"What is this?" Rebekah asked, waving her new mobile back and forth in front of Elijah's face.

He sighed, the process of waking Finn and Rebekah up, pulling them off Niklaus, feeding them both enough blood bags that they were no longer starving, and acclimating them to the modern world, had been an exhausting process already. And they weren't even halfway through yet, there was still lots they needed to go over, including Maya and the threat their father posed. This particular facet of getting them up to speed though, was supposed to be Kol's responsibility.

"It's a mobile phone Rebekah, did Kol not explain them when he gave it to you."

"Yes. Yes. It's a phone you can talk to people anywhere in the world, no matter where you are. That's great. What I want to know is, what is this?" She jabbed a finger at the screen.

Elijah leaned forward to get a better look at what she was referring to, and sighed once again. Though this was a sigh of exasperation not exhaustion.

"That is a photo of our brother in his wolf form."

"That's Nik!"

"Yes, it is, Kol must have made it your screensaver for some reason."

"Why is he pink?"

Elijah rubbed the bridge of his nose, following Finn's question. Kol hadn't just made it Rebekah's screensaver, but Finn's as well. Which meant he'd probably – Elijah pulled his own phone out and glanced at it – yes, Kol had indeed somehow changed his screensaver to a picture of Niklaus when he was transformed. And pink.

"WHAT!"

Just once it would be nice for their family to get together without someone screeching, yelling, screaming, howling, roaring, or otherwise shouting that word.

Niklaus stormed into the room, clearly having heard the conversation, and tore the phone out of Finn's hands. His brow furrowing, eyes darkening with anger, he opened his mouth,

"KOL!"

Elijah felt like stabbing Kol himself when he came sauntering into the room mere seconds later with a look of complete, and fake, innocence plastered on his face. Unfortunately, he had confiscated all the daggers from Niklaus and hidden them. Retrieving them would expose their hiding place and then he would have to find somewhere else to put them.

"You bellowed?"

"I thought I'd destroyed these when I broke your blasted phone!"

Niklaus waved the phone he'd taken from Finn at Kol, who's innocent façade immediately transformed into an entirely too pleased with himself grin.

"Well, you did destroy my phone. That's true. However, Maya, the wonderful person that she is, had already shown me how to upload everything onto something she called 'the cloud' so that I wouldn't lose everything I had stored on my phone should it tragically break."

Ah. That's why Kol looked so pleased with himself. Maya was the one who'd shown him how to save the photos. And presumably how to make them everyone's screensavers. Kol clearly thought that this would save him from Niklaus' wrath, and judging by the silence, despite the seething look on their brother's face. Kol was correct.

"Who the bloody hell is Maya?" Rebekah asked in the ensuing silence.

"My daughter."

"Our niece."

"WHAT!"

Really. Just once. That's all he wanted.

"Breaking compulsion is a painful process, and she's still healing from the crash."

"Soooo…?" Damon shook his head and gestured at Himiko, "that means you can't do it?"

"Tch." Her retort was sharp and accompanied by a dismissive flick of her wrist, her expression a blend of scorn and amusement. "It means you need to give her your blood and heal her before I begin. Or breaking the compulsion will most likely kill her."

Stefan leaned against the doorway, his silhouette a silent sentinel.

"And you're certain she's compelled right?" His voice was a low thrum, scepticism threading through each word. "Couldn't be any other reason for her not remembering things, like say – Amnesia due to massive brain trauma from when she crashed her car through a shop window."

"She's compelled." Himiko and Damon said at the same time.

Stefan's gaze lingered, a silent conversation passing between them before he turned away, his vigilance unwavering. He didn't need to keep watch; his senses would alert him to any approach. Yet Damon's paranoia had turned their operation into a spy thriller, complete with lookouts and diversions. Lee and Enzo were positioned like chess pieces throughout the hospital, eyes peeled for anything Damon deemed 'suspicious'—a term he'd left delightfully vague.

And then there was Lexi, tasked with shadowing the Sheriff to prevent any untimely interrogations of Kelly Donovan. Stefan knew the drill; if he didn't make a show of his watchfulness, Damon's lecture would be inevitable.

