AN: Ahh thank you all so much for the kind reviews! I really appreciate all the support this story has gotten so far. I'm so excited for this. Due to my lack of social life, I'm writing a chapter a day, and the latest few have been so fun to write!

Anyway, there's so Camille-bashing this chapter. This isn't going to be anti-Hayley, but I can't stop myself from bashing Camille. Sorry not sorry.

Enjoy! -Izzy x


Chapter Two – The Originals 3x03

The morning started off surprisingly peaceful, in comparison to the ones Katherine had suffered through over the last few weeks. She was in a real bed, a thick, bouncy one with a deep mattress and feathery duvet. When she woke up, the warmth on her face from the nearby window was very welcome, even if the brightness wasn't.

She rolled away from it and found her head falling on someone's lap.

Elijah.

The thought make her smile and she allowed herself to enjoy it. He must have come to check on her first thing in the morning…

Wearing jeans?!

Her head shot up and she faced her guest, her eyes growing dark. "Klaus, what the hell?" She snapped, outraged. The hybrid was leaning against the headboard, quite amused at her brief sense of comfort around him.

"Good morning, Katerina," he greeted, grinning. "How did you sleep?" She replied by scowling at him and reaching for her kimono at the end of the bed, throwing it around her shoulders. Klaus got to his feet and walked around her bed to the door, swinging it open to reveal a woman with a hospital walker, and empty blood bags. "I'm thinking one a week," he mused, allowing her in and helping her set up the needle. "Starting today."

"For how long?" Katherine asked.

Klaus shrugged. "A month. Then you can take a short break. I don't want to kill you, after all."

"No?"

"No. But you didn't know that, apparently," he deliberated. "You came here, trying to win your freedom from me. Me, of all your enemies. You could have ran, I wouldn't have known you were alive. In fact, I think you could have easily ran, even as a human from those other enemies of yours. But you decided to run here."

"I don't want to run anymore," she said, sighing. "Is that so hard to believe? You were the one who put me through hell, anyway."

"But I could have easily killed you on first sight," Klaus reminded her. "Or taken your blood, drained you dry, and left you for dead. There are so many ways our encounter could have gone, and yet, you took the risk anyway? Why? For Elijah?"

Katherine tossed him a secretive smirk before turning to the nurse woman without replying.

"Just so you know," Klaus said, as he stabbed Katherine in the arm with a needle, "Elijah's been very happy here, without you. He didn't even bat an eye when you died. So if you think, if you're here for him, that's your feelings are returned…" He looked up at her, to see the look in her eyes when he stung her, "you prepare yourself to be disappointed, love."

She rolled her eyes and snatched her arm away from him, already feeling the blood draw from her. "What do you know about love?" She asked, using her nickname to turn it back to him. "You wouldn't know what to do with love if you found it." She watched him tense up and smirked. "Maybe you think you already have? You know, I planned on meeting that Camille today. But that's not who you're thinking about, right? Does she know about the other blonde you took a fancy for?"

Klaus almost laughed. "You're supposed to be clever, Katherine. Do you really think you could hurt me with Camille?"

"There's all sorts of things I could do with Camille," she played. "Have a nice day, Klaus."

The hybrid rolled his eyes before leaving her with her blood transfusion.

-0-0-0-0-0-

He found Elijah and Freya in the parlour, just as his brother finished telling the story of Lucien Castle, and his brutal punishment for Klaus's crimes. "Which is why," Klaus interrupted, to wrap the story up, "Lucien is both a friend and a foe. Two out of three. I suggest we annihilate him before he causes trouble."

"We can't kill him before we know why he's here," Elijah reasoned, rolling his eyes.

"He can't be here for any good reason if he lied to us already," Klaus exclaimed. "I haven't forgotten about the wolf venom. He had no reason to lie, and yet…"

"Elijah's right," Freya agreed. "He could have some information that could be useful to us."

Klaus sighed. He was getting increasingly tired of all of his siblings agreeing against him. "Well, we should figure out what he wants pretty quickly. What's say we pay him a visit this morning?"

Elijah nodded, satisfied. "I would like to meet the prophet, if she is still staying with him."

