Chapter Fifteen – The Originals 3x16
Over the last few centuries, Elijah had become a master musician with many instruments, including a piano, but had never performed at a jazz bar before. Which is why sitting behind a keyboard on stage, was a very effective method of disguise, easily making him seem innocent. To most people in the bar, anyway. One man, who was on the phone, was the one Elijah was watching, and he had two members of the Strix watching Elijah like hawks.
"If anyone's going to take down Klaus Mikaelson," the man on the phone was saying, nearing the exit, "it's going to be me." He walked out of the door, and the Strix didn't take their eyes off Elijah.
Well, not until a certain brunette bumped into them, spilling drinks onto the floor. "Oh my god, oh my god!" Katherine exclaimed, fanning herself with mock panic. "Oh my god, my boss is so going to kill me!" When the two men saw how distressed the pretty waitress was, they ditched their concerns with Elijah, in favour of comforting her, and assuring her that they wouldn't tell her boss.
However, her boss had just left the building, to follow his new enemy.
Elijah followed him through the dark, wet streets of New Orleans into an empty space where a market often was. He was confronted by the two vampire body guards, who seemed to have some blood returning to their heads, and had lost Katherine.
"Gentlemen," Elijah greeted.
"Come on, now Elijah," Marcel said, approaching him from behind. "I thought we agreed. Although, that compelled waitress dumping those drinks, that was a nice touch. But you're the one who wanted to keep the Strix around for security. As long as we have a legion of Mikaelson enemies in town, how about we just let them do their jobs?"
Elijah smirked. "You know, Marcel, I was just looking for a little me-time," he claimed.
"Well, as soon as they know you're safe and sound, they'll be happy to give you all the me-time you want," Marcel insisted. "However, in the meantime, if you stay put, maybe they could devout their time to finding out who's got that missing white-oak bullet."
Before Elijah could reply, the two members of the Strix and Marcel rose in the air slightly, seemingly choking for breath, before their necks snapped. They fell to the floor in a heap, and Elijah turned around to see Katherine, smirking. "I'm really getting good at this whole magic thing. We'd make quite the power couple."
Elijah nodded slightly instead of thanking her, and ran off to find that vampire man.
Freya was walking through the compound in the early hours of the morning when she heard a very unwelcome voice. "Ah, Freya!" Lucien called, standing by the entrance and being blocked by Elijah's Strix shadows. "Will you tell your new security team that I'm a dear and beloved friend of the family?"
"Well that might be overstating it," she said, stopping in her tracks and facing them. "Let's go with necessary acquaintance." However, she did nod to the security team, and they allowed Lucien past.
"They say flattery will get you anywhere," he mused, walking through.
Freya just rolled her eyes and walked away from him. "What do you want Lucien?" She asked, sensing him following her.
"The question isn't what I want," he informed her, cheekily. "It's whom. See, I've known the Mikaelsons for a thousand years, but you dear Freya, are a new variable. And I can't help but find myself intrigued." He held up a bunch of flowers as she turned to face him. "Don't tell me you haven't felt the spark between us."
Freya didn't deny it, but she didn't accept it either. "This really isn't a good time," she said, trying to force her smile away and turning around to walk into another room, where Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were talking in rushed sentences.
"Are you sure?" Rebekah asked, clearly concerned about something or another. "I've been alive for two bloody hours, and this is not the welcome-home present I was hoping for.
"I saw it with my own eyes," Kol said, angered by whatever it was. "Finn must have come back when Davina resurrected me. The spell was powered by the blood of the Mikaelson line," he explained. "Either it worked on him, or he found a way to hijack it. Either way, the only how I'm concerned with right now, is how long I'm going to make him suffer before I kill him."
He turned to leave just as Freya joined them, and Elijah turned from the furnace to scold him. "Restrain, brother," Elijah ordered, his hands in his pockets. "For now."
