Chapter Twenty-Two – The Originals 4x01

Katherine Pierce was the furthest thing from loyal. She was actually known across the world for being the opposite. She manipulated and deceived and rarely ever fell in love, but even when her feelings were true she would always put herself first. Above all. To the outside eye, she had ruthlessly stabbed the Mikaelson's in the back after they offered her a home with them.

But she wasn't loyal to Marcel, either. In fact, during the last four out of the five years, Katherine had turned to deceiving him too. It all started one day in December, and it was Klaus Mikaelson's first Christmas chained in his old son's basement. Marcellus had removed Papa Tunde's blade, but left him chained up to mummify.

Katherine had descended the stairs and didn't cross the line of salt, but she did throw something across it. A blood bag which Klaus devoured in an instant.

"Come to gloat?" He guessed.

"On Christmas?" She asked. "You think I'm that bad?"

"Only because I made you to be," he answered. Then, after a quick pause, he asked: "Is it really Christmas already?"

Katherine almost gleamed happily, but decided to sigh instead. "Caroline's taken a quick break from trying to save you and your siblings and will be spending the day with Hayley, Stefan and Hope in Mystic Falls."

"Don't touch them!" Klaus growled, angrily.

"I wasn't going to," Katherine replied. "I was just letting you know."

"As a threat?" Klaus demanded.

"As a kindness," she replied. "Merry Christmas, Klaus." She took the old plastic bag that she'd given him, so Marcel didn't know what she did, and left him alone to his thoughts.

She returned a few times every year from then. Making sure his mummifying process didn't become too painful. Marcel also revived him every now and then and didn't catch on to the fact that Klaus was never really in pain. And Klaus and Katherine talked.

"Hope's doing well in school, I hear," Katherine would muse. "Came second place in a spelling bee, the winning word being 'airplane'. And she's learning to paint."

"Caroline's found a cure for Freya and asked for my help finding a witch to siphon Rebekah's curse. She even tried to trick me into thinking Stefan was in danger, so I'd go to them. It almost worked. But I'm not helping her."

"So Hayley and Stefan started dating, I heard. I'm not sure how true that is, but they are each other's type. Hayley likes the brooding good brother, and Stefan likes the virginal Mary Sue."

Klaus would listen to these little updates, and he seemed thankful for them. They seemed to calm him. One time, upon his request, Katherine broke into Hope's school to take a piece of her art to show him. One day, he finally asked.

"Why are you being nice to me?"

Katherine was sat opposite him, leaning against the wall as he tossed the emptied blood bag back to her.

She paused, not really sure herself what the answer was, before deciding to speculate. "Maybe because I feel guilty. Before you killed me, you did make amends and gave me a home. Maybe we could have tried harder to make it work. For Elijah's sake. Maybe it's for him. I still love him, you know, and I don't want his brother tortured forever."

Klaus smirked. "If I ever get out of this, I'll make sure Elijah doesn't punish you for too long."


Hayley was tidying up her attic when her phone rang. She answered immediately upon seeing the caller ID and even smiled into the phone. "Caroline!" She greeted. "Please tell me you have good news."

"That," Caroline allowed. "And some bad. Which do you want first?"

Hayley grumbled as she wiped down Freya's coffin. It was an eerie job, but she refused to let them get dusty. It was disrespectful. And if she ever did go upstairs to see a horribly filthy coffin, she'd only feel terrible about the idea she wasn't doing more to help them – like she'd forgotten about them.

"Bad," she decided.

"Alistair Duquesne," Caroline introduced. "Old, powerful enemy of Klaus's. He's discovered that Elijah is still alive, and believes that we're trying to bring the Mikaelsons back which will inevitably bring Klaus back. According to Katherine, he'll be in New Orleans for the anniversary of their fall, and she believes he'll try to use Klaus's blood to find his family, or even Hope."

"She we be worried?" Hayley asked, tensing up and preparing to grab Hope and run.

"Not yet, I'll let you know," Caroline promised. "But you have your go-bags ready?"

"Yeah, and Stefan and I have an escape plan for the Mikaelsons," Hayley added. "Don't worry about us, just tell us if we need to run again."

"I will," Caroline promised. "Now, the good news. I have a lead on the last Malraux. A med student named Keelin. I was actually hoping you could help me out, as I'm in New Orleans this weekend."