Despite the absurdity, Stefan understood the necessity. If Kelly had indeed been compelled, they couldn't risk drawing the Sheriff's suspicion or letting slip any clues that might expose their true nature—especially not Caroline's. But Damon's tactics were bordering on the extreme, a fact Stefan attributed to Maya's influence in the planning. It explained the uncharacteristic obedience from the group, even from Lexi, who seemed to find the whole charade amusing, donning a fedora and trench coat for 'authenticity.'

He returned his gaze back to the duo standing beside Kelly Donovan's hospital bed, in time to see Damon force his bloody wrist over her mouth. Himiko nodded in satisfaction and flicked her fingers at each corner of the room.

"Silencing spell." She explained catching sight of Stefan's confused look. "Even healed this is still gonna hurt. Lots of screaming."

Without further ado, Himiko positioned her hands on either side of Kelly's head, initiating the ritual. The effect was instantaneous and dramatic. Kelly's body convulsed, arching off the bed in a visceral display of pain, her cry piercing the room. Stefan fully understood the need for the silencing spell, without one the room would likely have been flooded by hospital staff within seconds.

It took almost an hour, filled with convulsions and screaming, for Himiko to finally step back from the bed and give Damon a tired nod.

"It's done."

He stepped forward, drawing Kelly's attention to him.

"Can you understand me?"

Kelly's eyes were filled with a mix of confusion and pain as she gazed at Damon.

"What did you do to me?"

"Nothing you'll remember." Himiko answered.

Stefan wondered if she'd meant that to sound as threatening as it did. Or if she was just too tired to choose her words more carefully.

"It doesn't matter." Damon said, drawing Kelly's attention back to him, and compelling her. "What matters is that you answer my questions truthfully. Understood."

Kelly nodded shakily, fear in her eyes.

"Good," Damon continued, his voice steady. "Did you cut the brakes on Caroline Forbes' car, the day of the Founders Parade?"

"Yes," came the whispered confession.

"And did you sneak into the hospital after she crashed to kill her?"

"No."

"So, you didn't come to the hospital after they crashed?" Damon pressed, seeking the truth hidden in her reply.

"I came to the hospital to see Vicki. She wasn't supposed to get hurt," Kelly insisted, her voice breaking.

"Did you see Caroline when you came to the hospital?"

"Yes. I passed her room,"

"And what did you do when you passed her room?"

"I went inside. I picked up one of her pillows, and I… I held it over her face," Kelly's confession was barely audible, a secret spilling forth from her lips. "She woke up and started struggling, but I held the pillow over her face until she stopped. Then I left the room."

The room fell silent, the gravity of her words hanging in the air.

"Did you drive your car at Caroline and Matt, with the intention of killing them?" Damon's voice was a low growl.

"No. Just Caroline. I had to kill Caroline," Kelly said, her voice hollow.

"Why?" Damon demanded.

"She told me to,"

"Who told you to?"

"The woman," Kelly replied, her voice trembling.

"What was the woman's name?"

"I don't know."

"What did she look like?"

"Beautiful. Dark chocolate brown hair, slightly wavy. Green eyes. She was in her early thirties, I think," Kelly described, her memory painting a vivid picture. "She looked a little bit like Elena Gilbert. Like they could have been related."

"Isobel." Damon hissed through gritted teeth, before returning his attention to Kelly. "Tell me everything she told you."

"She told me she knew I was the one who'd ruined Caroline's dress for the Miss Mystic Pageant. She told me to kill Caroline, by any means possible. She told me to do whatever it took to kill her, no matter who else got hurt. She told me that whenever I saw Caroline, I would be consumed with a need to kill her."

"Did she say why?"

"No."

Damon stepped back and looked over at Himiko and Stefan.

"Any more questions?"

Both of them shook their heads.

"Okay, according to what Matt told Caroline. The test results indicate that Kelly was sober when she crashed the car, so how are we gonna cover this up, because we can't let her tell the Sheriff what she just told us. Not if we don't want her suspicious about Caroline."

"Wipe her memory." Himiko suggested, "Stefan was correct earlier. It's not suspicious for someone who suffered a traumatic brain injury to not remember the inciting incident. Has the car been examined yet?"

"Inconclusive." Damon replied, "there was too much damage to the car, for the local mechanic to say whether it was a vehicle fault or a user fault. There bringing in a forensic investigator, but it's gonna be a couple more weeks."

"So, we make it look like a vehicle fault that caused the collision. Nothing she could have done and thank god no one was seriously injured."

"Stefan?"