"Why?!" Kol demanded, turning back around and gesturing wildly. "Finn could easily be the one spreading rumours about missing white-oak. He's luring Nik's enemies out of the woodwork. It's all part of his tedious revenge fantasy."
"You're wrong," Freya told him, sitting down. Despite what the rest of her family thought, Finn was her brother, and she loved him all the same. And she was tired of hearing only negative things without a proper explanation. "Those rumours began before either of you returned. Finn's innocent."
"Innocent?" Kol scoffed. "Pardon me, love, but Finn has tried to kill the rest of us more than once. He's succeeded before. He's an enemy of our family."
"He is our family," Freya corrected. "Finn's return is an opportunity to fix old wounds and fix what's broken."
Rebekah chimed in, angrily. "He didn't just drop a bloody vase!" She exclaimed. "He murdered Kol."
Elijah, however, turned his attention to Freya. "You sound certain," he told her. "Finn has made it clear many times that he despises this family. How can you prove that he returns in peace?"
"Our sister knows me too well," came a new voice. Finn entered the room, looking arrogant as ever. "Although, perhaps you're right to doubt my intentions. By all means, let's discuss our family quarrels. I believe we're long overdue."
Rebekah and Kol generally made quite the team, whenever they wanted to be. And when Elijah left the room to make a brief phonecall, they certainly ganged up on Finn.
"All these side-steps and parries," Kol mused, getting shoved back by Freya. "Even the way you fight is boring."
"It's an old critique," Finn returned, his eyes rolling. "Given all your flare and flourish, it didn't stop you from being bettered the last time we faced each other."
Kol pushed Freya out of the way and charged at Finn, but was intercepted by Lucien, who shoved him against a nearby wall and held him there by his neck. The pass was free, however, for Rebekah to do the same for Finn, growling at him. "Get your head out of your ass, Finn," she exclaimed. "You have yet the better me."
"Perhaps we should let them fight," Lucien said. "After all, they can't kill each other."
"Behave yourselves!" Elijah ordered upon return. "Particularly considering we'll be confined here together for the foreseeable future." On demand, Lucien and Rebekah dropped their Mikaelson brother, and Kol stormed over to Elijah.
"The hell does that mean?" He asked.
"I believe the term is staycation," Elijah mused, thoughtfully. "Niklaus isn't the only one who's inspired revenge fantasies. We are all at risk. Nobody is allowed in, and nobody is allowed out."
"Well then," came a new voice, as two pairs of heels clicked into the room. "I guess it's a good thing we arrived when we did," Katherine mused, next to Caroline. "I would hate to miss a party."
"Oh, bloody hell," Rebekah growled, rolling her eyes. "As if the damn situation couldn't get any worse, we know have yours and Nik's bloody mistresses to think about?"
Caroline faked an expression of hurt and shock, and Katherine just looked pissed off. "Hey, if it wasn't for me, you'd be in a box somewhere, spiralling into insanity," she reminded the Original sister. "That makes me practically family."
"If it wasn't for you, Elijah would be ten times happier," Rebekah retorted, "and my body wouldn't have been inhabited."
Katherine just scoffed. "Hypocrite," she claimed. "What's the name of that poor witch girl you used for months?"
"Enough!" Elijah interrupted. "No one wants to listen to the pair of you bicker this much. Now, we are all going to act kind and civilised, until Marcel can give us news."
-0-0-0-0-0-
As Finn and Elijah stepped into a separate room to have a serious chat, Katherine sauntered behind the bar and grinned at all of them. "Being trapped here calls for some serious drinking, so," she mused, leaning her elbows on the bar. "Watcha having, Beky? What? I could be the end of the vampire world. Have a drink with us."
Rebekah hissed at her before making a request. "Bloody Mary," she said, simply.
"Make that two," Freya requested.
"What about you, sexy?" Katherine asked Lucien, as she prepared Rebekah and Freya's drinks.
