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Chapter Text

Blackness. Utter blackness enveloped my senses. I don't exactly remember what caused me to be stuck in this suffocating blackness, but it really scared me. I tried calling out for help when I thought I heard a machine beeping by me. Heartbeat? Was I in a hospital? And if so, why? How can I remember everything about myself but that? And then my eyelids lifted. It was a little dark in the room, but the small amount of light felt blinding for a few seconds. Once I adjusted my eyes to the light, I realized that I was in a bed inside a hospital.

But what caused me to panic was the sign across the hallway that I saw from the window.

Mystic Falls Hospital

Last thing I remember, I was back at my home in New York, not in Virginia. What was I doing here? And was Mystic Falls even a real place in Virginia? While I was wondering this, I saw someone come through the door. I thought my eyes were deceiving me. How could I believe what I see? This person looked exactly like Alaric Saltzman from Vampire Diaries.

The only thing my body seemed to be able to do was blink my eyes in confusion and awe. That was until the person who played Jenna. Aunt Jenna to Elena Gilbert of the show popped in right after. When she saw that I was awake, she immediately ran up to me and blubbered,

"Oh my God Elizabeth! You scared us so much! Alaric and I couldn't believe what had happened and came as fast as we could."

I just looked at them blankly. Did she refer to the man as Alaric? And what HAD happened to me? Why was I here?

Noticing my distress, Alaric warily pulled Jenna back so that I wasn't suffocating. He then asked,

"Elizabeth? Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Jenna looked like she was going to start crying upon hearing my distress and I tried to think of anything to say, but I just merely shook my head. I wasn't sure what was going on.

"Why am I here?" I asked.

Both Alaric and Jenna frowned. With a sigh, Alaric asked Jenna to give us a moment and once she left, he looked at me with hesitance. I looked at him expectantly, not sure if my mind was able to cope with this. Was this all a dream? But the pain all over my body felt so real, that it possibly couldn't be a dream at all.

Alaric risked a glance at me again and then whispered,

"You drove in your car on the way back from Duke. But the car was hit by another car and you were brought here."

I looked at him incredulously before noticing how that would make sense as to why I felt pain everywhere. But that didn't explain why I was here, in Mystic Falls, in a fictional world. But acting ignorance seemed like the best idea. As much as I liked Alaric as a character, the man himself looked pretty intimidating. And the fact that I had gone to Duke with them meant that I knew about vampires, witches, werewolves and etc. And that this was before the Originals came to Mystic Falls.

Bearing enough courage, I said,

"I… I don't remember…"

Alaric immediately sat down in the chair by my bed and asked,

"Nothing? What about who I am? The person earlier? How about the people that we went to Duke together?"

I tried to think about how to respond before saying,

"You're… Alaric Saltzman. She was Jenna. And as for Duke, I'm assuming we went with Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert."

Alaric raised an eyebrow as he asked, "Assume?"

My eyebrows furrowed as I carefully said, "I don't remember much of it. It's like wherever I was at, what I was doing, who I am… it's all gone. I can kind of see everything without me in there. My life is a blank slate for me. Alaric, who am I?"

I looked up at him and noticed various emotions pass through his face. Something akin to concern, sadness, anger, and more importantly confusion. I tried to think of anything about my supposed life here, but nothing came up. Absolutely nothing. Frustration and anger started to kick in as I asked,

"Why can't I remember anything about myself?"

Alaric immediately pressed the button to call for the doctor and began to talk with him. The Doctor frowned and then had me prepared for various tests regarding my memory. They said it was something close to amnesia and that most likely, I might not end up recovering them.

Thus, days passed as I was in the hospital recuperating. Alaric mostly stayed with me, filling me in more of my life with what he knew. I was more comfortable around him than anybody else that seemed to be from Mystic Falls. You could almost say that I grew attached to him despite knowing that I might have to be wary of him in the future. My life here in Mystic Falls seems to have been much more exciting than I had in my own world.

I had been an artist of sorts, drawing a story cartoon online for the public to read. For some reason, this had made me rich without too many problems. But during my free time, I apparently had been helping the crew in Mystic Falls with their problems with Kathrine Pierce and Mason Lockwood. Alaric had met her around town and when she had made it known about her knowledge of the supernatural. Other than that, Elizabeth was normally a cheerful person in general. So when I was wary of everything and everyone around me, Alaric had been even more careful about how he acted around me in fear for my mental state.

As I further recovered in the hospital, various people came to visit me. Caroline Forbes, Elena and Jeremy Gilbert, Matt Donovan and the Salvatore brothers. The last visitation was a surprise. I had just gotten back from my physical therapy when I saw Damon lounging in one of the chairs while Stefan was pacing around the room.

I entered the room and Damon immediately looked up to me and said,

"Oh Beth! Nice to see you among the land of the living."

My lips turned into a thin line at that nickname he apparently made for me and was spared of responding when Stefan said,

"Damon, stop. She needs rest."

I shook my head and said,

"It's fine… it's just… well, I don't know how to interact with you two. With anyone really."

I headed back towards the bed and lied down. Damon looked at me with a short second of guilt before he said,

"Well, you can interact with me however you want."

