said opening his boot and pulling out a painting.

"Oh my god!" Brenna squealed. "Are you serious?" she said taking the painting from him to look at.

"Of course, I made it for you."

"I love it," Brenna said jumping up and down as she looked at the painting of Nik's old horse Theo. "Thank you so much! How crazy is this, I actually mentioned Theo to Ric earlier today," she laughed, placing the painting down to hug him. While she was hugging him her phone began to ring and she pulled away to see Kol calling her. "Hey," she said answering the phone.

"Hey, you coming back anytime soon?" Kol asked. "I miss you."

Brenna smiled and looked up to see Nik's smile had fallen. "Yeah, I'm heading back now. I'll see you in half an hour ok? I love you."

"Love you, see you soon," he said hanging up the phone.

"I better go," Brenna said to Nik as she put away her phone and he smiled gently at her. "Thank you so much for the painting though."

"Brenna," Nik said, stopping her before she could head off. "I have to tell you something now we're out of earshot," he said and Brenna frowned. "There's more white oak."

"What?" Brenna asked shocked.

"When Rebekah was torturing Elena she filmed it. Elena was in a cave and there were images on the wall behind her."

"Yeah, I know the one. That's where they found out the story of how you killed Esther."

"Rebekah translated some of the other images. It was of a native worshipping at the great white oak tree."

"Well, yeah, they loved that tree. You burned it down though, there can't be any more."

"There were other markings before it, a native calendar. The drawings were done 300 years after our family fled back to the Old World. There must have been a sapling, a new tree to replace the old. There was another white oak tree in this town."

"Oh my god," Brenna gasped.

"That's what Rebekah is doing with the Salvatore's. The tree was cut down but…"

"The Salvatore's ran the logging mills," Brenna answered, remembering that was Guiseppe's trade back in 1864. "I have to go. I have to tell Kol," Brenna said hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. "Rebekah will find it. I know she will," she said getting in the car and drove off.

Brenna had been driving for 5 minutes, still in shock from finding out there could be a weapon in this town capable of killing her family when her phone rang with the Sheriff calling. "Hey," Brenna answered. "How's Ric?"

"We've got something that might clear him. I didn't want to tell you until it was official. A letter from the county coroner's office correcting the time of death, Meredith got it a few hours ago and brought it to me full of apologies. We just need to have it authenticated and then I can release him."

"Oh thank god."

"We have another issue right now, and I'm sorry, but I could really use your help with it, I'm trying my best to keep it off the books," Sheriff Forbes asked.

"Absolutely, what's wrong?" Brenna asked.

"Elena and Matt broke into Meredith Fell's house."

"Oh my god, are you serious?"

"Completely. I'm protecting them so much right now but I need someone to come and sign them out, so I'm sorry to ask but can you come down and fill in the paperwork for them both?"

"Yeah," Brenna sighed. "I'll be there in a minute," she said hanging up the phone and turning the car around.

Brenna sat in the waiting room, having filled out the paperwork she was just waiting on Matt and Elena to be released. After a minute they came out of the Sheriff's office, "Brea, thank you so much," Elena said.

"Shut up, I didn't do it for you, Elena," Brenna said quietly. She really didn't want to talk to her sister. "I asked. You couldn't fill it out for only one person. It had to be the both of you. You ok?" she asked Matt.

"Yeah, I'm good, thanks for coming down," he said with a small smile.

"What were you thinking?" Brenna asked.

"We weren't," Elena said as they walked outside. "I just wanted to clear Ric's name."

Brenna stopped and snapped at her sister. "You're an 18-year-old girl Elena. You're clueless. It's not your job to clear Ric, it's the Sheriff's. Stop putting your nose where it doesn't belong and grow up. Do you know where I was headed when I got the call to come bail you out? I was headed home, to my husband, who you tried to murder 24 hours ago. Stop thinking you're above the law and other people Elena, every time you do people end up hurt. Are you both good to walk home? I'm not in the mood," Brenna asked turning to Matt.

"Yeah, we're good, go home to Kol," he smiled.

"Thank you," she said storming off as she felt Elena's eyes staring at her as she left.

"There you are darling," Kol greeted as Brenna walked through the door.

"I'm sorry," she said as she walked right up to him and buried her head in his chest.

"You ok?"

"I am now I'm with you. What did you do today?" she asked as she sat down on the bed.

"I spend my day working out how to use this talking box thing," he said.

"The TV?" Brenna laughed.

"Marvellous invention. You seem sad."

"It's just been a rough day. Can I tell you about it tomorrow?" she asked. "I'm pretty drained and I just need one more night with you just being happy."

"Of course," he smiled, kissing her forehead before they curled up in each other's arms and fell asleep.