Lucien winked at her. "I'll go for a regular bourbon," he ordered. "Nothing creative or fancy, but it'll get me cheery enough to deal with the likes of you."
"Smart," Katherine commented. "Caroline?"
Caroline just shrugged. "Shots," she requested. "There any tequila back there?"
Katherine searched around but came up empty handed. "Nope, sorry. Vodka any good?" She poured Caroline a shot, which she downed, slamming the glass down and requesting another one, which Katherine gifted to her.
"Beer," Kol ordered, simply. Katherine tossed a can in his direction, and got herself a glass of red wine.
When they all had alcohol in their hands, they separated across the room to handle their priorities in their own order.
Caroline sat at the bar with Kol, looking sad. "I should have gone with him," she admitted. There was a pause, as Kol didn't reply or acknowledge her in anyway, so she smacked him on the arm and repeated herself. "Klaus!" She prompted. "I should have gone with him!" She downed her shot and poured another one for herself.
"Okay?" Kol said. "Why didn't you?"
"Because I'm not ready," she answered, simply. "Like, I know it's been a few years, but the last time we spoke about it, Klaus wanted to be my last love for all eternity or whatever. And I just broke up with Stefan." She took another shot at the thought of it. "I'm not ready to get into a relationship that big."
Kol blinked and sipped his beer. "I don't recall him proposing to you," he pointed out
She rolled her eyes. "Well no," she admitted. "But he said he could be gone for a while. And going with him would mean choosing him for all of my other friends. AKA: Commitment. See the problem?"
"No," Kol said.
"How can you not see the problem?"
"You're immortal," he explained, lightly smacking her upside the head. "You have forever to figure it out."
Caroline huffed and rolled her eyes. "No, we don't! He's on a road trip, for what could be years, with his daughter. The girl he wants the please the most. And his daughter is going to want her parents together. And that's going to be easy, considering they'll be alone on the road together, with their daughter?" She paused, clearly waiting for Kol to finish for her, but he just looked at her like she was being stupid. "Hello?! They're parents! Alone together! Have you ever watched The Parent Trap?"
"Forbes, I've heard Klaus talk about Hayley, and I've heard Klaus talk about you," he said. "I think you'll be fine. Besides, I thought you didn't want to be with him."
"I didn't," she claimed. "I don't. Or I do. Well, I will. I don't know, okay? But I want time to decipher it, without having to either move to fast, or worry about other women!" Her face fell after she said that in realisation.
"Did you figure it out?" Kol asked.
Caroline nodded, slowly. "Yeah, I think I did." There was a pause before she turned to him. "So, you got any problems you want to talk through?"
"Nope," he said. "I'm going to drink my beer in silence. Like a man."
On the other side of the bar, Lucien was confiding in Katherine, his eyes flicking over to the oldest Mikaelson sister as he talked. "You're friends with her, right?" He asked.
Katherine shrugged, sipping her wine and leaning on the bar. "Sort of. Why?"
Lucien smiled, cheekily. "Has she said anything?" He asked. "You can see the chemistry between us, right? Does she feel it too?"
"She said you were hot once," she answered. "Right before babbling something about you being an unbearable prick…"
"No, no, love," Lucien corrected. "She probably said I had an unbearable prick. I can get a little… kinky."
-0-0-0-0-0-
Things got a little quieter as night fell around the compound. Right up until Kol and Finn broke out into a violent, bloody fight. They flung each other through walls and across tables, shattering glass and breaking bones.
Elijah ended up stopping Kol, and ordering him to stand down.
"This isn't your fight!" Kol shouted, angrily.
"I told you to state your hand," Elijah reminded him, scowling.
There was a pause before Kol backed up. "Fine," he decided, lowering the candle that he was planning on burning Finn with. "But I would rather take my chances out there, with white-oak, than stay here with you lot."
"Brother, wait." Elijah tried, but Kol stored passed him to the exit, Davina following behind, and left.
"Elijah," Rebekah said, concerned.
