Damon knocked on her bedroom door and grinned at her.

"Hey kiddo, we've been invited to dinner at the Lockwood's."

Maya felt her smile fade into a pout.

"Do we have to go?" She whined, giving him the puppy-dog eyes she'd perfected with Caroline's help.

He wavered for a moment, before straightening his shoulders and nodding firmly.

"Sorry kiddo, I already told Carol we'd go. So, get changed and meet me downstairs in twenty minutes."

"Fine." She gave the most exaggerated huff she could, but closed the book she'd been reading before Damon appeared and stood up.

"Love you kiddo." He said with a grin, pulling her door shut for her as he left.

"Love you babbo." She replied, knowing he'd hear her even with the door shut.

Maya sighed, softer this time, and headed to her closet. It wasn't a formal dinner party, or they would have been invited weeks ago and Damon would have warned her repeatedly from the moment they'd been invited. Formal or not though, Carol Lockwood had strict standards about what was and wasn't appropriate to wear to what would, at the very least, be an informal dinner party.

The contents of her closet had changed several times since that first shopping trip she had been on with Damon, Stefan, and Lexi. The potions had worked wonders on her growth, making her sprout up like a beanstalk, which she liked. But at the rate she'd been growing, it had felt like she needed an entirely new wardrobe every few weeks.

When she'd been checked just before Christmas, Garruk and Maggie had both been of the opinion that now she was at a healthy height and weight for a girl her age, her growth spurts would normalise. So, it was unlikely she'd need to buy an entirely new wardrobe for the fourth or fifth time, any point soon. That didn't stop Damon from adding something new to it every week though, which left her with a large amount of clothes from which to choose something suitable for dinner at the Lockwood's.

After a brief perusal, Maya picked out a knee length navy blue dress and slipped into it, adding a light silver cardigan and the ankle boots Katherine had given her at Christmas. They'd probably earn her a disapproving look from Carol, but Maya didn't care too much, they were comfy, and they matched the dress. After brushing her hair and using a headband to keep it off her face, she was ready. Damon was waiting for her by the front door, and she could hear Stefan coming down the stairs behind her, grumbling to himself. She guessed he'd failed to wriggle out of the invitation too.

"Perfect timing." Damon said as he spotted the two of them, "let's go. Don't want to irritate Carol by being late."

"What about Maggie and Enzo?" Maya asked, as they followed Damon out to the car.

"They're on a date."

"Lucky them," Stefan replied dryly as they all climbed into the car.

It didn't take them long to get to the Lockwood mansion. Damon was the first one out of the car after he'd parked, as he opened Maya's door for her, she exchanged mutually pitying looks with Stefan before undoing her seatbelt and sliding out.

"Cheer up you two. It's just for a few hours and then we can go home."

Mrs Lockwood greeted them at the door, a gracious smile on her face that didn't quite fill her eyes, but then again it rarely did. Her smile tightened slightly when she caught site of the leather ankle boots Maya was wearing, and the mismatched suit jacket and trousers Stefan had on, but she made no other sign of disapproval and Maya subtly low-fived Stefan out of both Mrs Lockwood's and Damon's eyesight.

"Come in, come in." Mrs Lockwood said warmly, as she stepped back to allow them to do so. "I invited the Gilbert's and a few others as well. Everyone's in the drawing room, come on through."

The first-person Maya saw as she followed Mrs Lockwood, Damon, and Stefan into the drawing room was Tyler, who was focused on another corner of the room, with an air of uncertainty, bordering on panic. Stefan and Damon both tensed slightly, their gazes directed at the same corner as Tyler. Maya turned her head the same direction and locked eyes with a tall dark-haired man wearing a tailored suit. His dark brown eyes were filled to the depths with shock and disbelief as he stared back at her.

"Elijah."

Damon barely whispered the name, but it caught Maya's ears as if he had shouted it through a megaphone. She inhaled a startled breath as she realised the man, the vampire, she had been staring at was her biological father's brother. Her uncle. Anxiety fluttered inside Maya's stomach as she regarded him, but there was a curl of curiosity inside her as well that she couldn't quite quash.