Hayley paused, clicking her tongue. "I don't know. I trust Stefan with Hope, but if that Alistair guy is going to be coming for us, then-"

"That's what I'm going to New Orleans to prevent," Caroline informed her. "I'll be sure to give Stefan plenty of warning if anything goes wrong. I was actually hoping to use you as a decoy for Alistair, so he wouldn't come for Hope."

Hayley thought this over before agreeing. Caroline texted her the information and Hayley left her attic, prepared to tell Stefan and Hope that she was going away for a few days. When she walked into Hope's room, her beautiful daughter was sat on her bed colouring away and lost in thought.

"Hey, honey," she greeted, leaning in the door frame. "I just got a call from Caroline, and she said she needs my help. Would you be okay if I went away for the weekend? You and Stefan would have the place to yourselves."

Hayley knew that when Stefan was alone with Hope they stayed up too late and ate ice cream for dinner, and she didn't mind it because it happened so rarely and it usually meant Hayley could slip away without too much trouble.

"Where are you going?" Hope asked, perking up.

"Not far," Hayley promised. "I'll be close by if you need me."

"Are you going to get my Dad?" Hope asked.

Now Hayley hesitated, not wanting to get her hopes up, but also not knowing how to explain why she'd have to leave so suddenly. "Maybe," she settled. "But I'm pretty sure we'll get your aunts and uncles back quite soon."

Hope smiled. "Okay, Mommy."

Hayley gave her a big kiss on the forehead before turning out of the room and towards Stefan in the hallway, who was watching her happily. She gestured towards her bedroom and he followed her inside.

They started dating each other after Hayley and Hope had been in Mystic Falls for three years. They saw each other every day, he was a regular babysitter, and he was great with Hope. And he just… understood her better than anyone had since Jackson. She felt safe with him, and didn't want to leave him. However, they had very strict terms for their relationship.

No moving in together. Even though Stefan was over so often, he wasn't allowed to stay the night for more than three nights a week. They didn't kiss in front of Hope. As far as she knew, they were just close friends. No thoughts of their future. Since Hope's father was away, it didn't feel right for Hayley to have Stefan around so much. She didn't want to replace the father figure in Hope's life. She didn't want Hope to start seeing Stefan that way. She needed to bond with Klaus first before accepting Stefan as Hayley's boyfriend, so until Klaus was returned home, Stefan and Hayley's relationship was standing still. And their most important rule?

Absolutely no use of the 'L' word.

"Caroline gave me a lead on Keelin Malraux, the last of the seventh werewolf pack," Hayley informed him. "It shouldn't take me the weekend to get what I need from her. But then, after we wake up the Mikaelsons, we may have to charge New Orleans, so I don't know how long I'll be away."

"I don't mind," Stefan assured her. "Just let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

"Watch your phone," Hayley suggested. "Caroline will call you if you and Hope need to move, so don't hesitate when it rings. You know where her go-bag is?"

"Under the floorboard of your closet, I know," Stefan promised her. "She'll be fine. I've been avoiding trouble for over a century and a half. Just promise me that you'll be okay."

"I will be," Hayley claimed. "I always am."


Caroline was waiting at the back of Rousseau's for Marcel to arrive, sipping on a glass of red wine and watching at Josh pottered around with boxes, unstacking new stock. Witches, werewolves, vampires and all-knowing humans were drinking in harmony in this bar now, all talking happily about the anniversary of Klaus's take down.

"Your royal highness," Caroline greeted, feigning a look of shock and humbleness as Marcel finally showed up. "Thank you for gracing me with your presence."

Marcel scowled and sat opposite her. "You can take it down a notch. And while the peace in this city that I've accomplished is worth praise, I don't need ingenuity. I'm guessing you're here to debate the terms of Klaus's stay this year?"

"Marcel, you have taken everything from him," Caroline reminded him. "You need to step back and let him lick his wounds. Do not put him on display for everyone to gawk at him."

"Yeah, and I agreed to that last year," Marcel reminded her. "And the year before. And the year before. But this is year five now. It's a milestone and people want to celebrate it. They deserve to celebrate it."

"And what about Klaus?" Caroline asked. "Doesn't he deserve the slightest bit of decency? Just the tiniest bit? After everything you've put him through in the last five years, can't you just grant him a little privacy?"

Marcel paused, scratching his eyebrow. "If people never see him locked up, they'll stop believing me. And then they freak out, and this city loses it's peace."