I made a face of disgust at that comment and said, "Ew, no thanks. Did you always say dirty things to me?"

Damon smirked a little and said, "Always darling."

I rolled my eyes and just ignored him. With that, I asked,

"What about Jenna's barbeque? How did that go?"

Stefan glared at Damon, who merely shrugged his shoulders. I knew what must have happened. He did exactly what had occurred in the show. He had pissed Mason Lockwood off by spelling out that he was a werewolf to everyone. The only person who would have been oblivious to Damon's bullying was Jenna.

Sighing out loud, I said,

"You pissed Mason Lockwood off didn't you?"

"Correctamundo." Damon said.

I groaned, not liking the word and said, "What did you do that was exactly informative may I ask?"

Damon gave me a sidelong glance and I groaned again before asking,

"You stabbed him with a silver knife didn't you?"

"Yup" He said, popping the 'p'.

Stefan shook his head in disappointment as he said, "It was a stupid move, Damon."

"What? At least we found out about the whole 'silver kills a werewolf' is fake."

I angrily turned around and said, "And you thought that it would be best to test that theory out by stabbing him?"

Damon looked at me with surprise and said, "No need to get angry. I liked the you before the accident. She was more fun and supportive of my ideas."

I glared at him before saying, "Ok, you know what? Considering I lost all my fucking memories of myself before the accident, I think I am owed to get angry at some point. So shut up and think about what you can do to fix this."

With that, I looked at Stefan, who willingly dragged Damon out of my hospital room. I sighed out loud again. My head hurt. What was I supposed to do? Yes, my body had natural reflexes to fight. My body remembered what to do in times of need. But my mind had holes. I was left with no memories in how to deal with the characters of Vampire Diaries and I had to go back to a supposed life of my alternate universe self.

Looking around, I just merely got comfortable in my bed and hoped to wait until I got released to go home. Alaric would pick me up and take me to my house, that I supposedly lived in.

Therefore, two more days passed and I got discharged from the hospital. It felt nice to wear some real clothes of mine that Jenna brought for me. Since Jenna and Alaric were somewhat dating, he had asked Jenna to gather clothes together for me from my house. It consisted of a military green jacket with a light gray sweater. The pants were a dark blue jean that was paired with white converse shoes.

Once we came in front of my house, I breathed out loud in surprise. It was a pretty modern house. It looked suburban, but once inside, it was totally minimalist. I was surprised that the me from this universe had similar tastes in furniture décor as I had back home. Noticing my visible surprise and unfamiliarity with this house, Alaric guided me to different rooms and told me where to find things.

I realized that my life here was almost a triple life. A part of me was a supernatural hunter, a part of me was an internet comic artist, and another part of me was a famous historian within Mystic Falls. I toured the house and thanked them. Alaric later said that he would pick me up for the Historical Society's Volunteer Day event. I had apparently applied to work, and since I was feeling well, I should go and interact with more people from around town.

Without disagreeing with him, I just washed up and wore the same clothes as earlier since I wasn't going to do much but volunteer. Once I got ready, Alaric, Jenna and I headed towards Alaric's car.

When we arrived at the park, I got off and headed towards Carol, who was there to remind me of what my job was. I was supposed to be handing out lemonade. Apparently, this universe me also hated doing work that required extreme amount of labor when not nearly necessary. As I was handing out lemonade to people in the park, I saw Mason Lockwood come up.

"Hey Liz! I see you're back in the game again. I heard about your memory loss. How are you doing?"

I handed him a cup of lemonade as I responded.

"I could be doing better in all honesty. But I think I can make do with what I have. I just need to get my paperwork figured out since I missed out on work."

"Ah… you're still obsessed with your work. Good to know that some bit of old Elizabeth is still in there."

I gave a fake laugh, "Ha ha. You're so funny Mason."

Mason just smiled brightly and said, "Well, you always saw through me when we dated."

I froze at that comment. I looked up at him with need of some sort of verification on that and he looked bewildered. Then realization flashed across his face as he said,

"Oh god. Sorry… I forgot that you didn't… remember. But yeah, we dated for like 2 years before we broke up because you had to momentarily leave Mystic Falls. You didn't believe in long distance relationships and it ended that way."

"Ah… I see. Sorry about that. I think you would have been a nice boyfriend… Uh… anybody else I dated?"

My curiosity had gotten the better of me. I wanted to know more about my life here so that I wasn't a complete idiot when it came to the old me.

Mason shook his head, but I saw the little huff of pride when he said, "Nope. It was just me. And that required a solid 2 years of me asking you out. I persisted and it worked."

I looked at him with surprise and newfound interest. But I also remembered that he had something going with Katherine Pierce. Before I could ask another question to him though, Damon joined us.

"Hello Mason. Hello Beth. You two working hard?"

Mason tersely replied with, "I'm doing my part."

I just didn't respond. Damon rolled my eyes, seeing the obvious annoyance in me and just said to Mason,

"I heard you talked to Stefan."

Mason looked at me warily before saying, "We should talk somewhere else."

Damon just shook his head and said, "Elizabeth is in on the supernatural, so you're fine."