"Doesn't explain the previous two incidents. Sheriff Forbes is still going to want answers about those."

Damon, frustration lacing his features, clarified,

"Only the Parade day crash matters. Liz is in the dark about everything else. She believes it was deliberate only because the mechanic discovered the brake line had been cut."

Himiko's strategic mind was already steps ahead.

"Then we replicate the scenario. If Kelly's car had its brake line severed as well, it transforms the narrative. It's no longer an isolated incident but the work of a serial saboteur."

Stefan frowned, the problem of the perpetrator still hanging in the air.

"It solves the immediate problem but, the Sheriff is still gonna want to know the why and the who."

"Immediate problem first." Damon insisted, "Figuring out a way to resolve all the other unanswered questions can wait. We need to make sure Kelly doesn't tell Liz anything that makes her suspicious of us or Caroline."

Himiko nodded in agreement and stepped up to the bed, pulling out her wand and pointing it a Kelly,

"Obliviate."

Kelly's eyes instantly clouded over as all memories of Isobel, the attempts on Caroline, and her own car crash were erased from her mind.

"Somnus."

As sleep overcame her, the three of them left the room, hidden from any observers by Himiko's magic. Damon texting the others, letting them know it was done and they could leave their posts.

Since all Damon could hear coming from the dining room was a soft buzzing sound, indicating Maya had cast some sort of spell around it to stop him from hearing what was going on inside, he was already suspicious. When he tested the door and found it wouldn't open, despite the fact that the door to the dining room didn't have a lock, he became even more so. He'd tried knocking and received no answer. So, he took the only option that was left to him.

"Dobby."

The house-elf appeared in front of him immediately.

"How can Dobby be helping Mister Damon?"

"Why can't I get into the dining room?"

"Miss Maya be magicking the doors shut."

"Well, could you unmagic them?"

Dobby's ears twitched, a sure sign that he was feeling a bit anxious, but he shook his head resolutely.

"Dobby cannot be doing that."

"Okay. Fine. What is Maya doing in the dining room that she doesn't want me to see?"

"They is decorating it."

"Who is they?"

"Miss Maya, Miss Maggie, Mister Enzo, Mister Stefan –"

Damon sighed, if even Stefan was involved, then there was absolutely nothing he could do about it. He just hoped that whatever they were doing would be easy to clean up afterwards.

" – Miss Lexi, Mister Lee, Miss Caroline, Miss Bonnie, and Mister Tyler."

Okay, if it was all of them, then this was definitely one of the items on her list of revenge schemes that Maya had been coming up with for the last week. Damon contemplated attempting to put a stop to it, then decided it was better to let her air her grievances in the form of pranks, before she decided to veer more in the direction of what she'd been doing to John Gilbert and Richard Lockwood. Another thing he wasn't going to put a stop to, because it wasn't overly harming either of them and they both very much deserved it.

"Fine. Could you please inform them that they have an hour before everyone is due to arrive for dinner. Then could you find me all the bottles of Firewhisky in the house, please. I'm going to need them."

Maya danced down the stairs, her footsteps light and eager. She reached the front door in a whirl of anticipation, flinging it open with a flourish before anyone else could get to it. Her eye's met her father's, and she gave him a very frosty look. His returning smile was a mix of amusement and an undeniable spark of pride, but Maya wasn't yet ready to accept any form of admiration from him. She whipped her gaze away, directing a radiant smile at Elijah, whose response was a long-drawn-out sigh. Undeterred, she flashed a mischievous grin at Kol, who returned it with equal enthusiasm, their shared mischief a language of its own.

Her attention then shifted to the two newcomers at the doorstep — the last pieces of their familial puzzle. With a smile tinged with intrigue, she regarded them. They mirrored her curiosity, their expressions a blend of confusion and fascination.

"Hello, Maya." her father's voice cut through the tension, an implicit challenge in his greeting.

Maya met his gaze, her expression shifting to one of cool appraisal, her eyebrow arched in a display of practiced nonchalance.

"Ready to apologize yet?" she asked, her voice a blend of defiance and expectation.

"Why ask for an apology, we both know I wouldn't really mean?"

Neither of them missed her biological aunts whispered,

"What's that about?"

And Kol's response of,

"Maya very much takes after Nik when it comes to stubbornness and forgiving slights."