"The Mikaelson's are gone," she reminded him. "By force or choice, who cares? The point is that they're not bothering anyone, why would anybody fight against that? And you really want a peaceful community where people laugh and gawk and throw things at a man in pain? Is that the kind of peace you want?"

Marcel sighed before relenting. Him and Caroline were still of the same species and strength – he couldn't fight her on everything. She couldn't really win against him for Klaus every day of every year, because Marcel had the whole supernatural community on his side, whereas Caroline just had herself. But she did have some power.

"Fine," he agreed. "Is there anything else?"

"Alistair Duquesne," Caroline said, without hesitation. "I heard he's going to try and come after Hayley, and I'm not having that. I know that you don't want that either, so what are you going to do to stop it?"

"He isn't going to get to Klaus," Marcel promised her. "And if he does, no witch is going to help him, not while Vincent's still around."

"Yeah?" Caroline asked, cocking her head. "I have a better idea."

She left Marcel at the bar and went back to the old, miserable, deserted compound. It was still a wreck from the fights that broke out five years ago. Caroline wanted to tidy it all up, imagining them all coming home one day, but she knew that would be suspicious to Marcel, so she let it get old and dusty. She walked down to the basement, past the eerie creaking black gates and pushed open the one that had Klaus behind it.

He looked up when she walked in, and cracked the smallest of smiles. It must have been a few days since Marcel fed him, because he looked okay, but certainly worse-for-wear.

"Hey," she greeted, handing him a blood bag through the salt line.

"Hello, Love," he said, draining the blood in one go and standing up to face her. "How are you?"

She took a deep breath before answering honestly: "I miss you. I want you in my life, and I don't want to settle for you not being there. I promise, I'll get you out soon."

Klaus raised an eyebrow optimistically. "Is that so? Well, not to be a downer, Caroline, but you did say that five years ago, and here we are." He looked around a if trying to see the barrier that kept them apart.

"This close," Caroline mouthed, happily, holding up her fingers less than an inch apart.

Klaus's eyes narrowed, realising that she meant it. It wasn't a musing, but a plan. She was really going to get him out soon. "How long?" He whispered, knowing that the city above them was covered in supernatural beings, and all the privacy they had down there should never be tested.

"The weekend," she breathed. "I give you my word. In the meantime, I made a deal with Marcel to get you a little fresh air. I'm going to be warding off your old enemies all night, but there's one in particularly who I suspect might be giving us a little too much trouble: Alistair Duquesne. Either of us could kill him, but Marcel doesn't want a war with him, and I agreed to the terms so that we can have our privacy tonight. We want Alistair to get in line."

"And that's my problem, why?"

"Because he's a threat to Hayley," Caroline told him. "And by extension, Hope. Now, listen. I've done my research on the guy – he's a vain, proud aristocrat, who's only got worse with time. We want you to knock him off his high horse."


Hayley said goodbye to Hope and Stefan as she loaded the coffins of the Mikaelson's into the back of her van. She told Hope to listen to Stefan while she was away and promised not to come back alone. She'd said goodbye to Stefan upstairs so they didn't have to show too much affection in front of Hope, but she did give him one last hug before leaving.

The drive to Austin, Texas, was almost a full day, and by the time she came to a stop at the little bar she'd followed Keelin to Hayley was exhausted, even for a hybrid. She twisted her old wedding ring around her finger and watched as her target downed another shot before heading to the bar, offering to buy the next round for her friends. "Pull yourselves together," she joked as she left the group.

Hayley got up and headed towards her, leaning on the bar and ordering herself a beer. "You look like you're having fun," Hayley observed, looking over Keelin with slight interest. So this was the girl who was going to piece her family back together? "What's the occasion?"

"I just finished my residency," Keelin replied, her eyes looking Hayley over and not in the same kind of way. She wasn't sizing up an enemy, she was checking a hot girl out. Interesting. "Which means I'm an official ER doctor."

"Congratulations," Hayley said, bored. The number of werewolves she knew who went into the medical industry was silly. In certain parts of Tennessee, if you had to go to the hospital you could be almost certain that your doctor was a wolf every month.

"Thank you," Keelin said.

"Does it help with the guilt?" Hayley asked, remembering how all those doctors had opened up to her and Tyler Lockwood, years ago. "Given what you are?"

"Excuse me?" Keelin asked, clearly taken aback.

"Keelin, you need to listen to me," Hayley claimed.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded.