Mason turned around at me and whispered out "What? You knew?"

I glared at Damon before resignedly said, "I do and did. But it apparently wasn't until this idiot showed up to Mystic Falls. So don't think too much of it."

Mason glared at Damon, clearly understanding what I meant and said,

"Yeah. I talked to Stefan. Nice guy."

Damon just responded nicely with, "Yeah, a lot nicer than me."

I gave a warning glance to Damon, who just ignored it as he didn't leave. Mason just said,

"Nice is overrated."

"Mason." I said tensely. I wasn't sure how to fit myself into this conversation.

Damon just agreed with Mason with, "That's what I think."

Mason then looked at me and said, "You have a good day Elizabeth."

I nodded before Mason left. As Damon turned back around to talk to me, Carol Lockwood showed up and dragged me away from the lemonade stand to ask me about what I had talked about with Mason. Apparently, she had been overjoyed when the two of us had dated and devastated when we broke up. I winced the entire time, knowing that as much as Carol was in the council, she was also innocent. Overly innocent. I managed to get out of her questioning when someone else had shown up. When I had stepped aside, Damon zoomed in on me and zipped me away from the park.

Next thing I knew, my back hit a wall. I grunted in pain when Damon asked angrily,

"Did you know about the vervain in the lemonade?"

"What? What the-" I began before realizing what he was asking me about.

I then vigorously shook my head as I said, "No, I didn't. If you hadn't noticed Damon, I came in the middle of this and the lemonade was just there. I only served it. Not made it."

Stefan found his way and pulled Damon off of me, saying,

"Cool down Damon. It wasn't her."

Damon then immediately glowered even further as he said, "I'm gonna kill him."

Realizing who he was talking about I tried to grab him to prevent him from going, but the two had zipped away with their vampire speed further into the woods. I groaned and realizing that I had gotten myself dragged into this mess, decided to call Alaric.

After the call, I waited for Alaric to pick me up. This allowed me to think on how I have been interacting with the people of Mystic Falls. It seemed like I was somewhat of an extrovert, which was the opposite of who I am or was. That was why people struggled to act around me now. I wasn't that open about what I felt or thought. I became so reserved that I created a façade of myself. Just like before I had arrived in this universe.

It wasn't difficult to accept that I was in another universe. It was more difficult to accept this role I had been given. Whatever friendships I had here, I realized that they may easily break with whatever I chose to do in the future.

Later, Alaric picked me up, having heard from Caroline on his way that they had saved Damon from Liz Forbes. I then asked me to take me to my house and he helped.

The next day, I learned that I had a car of my own. I had asked Alaric over the phone why he hadn't told me yesterday about it. He had replied with,

"I didn't want you driving around town right after you got discharged. It should be fine now."

"Well, thanks for all your help Alaric." I said appreciatively.

Alaric just chuckled and said, "Anything for my best friend."

I smiled at that. It felt nice to have a friend who I could ask for help without being too concerned. With that, I went out to buy some groceries for myself. And once I had that dealt with, I got a call from Carol Lockwood reminding that I had to participate in the Masquerade Ball.

Once the call was over, I groaned and went to the closet to see if I had any dresses to wear. Fortunately, I had apparently purchased one beforehand too, and it was a dress with one shoulder-strap. It was black on top and flowed down to a blue, sheer material on the bottom. I had a silver mask that was formed in a shape of a swan on my right eye with a teardrop shape in the middle. I paired it with silver earrings and high heels.

Realizing that nobody was calling me from the supernatural crew, I decided to and visit them before thinking better of it. I didn't want to involve myself more deeply into this mess. I wanted to avoid it as much as possible. If they didn't require my help, I wouldn't force myself to be part of it.

But soon enough, I got a call from Damon Salvatore.

"What is it Damon?" I asked impatiently.

"Well someone's feisty. You sound like I'm only calling you to ask for your help."

I remained silent and raised an eyebrow. Seeming to guess that I was doubting his response, Damon relented.

"Fine, fine. Yes, I'm asking for your help. I have Mason Lockwood here with me at my house."

I sighed out loud and asked, "What makes you think I will help you?"

"Maybe because of your past relationship with this Lockwood."

I hissed at him through the phone, "You dumbass, you think that will work? He has a relationship with Katherine."

There was a pause before he asked,

"How did you know that?"

I almost swore out loud before I said, "I have my ways."

Damon then responded with, "Oh, right. Your mysterious source of information. I forgot about that. Anyways, I expect you to be here within the next 20 minutes. See you!"

And with that, he hung up on me. Furious, I just stared at my phone for about a minute. Then, I grabbed my bag and keys to head over. I made it to his house within 15 minutes. I just barged in and yelled,

"Damon Salvatore you idiot! What the hell are you thinking!"

I walked into the living room to find Mason tied down on a chair, struggling. Damon, on the other hand, was heating up an iron poker. God, why did I come here?

Damon just smirked and said, "Well someone's feisty."

I punched him full on in the face and said, "You idiot!"

Damon glared at me and said, "That wasn't so nice."