Klaus smirked and turned to Freya. "Watch Katerina today. She is still a foe, after all." He watched as Elijah ignored this statement, getting to his feet and acting like Klaus didn't say a thing. How immature…


"Lucien!" Klaus exclaimed, bursting the door to the vampire's apartment and swaggering in by his brother's side. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"I'm afraid you missed him," came a woman's voice from the other room. Alexis, the prophet witch, strolled out of the bedroom in a full-length night gown. She observed the brothers and smiled.

"Where is he?" Klaus asked, scowling.

"The police station," she answered, matter-of-factly. "A detective Kinny had some questions for him."

"And he allowed himself to be arrested?" Elijah asked, looking around the apartment, bored. They'd both been there before, so he must be looking to see if anything changed.

Alexis looked bemused by the question. "He has nothing to hide."

"Lucien's occupied," Elijah concluded, taking a deep breath and sitting himself down on the expensive couch. "Perhaps we should entertain ourselves in the meantime."

Klaus smirked at the witch suggestively. "Well, I've never been one to turn down a snack."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Katherine ended up dragging Freya out of the compound by her wrist, through the French Quarter. "Where are we going?" The witch whined, too beat from the previous night's spell to try and fight her. Besides, she wouldn't get herself, and by extension: Freya, into any trouble.

"To meet Lucien," Katherine explained, like it was obvious. "I don't want Elijah trying to stop me, so while those idiots are running the wrong way, I'm going to get answers for myself."

"How do you know they're running the wrong way?" Freya asked. How did Katherine always seem to be one step ahead of the Mikaelsons?

"I tapped Cami's phone," she replied, holding up her own like it was obvious. "He got arrested this morning." She pulled Freya down behind a car and pointed to across the street, where Camille was walking with some guy towards the police station.

"Is he relevant?" Katherine asked.

"Vincent's a warlock," Freya explained. "Why?"

Katherine shrugged. "They might put up a fight."

She got to her feet and strolled across the road, making the cars stop for her. Freya huffed slightly before jogging after her.

Freya thought she knew New Orleans by now, but Katherine made it feel… different. She knew the streets somehow, and she had so much confidence. She added swagger, something New Orleans dearly needed. They got to the other side of the street and Katherine stepped in front of Camille and Vincent, stopping them in their tracks.

"Hi," she sang.

"Sorry, we're kinda busy," Camille said, making to move around her, sounding bored and annoyed. Katherine physically stopped her, pushing her back.

"I'm new to town," she explained her sweet smile falling. "I don't think we've met. I'm Katherine." Camille turned to Vincent, but neither of them recognised the name. They recognised Freya though, when she joined them.

"I don't want Mikaelson fingerprints on this," Camille snapped, growing angry.

"Chill, we just want to listen in," Katherine justified.

Freya chimed in. "I would let her, if I were you," she claimed. "She's five hundred years old, and I've heard stories."

Camille looked Katherine up and down before making a deduction. "Narcissism, I'm guessing, due to your over confidence and apparent villainess tendencies. Katherine, was it?" She was clearly trying to intimidate her, but Katherine just laughed. Camille looked angry. "You can't come with us," she decided.

"I was hoping to start a fight," Katherine said with a sigh. She grabbed the front of Camille's shirt and shoved her against the brick wall. The blonde tried to slap her, but Katherine shoved her arms away and banged her head so hard against the wall she fell to the pavement, unconscious.

"Katherine!" Freya exclaimed, blocking Vincent's magic as he tried to punish Katherine. "We are literally right outside a police station with no compulsion on our side."

She looked absolutely joyful over the situation. Freya knocked Vincent out and followed Katherine into the police precinct. A few people stopped and stared, but after seeing them walk into the police department, they figured it wasn't their business.

Somehow Katherine knew the exact room to go in to, and exactly which button to press so that they could see and hear Lucien, who was leaning against the table in the other room, talking to a detective.

Freya hadn't met Lucien before. He was pretty hot, actually. He wore a careless expression and obvious wealth. He looked like an asshole, to be honest, but assholes can be hot sometimes…

"Those poor men," Lucien was saying, flicking through the files. "Oh, well not poor at all. Look at those watches, those cufflinks. You're probably looking for a lower-class man, with jealousy issues."

"You seem to know the case well," the detective mused.

Lucien seemed to find this accusation amusing. "Look at my watch," he ordered. "My cufflinks. It only takes one to know one."