"Got it from a friend," the hybrid explained. "She said your grandma's maiden name was Malroux?"

Without hesitation, Keelin turned to leave and Hayley had to grab her arm and pull her back, much more aggressively than she would have liked. "You better back off me," Keelin warned, her eyes glowing yellow.

"I wish I could," Hayley returned, allowing her own eyes to do the same. "I need a favour, five minutes outside, I can explain."

Keelin finally relented and lead Hayley to an alleyway behind the bar, filled with crates and dustbins and old cabinets. Before she allowed Hayley to speak, however, Keelin elbowed her in the face and took off, jumping over all the rubbish and running as fast as she could. When she jumped over the brick wall at the end, she wasn't expecting to land right in front of a perfectly fine Hayley.

"Don't do that again," Hayley requested.

"I'm not going without a fight," Keelin promised, growling lowly.

"Will you relax?" Hayley asked, rolling her eyes. "I'm not here to fight you, I need you! You're the last of your pack which makes you too special to explain."

"I don't care about your problems-"

"You should," Hayley told her. "Because there are others that know how important you are, and they will come for you. And I promise they won't be as nice as me."

"I have a life here," Keelin told her. "Career, relationships. If someone wants to take that, they're going to have to kill me."

Hayley paused, hearing the voices of men preying on them, closing in on them, plotting to kill them. "I'm sorry," she said, honestly to Keelin. "We don't have time for this." She knocked the other wolf out and flung her over her shoulder, running off before the men could catch them.


Klaus had requested that Caroline pass along a message about Alistair, which lead to Marcel throwing him a party to welcome him into the city. And to stroke his ego. However, this didn't solve their problem – it was actually far from it. Alistair had issued a challenge to Marcel, and demanded to see Klaus before the end of the night, and Marcel wasn't happy about it. He stormed the dungeon of the compound, where Klaus was chained and demanded an explanation.

"Can I assume your gathering for Alistair was a raging success?" He asked.

"Alistair doesn't give a damn about having his ego stroked," Marcel informed him. "He used the party for the audience so he could throw down a challenge. Is that what you intended?"

"How difficult to be king," Klaus mused. "An outsider challenges your rules, and you have no one to offer counsel."

Marcel smirked. "You think I don't know? The day after I bit Elijah his sireline should have died, but they're still out there. So I had Vincent cast a spell to figure out how that could be, and it turned out that the lives of your siblings are linked to you. Now I don't give a damn about the others, but I'm not going to let anything happen to Rebekah."

"Lucky for me, my sister still holds your fancy," Klaus mused. "You may have no choice but to kill poor Alistair. Ah well, heavy head, heavy crown, etcetera."

"If I kill Alistair, his theory gains attention," Marcel claimed. "His vampires swarms the city, overtakes me, and all they need is a drop of your blood and then their witches can track your family – even Hope. But hey, I guess that's my problem, right?"

"Marcel!" Klaus exclaimed, as his protégé turned to leave. "You don't know Alistair. To defeat him you need me."

Before either of them could say anything else, Caroline walked back in, hanging up her phone and throwing Klaus the dead body of the man she'd killed outside for him to feast on. "I just got off the phone with Hayley," she claimed. "Two of Alistair's guys found her."

Klaus glowered, instantly fuming. "Is Hope okay?"

Of course it was just an act. He knew that Hope was with Stefan, and Hayley was in Texas, but they didn't need Marcel to question what Hayley was up to, so for all he knew, the mother and daughter were together.

"They're both fine, Hayley killed them," Caroline claimed. With a relieved sigh, Klaus bit into the still warm body and drank. "We need to do something."

"Marcellus," Klaus said, taking a break from his feast, "if you want this predicament to remain in tact, in which Caroline and I stay on either side of a salt line, only to see each other a couple of times per year, then you need to let me help my daughter. Just this once."

"You're offering me a deal?" Marcel asked, raising an eyebrow in doubt.

"One you can't refuse," Klaus explained. "They hate me for my strength, and now they know creatures such as the two of you. Men like that only speak one language and I speak it fluently. Release me, and I'll lay waste to the lot of them."


Keelin woke up near nightfall, and rattled the chains that held her to a chair. They were in an abandoned warehouse near the railway and could hear trains in the distance. Hayley had set up shop, going through all the things she needed to raise the dead.

"Relax," Hayley ordered as Keelin started panicking in her seat. "I'm not your enemy. If I had left you where you were, you'd be dead already."