Elijah decided to take charge, probably so that they would have a change of actually getting to dinner. Since it was unlikely that either Maya or Klaus would accept being the first to give up their Mexican stand-off.

With the understated authority that he wielded so effectively, he introduced the last two members of their clan.

"Hello Maya, this is your Uncle Finn, and your Aunt Rebekah—"

"Aunty Bex!" The spirited interruption was accompanied by a warm smile.

Elijah didn't miss a beat.

"—Who prefers to be called Aunty Bex. May we come in?"

As Maya's silent nod sealed her acceptance, Damon slipped into the scene, his presence a subtle reminder of the rules of engagement. With a gentle nudge and a teasing glint in his eye, he chimed in,

"Verbal invitations, kiddo."

The prompt nudged Maya into action, her voice carrying a blend of formality and warmth.

"You're welcome to come in, Uncle Finn, Aunty Bex."

Kol, never one to miss a beat, seized the opportunity with playful indignation.

"If he's Uncle Finn, then I must be Uncle Kol," he declared, a mock hurt colouring his words, but true feeling lay behind his craving for his own slice of the familial acknowledgment.

Gratitude and amusement twinkled in Maya's eyes as she turned to Kol, her voice sincere, but with a teasing lilt.

"Thank you for the photos, Uncle Kol."

He laughed in delight as Klaus let a slip a low growl at the reminder. Even Elijah wasn't immune to amusement, his lips curving into a small smile as he stepped inside.

"Come on," Maya said happily, "everyone else is in the living room."

Rebekah wasn't sure what to think about this new reality she'd woken up in. It wasn't the first time she'd woken up to a changed world, but it was definitely the most dramatic change she'd awoken to. She hadn't believed it at first, that Nik had a daughter, it seemed too impossible to be true. Then Elijah had sworn it was so and she'd known it was real, then had come the jealousy, that Nik would get the one thing she had always wanted, a child of his own.

She'd still been battling with that jealousy when Maya had opened the door. Any remaining doubt had disappeared the instant she'd laid eyes on the teenager, who looked so much like Nik when they were younger that it hurt. The jealousy had been swept away too, so what if Nik had a child, she wouldn't just be his, she would be theirs as well. She had a niece, a beautiful, brilliant, mischievous niece and Rebekah's heart was bursting with love for her. Even as she wondered what Nik could have possibly done to upset her so.

It would be rude to ask whilst both of them were there though, so she'd just have to get it out of Kol later. Invitation offered, Rebekah stepped inside the house, much more suitable than the small one that they'd awoken in, and followed her niece into the living room. Where her gaze fell on someone she had not expected to see.

"Stefan" An awed whisper broke free of her at the sight of him.

He stared back at her in confusion.

"Have we met?"

"You don't remember me! Why don't you remember me?!"

"Rebekah, surely you must realise that the very fact he does not remember you makes him the wrong person to ask that question of." Elijah said reasonably.

Rebekah wasn't feeling reasonable right now though. She was angry. Almost as angry as she'd been when she'd woken up from the dagger being removed and found out how much time she'd lost. She whirled round and glared at Nik.

"Why doesn't he remember me?"

"Oh, bloody hell." Was the muttered response.

"Make him remember me Nik!"

"Bekah –"

Whatever platitude her brother was going to offer, she wasn't interested. She didn't care about the fascinated audience looking on, all she cared about was Nik doing what she wanted him to do for once in their lives.

"Make him remember me now Nik!"

"Niklaus, just undo whatever it is you've done, so we all may move on from this." Elijah instructed.

Finally, Nik moved, crossing the room, and grabbing hold of Stefan's shoulder, staring straight into his eyes, and lifting the compulsion he'd place ninety years ago.

"Now your remember."

He stepped back giving Stefan a clear view of Rebekah as all of the memories came flooding back.

"Rebekah."

He took a step towards her, before Nik drew his attention back to him.

"I remember you. We were friends."

"What is happening?" Damon asked, staring between the three of them.

It was if all three of them suddenly remembered that they had an audience to this reunion. Stefan stepped back, much to Rebekah's disappointment, leaving Nik to answer Damon's question.

"Bekah and I knew Stefan in Chicago in the twenties. Until I had to put Bekah to sleep for a while and compel Stefan to forget all about us."

Put her to sleep for a while, what a nice way to say he'd stuck a dagger in her heart and locked her in a coffin for ninety years. She was about to open her mouth and say as much, she could see Finn preparing too as well, but Elijah cleared his throat loudly.