The detective tried to mimic Lucien's humorous expression. "Do you know why you're a suspect, Mr Castle?"

"I know why I'm being framed," Lucien mused. "I also know that you have Camille O'Connell behind that window, and I would very much like to her alone. Bring her to me." He leaned forward and compelled the detective, who quietly got up to leave.

Freya swallowed and watched the detective leave the interrogation room. He checked the room they were watching them in, but he paid them no attention before leaving again. "Is he going to find Camille?" Freya whispered.

Katherine nodded, not looking the slightest bit worried. She left the room without a word and walked through to the room that held Lucien captive.

His eyes narrowed when he first saw her, like he vaguely recognised her. "Well, you're not Camille," he noticed.

"What gave it away?" She asked, closing the door behind her and strolling in. "Was it the brunette hair, or the fact that I haven't psycho-analysed you yet?"

"You can't blame a man for wanting some entertainment." He laughed.

"Good," she claimed, pulling the chair out and sitting opposite him, resting her heel-clad feet on the table. "I'm Katherine Pierce."

Lucien's face fell and his mouth opened in slight shock. "The Katherine Pierce? Jesus, I thought you were a myth. Is it true you dated Kol and Elijah at the same time, while running from Klaus? And none of them knew?"

Katherine blinked. "No," she exclaimed. "I never dated Kol. For the record, I expected more from you than some silly gullible dick. Do you believe every soap-opera inspired rumour you hear?"

"You've heard of me, too?" Lucien asked, ignoring the rest.

"Lucien Castle," she identified. "Oh yeah, I've heard all about you. I heard you're a frenemy to the Mikaelsons. Which means you and I could make pretty excellent friends."

"Oh, I'm betting on it."

"Camille would want me to get you to talk about these murders," Katherine mused, flicking through some of the files. "Brutal. Kudos. Why bother denying it, right? But I think Camille's a bore. Human, moral, can't shut up about her god damn degree. She's not that smart. Like, yeah, I'm a psychopath? Anyone can guess that, it doesn't make you special?"

As if on cue, the detective walked back into the room, dropped Camille's unconscious body on the floor, and left again. Lucien looked at the blonde before turning back to Katherine, who shrugged innocently.

He took a deep breath before continuing like she wasn't there. "I think Cami and I are quite similar, actually. So are you. Three souls caught in the orbit of the family Mikaelson, yet somehow survived to tell the tale. I mean, look what they did to you. And now you live with them."

"I'm not living with them for the company," she replied. "I won't even be living with them for long. I'm hoping to get my own place."

"But still abide by them?" Lucien checked. "If I'm not mistaken, Klaus killed your whole family, and tried to kill you too. And Elijah blamed you for it. Do you know what they did to me?"

Katherine took a deep breath, pretending to be bored. "Go on then. Entertain me."

Lucien smirked. "I gave Klaus a love letter for a beautiful redhead. When he promised to deliver it, I caught him taking advantage of her instead. The guard arrived and since I was there, they both chose to frame me for the secret meeting."

"So?" Katherine huffed. "Was your pride wounded? Did the girl fancy Klaus instead?"

"I was beaten bloody for my indiscretions," Lucien explained. "I was tortured for what Klaus did. Lord was it humiliating."

Katherine sighed, rolling her eyes at his sob story. "So, what?" She asked. "You want to hurt him?" She swung her legs off the table and leaned on her elbows, resting her chin on her hands. "See, I can't let that happen, Lucy."

"Oh no. Katerina, is it?" He used her birthname in such a patronising tone. Katherine hated the really old vampires. "I want to protect him. See, I have plenty of motivation to kill him, and these murders are meant to frame me. Turn him against me. I want your help proving my innocence. You and I… we could work together. I've heard stories about you, you know. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Survivor. Imagine our joining forces."

"I work best alone," she said. Lucien wasn't the first Klaus-hating sucker who wanted to work with her, and he wouldn't be the last. "And Klaus can protect himself pretty well."

"Katerin-"

"Not to you. My name is Katherine to you," she said, her eyes growing dark and her face hardening. "I don't want to be your friend, or to get chummy. I want to leave you alone. And then, when the time is right… I want to kill you." She cherished the look of shock on his face. "Because you're inevitably going to become an enemy to the Mikaelsons, and when I kill you…" she leaned forward, as if sharing a secret, "they'll trust me."