"Let me guess," Keelin requested. "We're on the run from vampires?! You have the same stink they do."

"I'm special," Hayley explained, turning to face her. "I'm a hybrid. Half vampire, half werewolf, and considering I just saved your ass, you should show me some respect."

"How do I know you're not the one that lead them to me?"

"Does it matter?" Hayley asked. "They know who you are and they want you dead. The only way to survive is to do exactly what I tell you."

"Like I have a choice," Keelin said. She watched as Hayley removed a mask and tubes from her duffel bag and her face fell. "Look, I don't know what kind of pervy stuff you're into, but I'm not that kind of girl."

"This is a device to extract your venom," Hayley informed her, scowling. "And before you ask – yes, it will hurt."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Keelin demanded, her voice cracking.

Hayley paused and walked over to where she had lined up the coffins of the Mikaelsons, and covered them with a plastic tarp. She removed this and opened up the first coffin, which housed Freya. "I'm trying to save my family," she explained. "Keelin, the people in these coffins are dying. The only thing keeping them alive is a sleep spell, and the only one that can sure them is her. She's a witch and she gave me instructions on how to wake her up early; the only thing I'm missing is your venom. When she's on her feet, I can give her the ingredients I got and with any luck no one has to die."

"So if I give you what you want," Keelin said slowly, "you'll let me go?"

"You have my word."

It only took five minutes from there for Hayley to extract the venom from Keelin, and she promised to let her go as soon as she knew it worked.

"When will that be?" Keelin asked.

"You'll know when you see it," Hayley promised.

"You have to wake up sleeping beauty, right?" Keelin asked, nodding over to Freya's coffin and looking concerned. "How do you do that?"

Hayley found herself rolling her eyes again as she walked over to Freya's coffin with a syringe. "You know, you ask a lot of questions," she mused. She plunged the syringe into the witches heart, and once she woke up, they only had a second to reunite before Freya set off to work.

"You have all the ingredients?" She asked. "Good. If I can't turn that into a cure, Elijah and Kol are going to die."

"How long do we have?" Hayley asked.

"An hour," Freya said, setting up the pentagram and getting prepared. "Assuming they live that long. Venom from the seven packs, along with Klaus's blood, infused with my magic and magnified by the dark objects. It's going to take all my strength, but it should be enough to fashion a cure."

"Will you be okay?" Hayley asked.

"Hopefully," Freya admitted, not looking Hayley in the eye.

"I'm sorry we couldn't wake Finn up to help you," Hayley admitted. "Caroline just said to wake you up."

Freya shrugged. "I knew what I was getting myself into. And if I don't make it, I can't imagine a better reason to die."

"Don't say that," Hayley demanded. "Elijah and Klaus wouldn't forgive me if I let that happen! There's got to be something. Could you channel me?"

"No, for this it has to be another witch," Freya explained. "I wish Katherine was still on our side. We clicked really well."

"Wait," Keelin interrupted, her eyes narrowing. "Katherine Pierce?"

Hayley and Freya's faces fell as they exchanged a look. "How the hell do you know that name?" Hayley demanded, storming over to where Keelin was sitting.

"We slept together about a year ago," Keelin explained. "Hold up, she said your name was Freya? Is that Freya Mikaelson?"

Freya raised an eyebrow, looking completely bewildered and getting to her feet to join Hayley, looking down on the werewolf. "Yeah, it is," Freya claimed. "How do you know that?"

"Well, you're Kat's ex, right?" Keelin asked. "She said you totally broke her heart, and she gave me your necklace." She looked down at the pendant resting on her own chest and up to Freya. "Don't you recognise it?"

"I do, it's Katherine's," Hayley said. "It was on Elijah's nightstand the day after… Okay, yes, I was snooping. I still liked him at the time, I'm over it now, can we move on?!"

"Why would Katherine give you her necklace and say it was mine?" Freya asked.

"She wants you to use it," Hayley claimed. "It makes sense! She's smart, we know that, and we know you can't do this by yourself. This is Katherine trying to help you. You can channel her through that, right?"

"I mean," Freya said, hesitating. "Yeah, but she was the one who did this in the first place. Why would she want to help us now?"

"She did this to hurt Klaus, but she loves Elijah," Hayley reminded her. "I know Caroline went to her for help for a couple of times, and once we even used Stefan Salvatore to get her attention. Look, just have a little faith. Use the necklace. We don't have time to debate this."