Maya knew why he was here. Well, not here, here. She had no idea why Carol had invited Elijah to this dinner party, there were probably a hundred reasons that were all equally unimportant. But she knew why Elijah was in Mystic Falls. Damon had told her as much yesterday after the four-way argument that had erupted between Elena, Jeremy, Jenna, and John had ended and everyone had gone home. Elijah was here to kill her dad. That was why he'd offered Elena a deal in the first place.

Damon didn't know why Elijah wanted to kill Niklaus. Which was why he'd told her yesterday that he didn't want to take the risk of introducing her to him just yet. Because he didn't know if Elijah's vendetta against his brother would extend to his niece, and he refused to risk her on an unknown. That choice had been taken out of his hands, for better or for worse, she was about to meet her uncle for the very first time. Her uncle who was quite clearly adding one plus one together and coming up with two.

Mrs Lockwood, ignorant of the tension that had seized upon half of the room's occupants, led them directly over to Elijah who was engaged in conversation with the mayor. At least he had been before his attention had been seized by their entrance into the room. He seemed unable to take his eyes off of her, which just made the fluttering anxiety in her stomach even worse. Drowning out most of the curiosity that had risen when she'd realised, she would be meeting a member of her paternal family for the first time. A member of her family who might desire her death, which was what most of the anxiety was stemming from.

As they crossed the room, Maya took a moment to shore up her occlumency shields, They weren't just useful for controlling her legilimency, but also to help calm herself when her emotions got the better of her, it was still a work in progress some days, but anxiety was a lot easier for her to master and push back, than her anger and rage were when they flared up.

The mayor was the first to greet them. A smile pasted on his face, that like his wife's didn't join his eyes. But he was a consummate politician, civil, polite, and friendly, even if it was mostly faked, at least in Maya's opinion. Maya's returning smile was just as fake, not that either of them ever seemed to notice. She was a child, a young teenager, and as such irrelevant and un-requiring of too much of their attention. There were several reasons Maya disliked coming to the dinner parties and other engagements Carol Lockwood threw, the mayor's treatment of Tyler being the primary one. The fact that they basically ignored her, and to a lesser extent Stefan, was another.

A few seconds later and she was being formally introduced to her uncle for the very first time. Even if Mrs Lockwood was ignorant of the true significance of what she was doing.

"Elijah, I'm sure you remember Damon from yesterday." Carol said.

"Yes of course." Elijah replied with a polite smile, "Wonderful to see you again, Damon."

"And this is his brother Stefan,"

Elijah nodded to Stefan and shook his hand with the same ever-so polite smile.

"And his goddaughter Maya."

A much more genuine smile graced Elijah's face and gentle warmth filled his eyes, as he took Maya's hand and lightly kissed the back of it.

"An absolute pleasure to meet you, Maya."

Maybe it was because she'd been without a real family for so long, but even though she had one now she still yearned for more. Even if that more were some homicidal millennia old vampires. She may only be thirteen, but she wasn't stupid. Damon hadn't tried to hide anything from her, he maybe left out all the gory details, but she knew who and what the paternal side of her family were. She knew that they weren't saints. Most of those she'd asked were wary about telling her the details of their misdeeds. Damon gave her facts, as he knew them, but he had never met any of the Originals, only heard the stories.

She'd asked Himiko, who knew them, or had known them. Himiko hadn't given her any details either, not about what they'd done or what they were like. Instead, she'd told Maya about absolutes, about Good and Evil, about how they only really existed in stories. Oh, there were good acts and evil acts, but not good people and evil people. People after all did not exist inside a vacuum. More to the point, what was good and what was evil differed from one society to the next and from one decade to the next. The only real thing Himiko had ever said about her family was that her Dad had a temper.

Good or evil, homicidal, and bad-tempered or not, Maya still desperately yearned to meet her dad and his family. Hearing her dad wanted to kill three people to break a curse, had been a blow. Hearing that her uncle wanted to kill her dad for, as yet, unknown reasons, had been another blow. But neither of those things could crush the small part of Maya that wanted her family to be big, and filled with as many unkillable people as possible, so that she would never have to be alone again, like she had been with the Dursley's.