-0-0-0-0-0-

Alexis moved around a table, burning a stick of incense as the brothers. Watched, pacing behind her. "How long is this going to take?" Klaus asked, impatiently.

Alexis sneered. "Elijah and I can begin now. Just us. Sadly, I've already showed you what visions of you have made an appearance."

Klaus rolled his eyes, almost amused that the witch thought she had a say in the situation. "The warning was for both of us. Friend, foe and family. I'd like to see his, please."

Since Elijah didn't protest, the prophet relented. "Since family is of the matter, and you are brothers, are you so sure you'd like to see what I have to show you?" She removed her hair from her shoulder as she spoke, letting them see the veins in her neck pulse.

Elijah smirked. "I never could resist a good spoiler." He put his hand on her neck and Klaus positioned her wrist. They bit down in unison, and a vison flashed before their eyes.

A book; some sort of grimoire. Portraits of Elijah and Rebekah. Blood splattered across Elijah's staining the art. Marcel fell to his knees in pain, clearly losing a fight. Lucien Castle leaned across a metal table and brushed a stray curl from Katerina's face.

When they pulled away, Klaus grumbled angrily. "Well, at least your visions were specific," Klaus said. Elijah gently lay the prophet, now unconscious, onto the table, as Klaus continued talking. "It seems Lucien has intentions for Katerina."

"And what of Marcel?" Elijah asked. "Family and friend? Where does his loyalties lie?"

There was a pause as Klaus blinked. Elijah didn't seem to know why that was such a foolish question. "You question him over the company kept by your darling Katerina?"

Elijah rolled his eyes. "Niklaus, you compelled Katerina not to work against us, and she is very capable of taking care of herself. Even as a human."

Klaus sighed. "Well, I trust Marcel a hell of a lot more that Katherine, and that's not unreasonable given her history. However, since I seem to care more than you, find Marcel and question him. I'll go, as the rational brother, and make sure our vixen's affairs are in order."

-0-0-0-0-0-

At the police station, Lucien had barely finished explaining to Katherine how him and Tristan were in town to protect their sires when Klaus burst in, noticing Camille on the floor and glaring at Katerina. "What the hell have you done?"

Katherine giggled as he pulled Camille to her feet. "Misbehave?" She answered, innocently. "Relax, I'm not strong enough to kill her with my bare hands."

Klaus ignored her, feeding Camille his blood. She began to stir as he did so, and he sat her down in one of the chairs, barely able to keep herself up. "What happened?" She grumbled. She perked up a little when Klaus picked Katherine up and shoved her against the wall.

"What happened?" He demanded, angrily.

"Well I wanted to meet Lucien, but Camille got all bossy," Katherine mused, thoughtfully, "so I smashed her head against the wall. Your big sister helped, by the way."

Klaus grumbled, pulling her from the wall and grabbing a fist of her hair, pulling her into another interrogation room, locking her in there. "Wait there," he ordered. "Don't cause any more trouble." He stalked off to finish questioning Lucien for her.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Klaus left the precinct, followed by Cami, Freya and Katherine. Katherine trailed slightly behind with Freya, who was quickly becoming one of her top two Mikaelsons. Klaus seemed irked by that, which was funny.

He had a little row with Camille about whether he should confront Lucien or not, which was also funny, and then Klaus left, flashing away like some sexy supervillain.

"I'm going to find Vincent," Freya informed her, noting her glances at Camille. "Make sure I didn't hit him too hard, you know?"

Katherine didn't react, but when Freya left, Cami stalked up to her quite confidently. "Look, I know you have a history with the Mikaelsons, and used to be pretty hardcore, but if you ever come at me again… I'll kill you."

Katherine laughed. She covered her mouth with her fingers to hide it. "Seriously? I thought you were a good little catholic girl." There was a pause as her laughing died down and she sighed. "But really, Camille? You mean nothing. Good luck killing me."

She walked past her, but Camille stopped her, outraged. "I don't mean nothing," she exclaimed. "I'm a human being. I'm intelligent. I have-"

"A degree?" Katherine guessed. "A degree means nothing in a fight, Camille. The only reason you know who Lucien is, is because you've deluded yourself into thinking Klaus has a thing for you, and you think that entitles you to a place in this world. Guess what? It doesn't."