Freya nodded before ripping the necklace from Keelin, who wasn't very happy about it, and lacing it through her fingers as she went back into the pentagram and was about to say something else before the sound of vehicles rolling into the warehouse interrupted them.

"We got company," Hayley narrated.

"Hayley, please let me go," Keelin pleaded. "If it's vampires, they'll kill me."

"I need more time," Freya claimed, nodding to Hayley. Hayley nodded back and ran off to meet the men.


Caroline stayed to the back of the compound as she watched the vampires flood in, standing like an audience around the circle of salt Vincent had prepared. Alistair walked up to Marcel to greet him, and nobody paid too much attention to her.

"Marcel," Alistair said. "I had hoped your invitation to this ruin was your way of coming to your senses, but I don't see Klaus Mikaelson's head on a spike."

"Apologies," Marcel said. "I have been a discourteous host." He flashed out of the room and came back with Niklaus, leading him by his chains. He threw him into the circle of salt, at Alistair's feet. "You want him? You got him."

"Oh, Niklaus," Alistair greeted. "How the mighty have fallen."

"Pretty pathetic," Marcel agreed. "Chained, beaten, half starved. I should just kill him. Like a wise man once said: one cannot be free if one's oppressors continue to live. And what I've learned is that the best way to face your fears is to face them yourself." He paused as Josh bought him a sheathed sword, which Marcel revealed to Alistair. "So for you, a gift. The sword that you gave me, now laced with my venom. One slice will draw Klaus's blood, and deliver to him the slow, agonising pain of death that he deserves."

"It would be my highest honour," Alistair said, taking the sword. "You looked frightened, Niklaus. So you should be. Don't think I didn't notice that baby vampire of yours over in the corner. Caroline Forbes? I've been searching for her for five years, and once I'm done with you… oh she can run, but she won't get far."

"I'm not running anymore," Caroline promised, from the side lines. "I wouldn't want to miss this." She winked at her man proudly and crossed her arms in preparation.

Alistair didn't ponder on this too long. He entered the circle and kicked Klaus hard in the stomach. He flew against the barrier and while it was hard to watch, Caroline knew it was an act. Klaus groaned in pain and curled up on the hard ground where he was beaten by Alistair with the handle of the sword.

"Do you suffer, Niklaus," Alistair mused, "as my wife suffered? As my child suffered?" He grabbed Klaus by the hair and forced him to look at Alistair in the eye. "Yeah, you do," he growled, inches from his face. "But I do believe at a long last, your suffering is at an end."

"Kill him!" People in the crowd cheered.

"Do you hear that?" Alistair asked. "The people have spoken. Now, honour would dictate a request for your last words, but you deserve no such privilege. Instead, I want the last words you ever hear to be my solemn vow. I will find your daughter. And when I do, I will eradicate your malignant bloodline from this Earth."

He swung the sword high, but before it could land back down, Klaus swung his chains around Alistair's feet, knocking him down. He pounced on his victim and bit into his neck, draining him of blood and spitting out the flesh.

Two men jumped him, but Klaus picked up the sword and slaughtered them in a second. He turned to the rest of the crowd, who were preparing themselves for a fight. Some looked ready to flea, but Klaus turned to Caroline.

"You can take the ones that won't dare, right?" He checked. She nodded and moved to stand next to his circle, allowing her eyes to glow red, and the blood flow show veins down to her chin. "See, what some of you may not know," Klaus called to the crowd. "Is that my baby vampire is not a baby anymore. You ready, sweetheart?"

"Let's go," she agreed.

Between the two of them, everyone died a miserable death. If their hearts weren't ripped out or their heads chopped off neatly by the sword, they were withering in pain on the floor of the compound due to a nasty werewolf or upgraded-original bite.

Once they were done, and covered in blood that wasn't theirs and without a scratch on them, the couple turned to Marcel and Vincent and Caroline grinned.

"I would go, boys, if I were you," she mused. "Because I'm about to enter this circle. And I'm not going to leave all night."

Marcel and Vincent (and Josh, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about) evacuated quickly before Caroline did what she promised.

-0-0-0-0-0-

While Hayley killed everyone that threatened her daughter, Freya worked her magic and cured her siblings. There were some quick and happy reunions between them and Hayley before the werewolf picked up her phone and called Caroline.