So, upon being introduced to her uncle for the first time, Maya did what any other thirteen-year-old would. She smiled and greeted him.

"Hi."

Elijah had not come to Mystic Falls to make friends with the locals. He was here for a singular purpose, to kill his brother. Everything he had done had been in aid of that goal. He had chosen to accept Carol Lockwood's invitation to a dinner party, so that he could observe her other guests. He had the doppelganger's cooperation. He had both werewolves and vampires to choose from when the time came. All that remained was to gain possession of the moonstone. The moonstone that was in the possession of Damon Salvatore.

Oh, Damon hadn't admitted to it when he had asked, but his answers had been cagey and evasive enough that he knew the young vampire was the one who could give it to him. The key was working out how, what buttons to press to ensure Damon handed it over to him. His primary consideration on that point was threatening his goddaughter. He didn't relish threatening to harm a child, any child, especially not the young Miss Potter. He did after all owe her distant ancestor a rather large favour. However, needs must, and by all accounts Damon loved his goddaughter very much. He wanted to see their bond firsthand before he made a decision though, which is what had led him to accept Carol Lockwood's invitation.

He'd arrived before the Salvatore's, but not the Gilbert's. It was easy enough to read in their eyes that Damon Salvatore had done what the doppelganger had failed to do. He had informed them of the deal he'd made with Elena Gilbert. It had also been easy enough to see where they'd all fallen on the spectrum of possible reactions in regard to that deal. The brother was hopeful but worried, the uncle/biological father was disbelieving and hateful, the aunt fell somewhere in between. Not that their reactions mattered. He would deal with all of them as civilly as possible and hope that they all had sense enough to do the same.

Of the four Lockwood's only the younger two seemed fully aware of the undercurrents of the situation. And of the two of them, only the older one, the triggered wolf, Mason Lockwood, had enough control to stop his emotions playing out across his face. Greeting him politely, when he arrived, and sticking close to Jenna Sommers, thereafter. From what he heard of the murmured words between them, he was doing his best to keep things calm. Tyler Lockwood lingered near the youngest Gilbert, watching him with a mix of disbelief, uncertainty, and panic.

The mayor had acted as all politicians were wont to do. With perfect civil politeness, and well-veiled false friendliness. Engaging him in conversation about his so-called book, before steering the conversation towards his own self-interest, which was apparently the upcoming elections. Elijah had listened politely with one ear replying vaguely enough to keep the conversation going, whilst most of his attention remained on Carol Lockwood's movements as he awaited the arrival of the Salvatore family. Just the brothers and Miss Potter, according to what Carol had said, apparently the couple that lived with them were unavailable.

She went to greet them at the door as she had done for himself, and he listened to them walk through the house. The clipped steps of Carol Lockwood's heels, the heavier dual tread of the brothers, and the light graceful pattern that surely belonged to the young Miss Potter. He turned his head as naturally as possible as they entered the room, his gaze passing briefly other Damon and Stefan Salvatore, and landing on what could only be Maya Potter. Which was where his mind shuddered to a halt, as shock and disbelief temporarily overcame him.

He knew of Maya Potter. The so-called girl-who-lived. He had a finger on the pulse of the wixen world, enough to at least know the basics of her story. He didn't know what she looked like, there had never been a picture of her in any of the magical papers he had perused. But he had known other Potter's in his time. Knew that they all tended to fit the same mould. So, he had expected the riotous disarray of curls atop her head, if not the colour, Potters had always tended towards darker colouring. He had not expected the face beneath them, a face he knew as well as his own, which was only to be expected after a thousand years of kinship.

What was not to be expected after a thousand years, was seeing his brother's face in a thirteen-year-old human child. More feminine to be sure, and with some differences, but it was still undeniably Niklaus's face, the same eyes, the same colour hair, the same nose, the same dimple. The more he looked the more of his brother's physical traits he saw in her. It was shocking, it was unbelievable, and it was undeniable. However it had happened, the irrefutable proof was in the face of the girl in front of him.

Maya Potter was his brother's daughter.