"Are you?" I retaliated. I glanced at Mason, who just looked at me with uncertainty.

With that, I started to walk towards Mason, but Damon just shoved me towards a different chair and brandished the iron poker before sticking it onto Mason's chest. Mason began to scream in agony and I glared at him.

"Damon, what the hell?!" I yelled out, trying to stop him. But since he was a vampire, I couldn't easily overpower him unless I really wanted to kill him. Damon ignored me as he told Mason,

"You can hurt, good to know. I was afraid you were gonna be some beast mass with no affinity for pain. And if that were to be the case, I would have used Elizabeth as leverage."

"The hell Damon?!" I yelled out again in disbelief.

Mason growled at Damon in anger, glancing at me to make sure I was safe. Noticing a protective look from him, I began to dread what was about to happen. I saw Damon pull Mason's collar and comment,

"Oh, but you heal quickly. Not good. Guess I'll just have to keep applying pain."

"No!" I yelled but Damon once again shoved me down.

I heard Mason scream again and it took everything in me to not kill the older Salvatore. Damon then took the poker off of Mason's chest and asked,

"So, Katherine. How do you know her? What is she up to?"

Mason glared at Damon before spitting on the ground. Damon rolled his eyes at that and said,

"I have all day."

With that, he began to torture Mason with the poker again. I could only watch with horror. The Elizabeth they knew before may have been alright with watching this, but not me. Not the one from New York. For me, this was a new experience and I wasn't sure on what to do.

Eventually, Damon went to reheat the poker in the fire, I immediately asked him,

"Why are you doing this?"

Damon looked at me and said, "Because we need to know why Katherine is here and working here with Mr. Wolf, who I am interrogating."

"This can only lead to more problems." I replied, looking at Mason.

Mason looked at me with mixed emotions. Confusion, betrayal, anger, sorrow, and maybe lingering feelings? I wasn't sure if that last one was there, but his gaze on me was a little longer than just a normal angry man's would have been. I wasn't sure why, but my heart beat a little faster at that.

Eventually Damon asked,

"When did you two meet? Did she seduce you, tell you she loved you? You're supernatural so she can't compel you. I'm sure she used her other charms. Katherine's good that way."

I grimaced while Mason glared at Damon. It was quiet for a minute or two when Jeremy Gilbert walked in with a box. He looked surprised to see me there, but quickly hid it as he set the box down on a table. Damon looked annoyed as he said,

"I thought I told you to leave."

Jeremy ignored him and said, "I found something in Ric's box of stuff."

Damon's interest was then perked as he commented, "Oooh… what is it?"

Jeremy then pulled out the plant that I recognized as wolfbane. Jeremy began explaining it to Damon and then I walked over to Mason, concern overtaking my emotions than my better judgment.

"Mason?"

Mason looked up at me and he whispered, "Get out of here. Please…"

I looked at him with surprise at that. Catching my silent question, he said,

"I know we're no longer a thing…but I still care about you. I- if it hadn't for us breaking up, I would never have fallen for Katherine. I know it's wrong… but-"

I silenced him as I whispered, "You don't have to explain that to me. I don't judge you for that. I'm just… I don't know what I feel, but I don't want to see you like this."

In all honesty, I really didn't know why I cared so much for Mason Lockwood. Maybe it was because this body remembered having something special with him. But seeing things play out, I didn't want Mason to suffer so badly. His eyes really caught me off-guard. The honesty they reflected to me was probably the biggest reason. He was honest with me.

But before I could do or say anything else, Damon came over to us and pulled me away from Mason as he asked,

"What's Katherine doing in Mystic Falls?"

Mason refused to answer and Damon brushed the wolfbane across Mason's cheek. Mason screamed in more agony, causing Jeremy to look at me with a guilty look. I could only show him the same type of look as Damon continued his interrogation.

"Why is she here?"

Mason glared at Damon as he said, "She's here with me. Why do you ask, you jealous?"

I grimaced internally, not liking Mason's tone. Why was he so stupid to goad Damon's torturous side?

Damon smirked as he said, "How rude of me. You know, I just realized, I didn't offer you anything to eat."

"Damon, no!" I yelled, but Damon ignored me and shoved the wolfbane into Mason's mouth.

Damon commented sarcastically, "Yummy!"

I glared at the vampire as Mason spit the wolfbane out and coughed. Jeremy grabbed me from bolting towards Damon Salvatore. I was so pissed that I began to see red. Mason shouldn't die for this. That was all I could think about. But Damon continued questioning the man who was in poor shape.

"Why do you want the moonstone?"

Having had enough Mason yelled out, "Screw you!"

Damon rolled his eyes and said, "Ahhh! Wrong answer!"

Jeremy, finally fearful for Mason's life too, voiced his concern,

"If he was gonna say anything, he would have already!"

Damon ignored our pleas as he said, "I'm taking your eyes now."

Mason screamed out, "The well! You can find it there."

Damon held out the wolfbane towards Mason again as he said,

"I know where it is. I want to know what it does and why you want it."

Mason, began answering Damon, realizing how Damon would really kill him.

"I'm getting it for Katherine."

Damon asked, "Why?"