Elijah took a deep breath before speaking. "He'll be fine," he insisted. "Marcel paid us a little visit." He held up a tiny bullet between his fingers and ignored Finn's desperate looking eyes. "The last remaining white-oak in the world. Right here. Sister, if you don't mind."
Freya nodded and held up her hand, lighting a roaring fire in the brazier. Elijah threw the bullet in and Finn called out, diving his hand in to fetch it. "The witch has condemned me," he explained, sounding to be in pure agony. "To this. I can't bear an eternity to this fate. Can you?"
"It is eternity, brother," Rebekah claimed. "You get used to it."
"Finn, give it to me," Elijah ordered, holding his hand at for the bullet. Finn got to his feet, and skittered backwards like an alarmed animal. Elijah did his best not to look threatening as he approached him. "Give it to me," he ordered again.
While he was distracted with Elijah, Lucien flashed forward and snatched the bullet away. He admired it for a second before tossing it to Elijah, who caught it was masterful reflexes. Finn turned to Elijah, pleadingly. Elijah just looked conflicted.
"Go on then," Lucien prompted him, gesturing towards the fire. "After all this? Go on and destroy it!"
Elijah headed towards the fire, but Finn stopped him, desperately. "Elijah!" He pleaded. "Forever is a burden that no one should have to bear."
"Rebekah's right," Caroline chimed in. "As much as it pains me to admit it. But you do get used to it. And you can't keep the white-oak in the house. It's already got to be drawing enemies to us."
"Do not," Finn yelled to Caroline, "tell me what I can and can't handle."
"How about we put it to a vote," Rebekah declared. "Those in favour of destroying it?" She raised her own hand, along with Caroline and Lucien. "Those in favour of keeping it?" Finn raised his hand. After a pause, so did Freya and Katherine.
Elijah turned to the pair of women and narrowed his eyes. "Points?"
"Well," Katherine mused, looking uncomfortable, "it seems people are coming back to life every week or so, and you'd never know when the white-oak can be useful. You know, in case a specific Original comes back to life."
"Mikael…" Elijah mused, thoughtfully. "Freya?"
"I can cloak myself," Freya said, stepping forward. "If it has to exist, at least I can take it far away. Hide it under a thousand spells, so that no one can ever find it. Until the day comes when… we're ready for release."
"Well then it's a tie," Caroline pointed out. "Shouldn't we call Klaus and Kol and ask them for their opinions?"
"Kol would say destroy it," Rebekah chimed in, promisingly.
"Klaus would probably like Katherine's point about Mikael," Freya added.
"And then we're back to square one," Katherine finished.
Elijah paused, looking at war with himself, before handing the bullet to Freya.
Freya only made it to her car, a couple streets away, before she was intercepted. She jumped out of her skin as a man approached. "Vincent!" She greeted, still panicked as she buried the bullet into her fist. She noticed the grim look on the warlock's face and her own fell. "Is something wrong?"
Vincent nodded, almost sadly. "I'm afraid so," he said. He lifted her hand and performed a very quick spell to knock her out.
-0-0-0-0-0-
When Freya woke up, it was to total darkness and the claustrophobia of a bag over her head. When it was lifted, she could feel Lucien behind her. He bent down and stroked her face slightly. "Oh, dear, sweet Freya," he mused. "You have no idea how sorry I am." He reached down and took the white-oak bullet from her hand, holding it up for him and her to see. "I have it," he called.
Two men walked in from the other room and the one who clearly was the boss, spoke. "Ah," he mused, taking the bullet from Lucien and admiring it. "The Mikaelson weapon, and the Mikaelson witch." He kneeled down to talk to Freya, and looked surprisingly comforting. "You've already met Lucien, I gather?" He gestured to the third man in the room and made introductions. "This is my associate, Malachai Parker, and I am what they call 'the beast'." He laughed at that title. "Call me Cade."
AN: Review! -Izzy x