Which at least explained why Damon Salvatore had been trying to contact his brother. Every other question he had, and there was a lot more now than there had been five minutes ago, remained unanswered.

As Carol Lockwood led the brothers and his niece towards him, he fought desperately to compose himself. It would not do to reveal too much of what he was feeling in such mixed company. His thoughts were a scrambled mess, and it would take time to sort through them, he just had to get through this dinner first.

"Elijah, I'm sure you remember Damon from yesterday." Carol said as soon as they were done greeting her husband.

"Yes of course." He replied, forcing himself to remain the same polite charming guest he had presented himself as thus far. "Wonderful to see you again, Damon."

"And this is his brother Stefan,"

Elijah nodded to Stefan. He now had a much better understanding of the reasons behind the apology Damon had offered him yesterday, for his brother's previous actions against him. He shook Stefan's hand, resisting the urge to squeeze it, even just a little bit. Whatever his thoughts and feelings on either of the Salvatore brothers, they were his niece's family, and everything he had learned thus far, said that she loved them.

"And his goddaughter Maya."

As Carol finally moved onto Maya, he allowed himself to offer her a much more genuine smile than the one he had given the two brothers. Taking the hand, she offered and bowing his head to her as he placed a light kiss on the back of her hand. She might not know the true meaning of the gesture, such things being lost to time, but he did. It was an offering of respect, devotion, and commitment, and he would honour it.

"An absolute pleasure to meet you, Maya."

And it was. In the thousand years that had passed since their mother had cursed them to this existence, he had never dreamed that their family could be blessed in such a way. The girl in front of him, his niece, was a gift. A new chance for their family, he had come to Mystic Falls planning to kill his brother. Now perhaps, with Maya's unfathomable existence, he could do as he had always desired to do and save Niklaus.

The dinner table was a simmering pot of unspoken tensions. He hadn't missed the look Elijah had given Maya upon first seeing her. He didn't know what it was about, but it seemed to have cause some tension between the Salvatore's and the Original. He would have to investigate that more another time, he already had a task in mind for tonight. Despite the pervasive atmosphere amongst the guests at the dinner party, they managed to keep up a light conversation about Elijah's supposed book.

A different conversation was going on amongst the younger section of the table, one that seemed to be focussed on art, which was engaging enough that Jeremy had joined in and relaxed slightly. Even Elena was offering a comment or too, which was good, it meant that both of them were less inclined to listen to the adults conversation. Which had moved on to some supposed witches burial ground, he made a note to investigate that as well. For whatever reason Elijah was interested in it, and it almost certainly wasn't because of any book, so it might be worth knowing about.

Damon was quick to make his excuses after dinner was over. Thanking Carol for a lovely evening and hustling his brother and goddaughter out as quickly as he could without being rude. Which was a relief, it certainly made it easier for his plan to go ahead without any hiccups if Damon wasn't around. Elijah had watched them go knowingly, a small smile on his lips, and he figured Damon's rush to leave must be because of whatever weird exchange had happened between them and Elijah when they had arrived.

After seeing them out, Carol returned and suggested that the men retire to the study for a drink, just as they had planned, whilst the ladies and the kids went to one of the sitting rooms. Elijah graciously agreed, it probably didn't seem strange to him, despite it being a somewhat outdated custom. Richard led the way, with Elijah following, whilst he brought up the rear. Mason had lingered for what seemed to be, from the single glance he got, an intense but whispered conversation. Which also made it a lot easier to carry out his plan.

He had prepared the dagger earlier. It was almost too easy to withdraw it from it's hiding place and plunge it into the unsuspecting back of the Original vampire, as soon as they were out of sight of the rest of the dinner party. Elijah let out a muted yell, but it was far less of a struggle then he had thought it might be, as grey veins spread across his body, and he fell to the floor.

Richard looked warily down at the body.

"Is that it?"

"Yes." John dusted his hands of across his trousers as he nodded firmly. "As long as the dagger remains in place, he is for all intents and purposes dead. I'll get rid of the body, make my excuses, will you?"

Richard nodded, as John took hold of Elijah's arms and began to drag the body away to the nearest exit. He knew just the place to stash it, to prevent it from being found.