Camille huffed and smirked, like she was about to put Katherine in her place. "I set down the boundaries between Klaus and I," she informed her, proudly. "He's the one who keeps inviting me to art shows."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "Please. You're merely a carbon-copy of a perky blonde in Virginia. You know, one he's actually interested in. You look a little like her, so his subconscious thought: good enough! He misses her, and you're the 2.0. And what's really funny, is that if you were as good a psychology as you thought you were, you would have figured that out by now." She smirked as Camille's face fell. "So, I'm going to do to you what I want, and Klaus won't care. Go ahead, try and kill me. See if he cares then. I'm a lot more important than you are, Cami."


Elijah sat by the fireside late in the evening, twirling a glass of scotch but not drinking from it. He heard his brother's presence behind him, and spoke before he could. "Aya and Tristan have arrived in New Orleans as well," he informed him, unhappily. "I fear his unstable sister is short to follow."

Klaus stood aside him and stares at the same flame. "Lucien is stubborn. He insists he's here for my benefit. Don't trust Tristan, Elijah. I don't believe them."

"Never trust the Strix in general," Elijah mused. "I never created them to be trustworthy." Klaus paused, not making a move to sit down. He didn't want a conversation, but he didn't leave. He had something to say. "What is it?" Elijah demanded.

"Are you purposely trying not to care about her? Katerina?" Klaus asked.

Elijah sighed. "I don't trust her, you're right. I know she is compelled, but… She's Katherine Pierce. She's not Katerina anymore, Niklaus."

There was a moment before Klaus responded. "Is she not worth the forgiveness you granted me?" He asked. Elijah did not reply, so Klaus continued. "I know you are still upset, and unhappy in our reconciliation, but I will earn the forgiveness you gave. And you will never fall by my hand."

He left the room, without another word.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Elijah paced around the compound aimlessly, for a little while. He didn't know what he wanted any more than his brother did. But somehow, he found himself on the doorstep of her current bedroom. Katherine. Katerina. Who cared anymore?

The water stopped running in the other room and he watched as she walked back from the adjoining bathroom, stark naked and completely unashamed of herself. She smirked at him. "Care to join me?" She asked, winking.

Elijah forced his gaze to remain at eye-level before turning away, disappointed. He'd hoped to have a rational conversation, to some extent. But he hadn't been there for ten seconds before she already attempted to seduce him.

She rolled her eyes and picked up a towel from her bed, wrapping it around her body and tucking it together. "No? Then what do you want, Elijah?"

He paused before shaking his head, looking back up to her eyes – allowing himself to briefly pause on her long legs – before shrugging. "I don't know," he admitted.

"Well, you better make up your mind soon," she mused, quite cheerfully as she tidied away her clothes of the day. "In ten years, I'm supposed to be married with a baby."

Elijah didn't know whether he should cringe of laugh at the thought. He'd watched Hayley marry Jackson and raise Hope with him, and while that stung, he guessed it would be even worse when Katerina settled down with someone else. But the thought of her being a housewife…

"Ten years, Elijah," she snapped, pulling him out of the daydream. Clearly the timing was much more important to her than the situation. "Ten years. After playing around each other for five hundred, we have ten left. Then I'm going to get old and weak. Then I'm going to die."

He winced at the idea of that. "Katerina," he mused. "Are you asking me to fall in love with you right this minute? I can't. You've given me too many reasons to mistrust you-"

"Then think logically!" She snapped, throwing her laundry in the hamper and stepping up to him, her big brown eyes meeting his, showing all the weaknesses her jawline concealed. "I have allies, just like I have enemies. Strong ones. I could have gone anywhere, but I suffered your brother to be in New Orleans. To be with you. That's got to be worth something."

Elijah paused, blinking. He wanted, so desperately, for that to be enough. But it wasn't. She was up to something; she had to be. With the prophecy looming over them, he had to keep Katherine at arm's length.

"It isn't," he lied.

She scowled slightly and looked away, trying to hide the sadness behind her eyes. "Just try," she spat after a minute, barely more than a whisper. "I don't have that much time left, Elijah, we need to work fast. Just… try."


This story will follow the TO plot for a little while, but it will take on a few plots of it's own as we go along.

Don't forget to review! It will really make my day! Please? -Izzy x