"How interesting, perhaps you can tell us about it over dinner." He suggested, giving both of them a meaningful glance and inclining his head towards Maya.

Ah, yes. That would be why Klaus was being careful with his wording, and Elijah didn't want anyone correcting him.

The thirteen-year-old who was watching them all.

"Damon?" Elijah prompted.

"Yes, dining room's this way."

"I'll show everyone," Maya chirped, a wide grin on her face, as she grabbed Kol's arm and left the room, leaving everyone to follow in her wake.

Maya, brimming with anticipation, led the way into the dining room that she had spent the afternoon painstakingly decorating, with help from everyone except Damon, who had been kept carefully in the dark about what they were up to. The space had been transformed by their combined efforts into the epicentre of the next step in their meticulously orchestrated 'Revenge Plan'. And she and Kol had to be the first to enter, so that they would get the best view of everyone's faces when they saw the decorations.

The centrepiece of their scheme was a photograph, expertly captured by Kol, now magnified, and proudly displayed on the wall beneath a banner that exuberantly proclaimed "Congratulations". The room was a cascade of streamers and balloons, Maya was pretending to ignore the pink balloons, each adorned with the cheeky proclamation 'It's a Girl' that one of the others had slipped in. She suspected Enzo.

A quick check behind her showed that Stefan, despite his confused and somewhat dazed expression, still remembered his part of the plan and had carefully orchestrated things so that her father would be the last to enter.

Kol's grin widened even further as he entered the dining room and was able to fully take in and appreciate the effort Maya had gone to, in order to pull off this part of the plan. He offered her a quick thumbs up as he twirled around desperate to catch a glimpse at the faces of his siblings.

They both watched on with glee as Niklaus entered the room. As his foot touched down on the carpet inside the room, the ominous strains of "The Imperial March" from Star Wars filled the room, a musical cue that heralded chaos. Canons stationed by the door erupted, a storm of confetti and glitter enveloping Niklaus in a dazzling cloud, and a disco ball descended from the ceiling to hover above his head, casting shimmering lights that danced in sync with the music.

Finn looked utterly bewildered by the spectacle, so did Rebekah but only for a second before she started laughing loudly at her brother. Elijah and Damon exchanged long suffering looks, shaking their heads in the realisation that together Kol and Maya might just be an unstoppable force.

Klaus stood immobilized, a statue amidst the whirlwind of glitter and confetti, his face a mask of astonishment at the spectacle unfurling before him. The unexpected serenade of "The Imperial March" and the shower of shimmering particles left him grappling for a response, his usual composure undone by the elaborate prank his daughter, with the undeniable assistance of his brother, had so masterfully set in motion.

Yet, beneath the initial shock, a flicker of pride ignited within him. The sight of his daughter's cunning and Kol's gleeful complicity in the scheme stirred a sense of admiration. How could he summon anger towards Kol, when it was clear that the orchestration of this moment reflected a trait, he valued deeply? Maya's mischief and strategic mind, her ability to conjure such a moment of surprise and delight, mirrored his own tendencies. In the midst of the chaos, Klaus found himself caught between the roles of the feared Original Hybrid and a father – a father who, against all expectations, was profoundly proud of the devious spark he saw mirrored in his daughter's eyes.

Liz stepped inside the hospital room, pleased to see that Kelly was awake again. Hopefully she'd be able to get more answers out of her than she had in the brief time she'd had yesterday e.

"Hello Kelly, I was hoping I could ask you some more questions about the crash."

Confusion flickered through Kelly's eyes.

"Did you ask some before?"

Dark suspicion swirled within Liz. Building with every beat her heart took.

"Yes, last night when you first woke up. I was here and your doctor alerted me immediately. Do you remember?"

"No?"

Liz pressed on, hoping it was just confusion from the injuries she'd suffered, rather than what she truly suspected.

"I wanted to ask you some more about the events the day of the Founder's Parade."

"Founder's Parade? I thought you wanted to ask about my car accident."

Outwardly Liz smiled politely and uttered some platitudes before asking Kelly what she remembered about her accident.

Inwardly she was screaming. Someone had clearly got to Kelly between her first waking up last night and now. Someone who had erased Kelly's memory. Which meant she was right. There was a vampire behind all this.

She just needed to figure out who.