Mason answered it with, "She's gonna use it to lift the curse."

Damon further questioned, "Of the moon? Now, why would a vampire help a werewolf break a curse that keeps them from turning whenever they want?"

Mason replied honestly, "So I wouldn't have to turn anymore."

I felt my heart sink. I knew the reality as to why Katherine wanted that moonstone. I wanted to tell them that Katherine wasn't really aiming for that. But I wasn't sure if that would cause more chaos than necessary. Nervously, I tried to prevent myself from talking about it.

When Jeremy began to continue asking Damon to stop, the vampire grabbed Jeremy's throat and said,

"You wanted to be a part of this? Well, here it is! Kill or be killed! The guy is a werewolf; he'd kill me the first chance he got! So, you suck it up or leave."

Jeremy fell to the ground when Damon let him go. And before I could do anything, Damon shoved his hand into Mason's chest. I looked at the scene with horror as Damon pulled out the heart that belonged to my supposed ex-boyfriend. Jeremy and I stared at Damon with pure horror.

What had he done? Jeremy eventually left and I stayed there, numb. Damon began rolling up Mason's body in a blanket. He noticed my horror-stricken face and said,

"It's not the first dead body you're seeing you know."

I finally glared at him and said, "Do you realize what you've done? You killed a werewolf. A person from this town of the founding family. Also, if you don't know, a werewolf has a pack. Don't you think they will realize that he's gone?"

Damon looked at me with annoyance as he said, "Are you like this because you had a thing with Mason once?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Damon, that's not why I'm like this. Maybe I care for him still, but I don't exactly remember our relationship. I lost all that from the accident, if you haven't exactly noticed. You just did something without thinking about the repercussions."

Damon remained silent as he cleaned up Mason's corpse as Stefan arrived, showing us the moonstone. I looked at the thing with disgust. Why was I still here? Damon looked at it, then back at the rolled up blanket and asked,

"All this for that?"

Stefan nodded as he said, "Yup."

With that Stefan tossed the moonstone to his brother and commented,

"I see you've exercised your usual restraint."

Damon then looked at me with a hint of regret and said, "Had to be done."

I glared at him and asked if I could leave. I didn't want to be in the same building as the brothers any longer. Why did I have to get dragged into this? Damon nodded at me and I stormed out.

Once I returned home, I looked at the mirror in my bathroom and wondered why I was here. Why me, of all people, got sucked up into this messy realm of Vampire Diaries.

Chapter Text

After Mason's death, I didn't leave my house. I decided to start my life here again by beginning the job that Elizabeth had as a cartoonist. I found that whatever skills she had, I knew how to use them. This was one of them. Elizabeth had plotted the storyline first and made some basic storyboards and all that was left was to draw the cartoon out. That itself wasn't too difficult.

But when I had finished my job and realized that I didn't need to go back to do it for a while, I just sat there and tried ripping through every aspect of Elizabeth's life to try to figure out something about her that I could utilize.

And my life like that seemed calm and chaotic at the same time until I got the call from Damon Salvatore. I sighed as my phone vibrated on the table. I desperately wanted to ignore it when I caved in and answered.

"Come to our house. Now."

With that, he ended his call and I just stared at the phone with disbelief. Did he just order me to go to his house? I just stared at the phone for a bit before sighing and quickly changed out of my pajamas. I changed into a grey sweatshirt with a black leather jacket along with grey jeans. I wore my black sneakers with it. Tying my hair back, I felt a loose strand act like a bang and didn't bother fixing it.

Once I arrived to the Salvatore's I walked in while saying, "Damon Salvatore, you'd better have a good reason for calling me here with no explanation!"

Suddenly, Caroline was in front of me and I saw tears brimming her eyes as she hugged me tightly and said, "I saw Katherine today."

I wasn't sure how to respond, so I awkwardly patted her back. But when she didn't move and held me even tighter, I winced and said,

"Caroline, I'm not sure I'm a hugging person now."

Immediately, Caroline jumped away from me and apologized fervently. I just chuckled and said,

"Don't worry about it. It's just that I don't know how to hug people."

"Aww… Does Beth need lessons in cuddling?" I heard a familiar voice taunt from behind me.

I immediately glared and turned around as I said, "I don't need you to guide me with that thank you very much."

Caroline laughed a little at that while Damon stuck his tongue out at me. He was so mature, wasn't he?

Noticing my look of disdain at Damon's immature acts, Stefan said,

"Well, now that Katherine has made her move, we need a plan."

Damon looked at him and said, "She's running scared. What she did to Jenna was desperate. She's out of tricks."

I frowned, not having remembered this part of the episode and yelled out, "Jenna got hurt?"

Then that was when it all came back to me. Jenna had stabbed herself with the kitchen knife due to compulsion. But the vampires in the room hadn't remembered this and explained what had happened to Jenna.

And once they finished explaining, they went back to talking about Katherine.

"We can't underestimate her. We have to play this smarter than her."

Caroline looked uncomfortable as she asked, "Can we just give her the moonstone so she'll leave?"

Damon shook his head and responded with, "No, Katherine's not getting dick. I'm gonna go to the masquerade ball and I'm gonna kill her, tonight."