"They're awake?" She asked. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, they seem fine," Hayley replied. "Rebekah and Kol have gone to go eat, Elijah's fed and is making plans with Freya. How's everything in New Orleans?"

"Busy," Caroline replied. "It's about time for an invasion. I'll keep the main powers occupied tomorrow. Clue me in on your plan once you come up with one."

"I will," Hayley said. "Just one more thing: how did you find out about Keelin?"

Caroline paused, sucking her teeth before finally answering. "It's complicated. I'll tell you about it another time. Hey, um, do you want to talk to Klaus? Or does anyone?"

Klaus shook his head over Caroline's shoulder, and even Hayley said no. "We've got a lot going on right now, and I don't think it's safe to talk to Klaus before we get him out. But we should see him tomorrow."

"We can't wait," Caroline said. "I'll see you then." She hung up the phone and slipped it back into her pocket. She was lying half-naked on the floor of the compound, leaning against Klaus's chest as their fingers intertwined. "You know," she mused, "if you told eighteen-year-old me that I would eventually be lying on the floor of New Orleans, surrounded by dead vampires, covered in the blood of our enemies, and lying in your arms… I don't think I would have believed you."

"It's truly remarkable how time works," Klaus agreed. "But we should probably prepare for Marcel's return. It's time for the beast to get back into the cage."

"It's only for one more day," Caroline promised. "And then everything will go back to normal."

"I'm sure of it," Klaus said. "But remember to act like you don't know that. Some tears would be fantastic."

The two of them got up and prepared themselves before Vincent returned to free them, and Marcel returned to chain Klaus back up in the dungeon. Caroline even faked a tear saying goodbye to him and waited outside for Marcel to pass her.

"I understand, you know," she said as he walked past. "Why you hate him. So… thank you. It's a kindness that you let us have this night together. But mark my words, if it takes a year or even a century, I will free him."

"I look forward to watching you try," Marcel said, before stalking off to re-join the rave Josh was throwing.


"Let me go," Keelin requested. "I gave you people what you wanted, now we had a deal-"

"I barely had enough anti-venom to cure my siblings," Freya informed her, rolling her eyes. "If one of them ever get bitten again, we'll need more. Which means that you need to stay alive and I don't trust that you can do that without our help."

"But I had a deal-"

"With Hayley," Freya finished, taking advantage of the fact the hybrid was outside and not there to pick a fight. "When it comes to my family, I don't negotiate."

Outside, Hayley walked towards Elijah, who was watching the flames that trickled over the bodies of the people they had killed. "You're infections gone," she claimed, checking his arm.

"You saved us," Elijah claimed. "All of us."

"Well, Caroline did most of the work," Hayley explained with a humble shrug. "I just finished it off."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "Well where is she? I would like to thank her as well."

"New Orleans," Hayley explained. "For the first two years she did nothing but try and kill Marcel and save Klaus, while I focused on saving you guys. I didn't get very far, and neither did she. Marcel and Vincent shot her down every time, but she caused them a lot of trouble while they've been trying to make peace, so they made a deal. Every year, on the anniversary of his downfall, Caroline can see him. She visits some other times, Marcel can't stop her, but he doesn't try anymore. I heard it's been keeping him sane."

Elijah nodded. "And…"

"Katherine?" Hayley guessed. "I'm not sure where she is. Last I heard, she was in Dallas, a year ago."

"Here?" Elijah checked.

Hayley nodded. "She dropped off a gift for Freya, which gave her he strength she needed to stay alive through all of this. I also suspect she gave Caroline the lead to Keelin. I think she regretted her role in all of this and wants you back."

Elijah smirked. "I'm sure she'll come and find me if she does. What else is new?"

"I'm um… sort of dating Stefan Savatore," she said, unsure. "I don't really know how that happened. But he makes me happy, and he's great with Hope. Who's amazing, by the way. Healthy, happy. She's the perfect little girl."

There was a pause before Elijah smiled. "Look at us," he mused. "I thought I was beginning to love you, once. I must have forgotten what real love felt like."

"Yeah, I thought so too," she agreed. "But we make better friends. Now, I think we're missing someone. Let's go get Klaus."


AN: Surprise bitch, bet you thought you saw the last of me. So I'm bringing this one back, and I'm re-writing my re-write of Season 4, and keeping the same sort of frame as canon, with the Hollow and all, but I'm going to do things pretty differently. I hope you enjoy.

Don't forget to review, otherwise I might stop being motivated to please you people. -Izzy