Shaking my head, I said, "If you think it will be that simple, you're wrong. What if she gets a witch to link Katherine and Elena together?"

There, I had literally told them what would happen, but for some reason, they just waved my idea away as if it was never going to happen.

Damon said, "Nah, how could Katherine get a witch?"

Stefan added, "It's not possible with the time from now to the masquerade ball."

I couldn't help but have a strong feeling of wanting to bang my head against a wall at their idiocy. Just what was wrong with them? I told them what was going to happen! I wasn't feeling particularly happy about this and also remembered that I had to go early to the masquerade ball as a chaperone and told them that I was leaving.

Damon looked at me and asked, "Why? What's keeping you busy?"

I yelled back as I walked towards the door, "Chaperoning for the masquerade. Until the actual meetup, please think of a better plan!"

I heard Damon mutter something under his breath and I ignored it as I got away from the Salvatore House. When I came back to my home, I quickly dressed and put makeup on me. Looking at the high heels, I really wished I didn't need to have these on, but Carol had insisted according to the diary I had found while I was sifting through Elizabeth's or my things.

I wasn't going to really help the Salvatores, but I also wasn't willing to let Elena get captured by Rose alone. Elena was still too young to be kidnapped by herself. But then again, I was scared. I may be a supernatural hunter like Sam and Dean are in Supernatural, but this… this was new to me as a person who accidentally was in someone else's body in a different universe. I just didn't feel ready to jump into all this action. But something about me knowing things about the show seemed to mean something. That there was a reason for me being here.

Once I arrived at the Lockwood Mansion, I sighed as Carol ran up to her in a frenzy. Of course Carol would spot me in such a crowd. She had made sure that I attended as a chaperone. For some reason, Carol was obsessed with me making a statement somehow. She made it her personal mission to get me a boyfriend or something along the lines. I really wasn't interested. I mean, this was all just overwhelming and to get a boyfriend in middle of all this? I wasn't sure that was wise.

Apparently, when Alaric came to town, Carol thought I would fit with him. When I had read that in the diary, I was flabbergasted. But I guess Alaric and I mutually saw each other as just friends and nothing more, because Carol had been super upset about it when we never hit it off and Alaric started dating Jenna.

I sighed and exited the car while tuning out whatever Carol was saying to me. I was trying to find a way to get away from Carol so that I could sneak off to help Elena later. Eventually a horde of teenagers piled through the doors and I groaned. What did I deserve to oversee horny teenagers that would cause mischief at every corner?

But as I warily looked through the crowd, I spotted Bonnie and Jeremy running into Katherine's witch. My body tensed immediately when soon after I found Katherine walking in. I cursed as I looked around for my exit. I couldn't be here.

I spotted that Carol was busy with another person, and I bolted for the door, making sure that Carol would not see me running off to shirk my chaperone duties.

When I found Elena, she was with Jeremy and Bonnie.

"Elena!" I yelled out, grabbing the trio's attention.

"Liz!" Elena reached out to me. I slowed down when she gave me an accusatory look.

"Are you also trying to kill her here?"

I looked at her and shook my head. "You know that Carol wouldn't let me out of chaperone duties here. I just happened to know of the plan, but I had nothing to do with it."

Elena stared hard into my eyes and visibly relaxed, as if she was relieved that I wasn't part of it too. But she quickly turned around to Bonnie and Jeremy when she said,

"How am I supposed to feel if one of you guys get hurt because of me?"

Jeremy responded with, "It's not just you anymore, Elena. She's messed with all of us, she has to be stopped."

I looked at Jeremy with a frown. Why couldn't he be more mature than this? But as Jeremy and Elena were arguing, suddenly, we heard Elena scream. My blood turned cold as I saw blood spread around multiple areas of Elena's body.

"Shit! Jeremy, Elena's linked to Katherine, stop the Salvatores!" I yelled out.

Jeremy nodded and ran as fast as he could towards the Lockwood mansion again. Bonnie tried breaking the link But Elena screamed again when her hand started bleeding as if her palm had been cut. I tried staunching the flow as best as I could with my now manually ripped dress, but it wasn't working well.

Bonnie then said, "I can't break the spell, Elena. I'm sorry but I can try to take some of the pain away. Okay?"

Elena nodded and Bonnie quickly took her hand while reciting a spell. I stood up, warily looking around for any signs of witnesses that might walk by. Soon, Jeremy ran towards us as he asked his older sister,

"Are you okay?"

Elena nodded a little, sniffling from the tears and pain she felt earlier and asked, "Are they?"

Jeremy nodded a little and said, "They're stuck in there with her." He looked towards me before saying, "You were right; Katherine had a witch that linked Elena to her."

I cursed and said, "Nobody bloody listens to me!"

Bonnie then yelled out, "The girl I saw, the one inside! Stay with her, keep pressure on her shoulder!"

Jeremy looked like he wanted to follow Bonnie, so I said, "Jeremy, go with her. It's not quite safe enough for her to go by herself yet."

Jeremy looked conflicted, so I clarified, "I'll stay with Elena, so go."

Jeremy then relented and tried to give Elena his ring. I shook my head and said,

"Jeremy, that ring doesn't work on supernatural beings. Elena is a doppleganger and therefore not an average human."

Then as if he was debating it, he kept the ring and ran towards the Lockwood Mansion again.

I gripped onto Elena a little bit tighter and heard Elena say "Thank you for keeping Jeremy safe."

I looked down at her and just smiled tiredly while keeping pressure on her wounds. Looking around, it was already dark and I said, "Elena we should go back. I'll drive you there."

Elena shook her head and said, "We need to wait."

Seeing my look of opposition, she quickly added in, "I need to talk to Stefan."

I sighed, seeing the stubbornness in her eyes and relented, making sure to keep Elena warm. I shivered a little from the cool air, but Elena needed the body heat as she still was bleeding a bit from the wounds. Eventually, Stefan ran over towards Elena and I kept my hold on her, helping her stand up.

Stefan whispered, "Elena."

Elena said, "I'm okay. I'm okay… Bonnie took away the pain and I think I'm healing."

I frowned at that but said nothing.

Stefan noticed my frown and said, "I know but I think you should definitely see a doctor anyway."

Elena nodded and responded with, "I will. I heard about Katherine, is it true? Is she really gone?"

Stefan said, "Yeah, I was so worried about you."

But as Stefan tried to get closer, Elena took a step back, taking me with her as I was her only support right now. "Stefan… I…"

I just looked at Stefan and shook my head, hinting that he needed to give her space. Stefan's eyes immediately dimmed with sadness as he said,

"Katherine being gone doesn't change anything for you, does it?"

Elena looked at her boyfriend longingly before saying, "I want to be with you, Stefan. You know that but first, I need to wake up and know that the people that I love are safe. I need to feel safe. Do you understand?"

Stefan defeatedly nodded and said, "Yeah, yeah I understand."

I whispered out, "I'll drive her to the hospital."

Stefan nodded before leaving. We headed for the parking lot, where my car was. I helped Elena walk over there because she was leaning on me. She was calling Jeremy and hung up once she was done. As I fumbled around to get my key from my bag, I felt a presence behind me. I quickly pushed Elena behind me and I called out, "Who's there?"

Silence ensued.

Elena grasped my arm and whispered, "What is it?"

I replied warily with, "We're being watched."

I felt Elena's grip on me get tighter, but I walked in front of me a few steps when I pinpointed the guy's position. I quickly took off my high heels and went after him. But the man was taller than I had predicted so fighting him in a tight dress was difficult.

First I managed to kick him in the shin and throw him towards the ground, but he quickly grabbed my ankle and I landed on the ground roughly. Air left my lungs and I tried to catch my breath and stand up when I felt the man put the chloroform cloth on my airways. I tried desperately not to breathe, but it was futile as the chemical worked its way into my system and the world turned black.

When I finally came to, I saw Elena was right by me, still unconscious. We were inside a trunk and I tried to desperately calm my breathing as if I was still unconscious. Then I heard a male voice say,

"Where is she?"

Shit! We were already with Trevor and Rose. I wished myself to calm down and act as if I was still unconscious. Not too long after, the man opened the trunk where we were and soon I felt the man gently put me into the SUV trunk. When the door finally closed, I let out a breath and breathed in again calmly, trying to make sure the my heart didn't go on overdrive.

I tried my best to not make a noise when I heard the man get bitten. Soon enough, we arrived at the mysterious house and as I felt myself being placed on the sofa, Trevor whispered in my ear,

"I know you're awake princess."

Gears turned in my head and I swung my legs around and kicked Trevor in the stomach. He groaned from the impact and quickly sped towards me and the next thing I knew, I was pinned to a wall and he had started choking me as he said,

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Tough one aren't you? I know what I need. I just need to taste-"

As he was saying this, I saw the areas around his eyes become grey and his veins protrude. But before he could finish his sentence a feminine voice called out, "Trevor! Control yourself."

Trevor rolled his eyes and let go of me. I fell towards the ground and started breathing deeply for air. I didn't hear the interaction, but looked up to see Elena's fearful eyes. I smiled a little to ease her worries, but I don't think I did much as she asked,

"What do you want with us?"

Rose finally looked towards Elena before whispering, "Oh my god, you look just like her."

I warily looked at Rose, but Trevor was still in front of me, so I stayed still while the two interacted. When Rose slapped Elena, I stood up but was pushed to the ground roughly by Trevor.

"I don't think so princess!" He taunted. I glared up at him, wishing he was dead.

But then I froze. He was going to die. I winced and looked at my now dirty hands. He was coming. Oh god, an Original was coming and I didn't feel ready. My stomach turned upside down and I wanted to hyperventilate. I looked at Elena, who had fallen unconscious from the slap and warily eyed the two vampires, leaning on the wall behind me, making sure to not gain the anger of two old vampires.

But when Elena came to, Trevor and Rose had gone upstairs. When they left, I had crawled over to Elena and watched over her. Elena looked up and I put a finger to my mouth to tell her to be quiet. Elena nodded and we eavesdropped on the vampires' conversation.

Rose said, "You didn't touch her, did you?"

Trevor responded with, "Give me some credit. So, did you call him?"

Rose said, "No, I called one of his contacts. You know how this works."

And I listened intently when suddenly Elena crept up the stairs. I feared for her life and followed her when Elena stopped on a loose floor board and it made a noise. Rose immediately turned around and said,

"You! There's nothing around here for miles. If you two think you're getting out of this house, you're tragically wrong. Understand?"

Elena, not getting the threat correctly, asked, "Who's Elijah?"

I whipped my head around to glare at her, which Rose noticed and said,

"He's your worst nightmare. And it seems like your friend here knows him too."

Elena looked at me and noticed the fear in my eyes. But she turned around and continued to ask Rose questions. And as the interrogation lengthened, I warily glanced at Trevor as he kept looking around as if panic was settling in. I inched ever so closer to Elena when suddenly Trevor yelled out,

"He's here! This was a mistake."

With that I pushed Elena behind me to act as a barrier. Elena grabbed onto my arms again and I gently looked behind her as a warning and felt her hands let me go. I was barefeet and a mess at this point because I had ripped my dress and my hair was all over the place, but I needed to protect the girl.

Then we heard the knocking on the door. I immediately tensed and my heartbeat increased from the fear and anticipation. Elena whispered,

"You're scared" to the vampires, but Rose ignored that as she warned us with,

"Stay here with her and don't make a sound."

I shot her a glare as if that was an option and just stood my ground. Trevor paced a little when after about a minute, Elijah entered. I stood up straighter to look as intimidating as I could. But something felt off. When Elijah came into the room, he immediately saw me and looked at me with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine. It clearly held the warning:

Don't mess with me. You're not my match.

I looked at him, sending a message that said, I know. But you can't stop me from protecting her.

His eyes were sharp and yet when he saw how determined I was, it seemed to soften just the tiniest bit before the eyes hardened into a cold, calculating look again. He then broke eye contact with me and rushed over to us. I was knocked to the side and heard Elena scream my name when Elijah held onto her and sniffed her neck. I felt like I might have hurt my ribs, but I got up slowly as Elijah muttered,

"Human. It's impossible."

And with that, he glanced at Elena while smirking and said, "Hello there."

When I finally managed to stand up on my own, I huffed out a breath from exhaustion when suddenly I saw dress shoes right by mine. I looked up and saw Elijah Mikaelson in front of me as he said,

"And who might you be?"

I looked up into his eyes, all hostility suddenly lost from me. I was tired and that move he had put on me put out the fight in me. But what really caught me off guard was the genuine curiosity in his eyes. I clamped my mouth into a thin line before carefully saying,

"Elizabeth."

He raised an eyebrow but I stood still before saying, "All I know is that you are Elijah. I think first name basis is just about fair. Unless you tell me your last name."

He looked at me intensely before backing off, a smirk playing on his lips as he grabbed my shoulder and turned us around as he said,

"We have a long journey ahead of us. We should be going."

I looked up at him in shock. He noticed my silent question and he responded with, "Miss Elena would feel better with her friend here, would she not?"

Elena looked at me, noticing how Elijah's hand was now on my waist and just nodded. Suddenly, Elijah let go of me and said,

"One last piece of business and we're done."

He sped towards Trevor, who tried apologizing. But before our eyes, Trevor's head rolled to the ground. Elena put herself behind me again while Rose yelled out in anguish. Elijah turned around to see me and Elena and noticed how I had visibly flinched, but had not reacted in fear like the rest of the people here had. And once again, curiosity lit his eyes. I sighed tiredly and looked up at him with a look of disappointment.

His eyes widened slightly but he quickly hid it, just like before. I just grabbed onto Elena tighter when Elena suddenly asked,

"What about the moonstone?"

I gaped at her before Elijah sped towards us and asked, "What do you know about the moonstone?"

I tensed and glared at Elena, wanting her to stop when Elena said

"I know that you need it and I know where it is."

Elijah looked at me and didn't get anything before slowly saying "Yes…"

Elena then added with, "I can help you get it."

Elijah walked a little bit closer to us and said, "Tell me where it is."

Elena stepped forward despite me trying to keep her behind me as she said,

"It doesn't work that way."

I glared at her and Elijah saw that I was angry at Elena's decision before asking

"Are you negotiating with me?"

Then suddenly, I felt myself being gently pushed to the side compared to the rough throwing across the room from before. I was confused before seeing Elijah try to compel Elena. But when he tore Elena's necklace off, I knew that it was over. Before I could say anything though, I heard a noise from outside and Elijah immediately turned around and asked, "What is that?"

Rose said, "I don't know."

Elijah further pressed, "Who else is in this house?"

Rose repeated her previous answer and Elijah looked annoyed. He quickly grabbed Elena's wrist and put his arms around my waist and eventually we found both of us in Rose's arms. I looked up in surprise and Elijah looked down at me with a look I couldn't quite place before Elijah sped off to fight off Damon and Stefan.

And now, for some reason, something about Elijah threw me off. I knew why he was here. What he wanted. What was going to happen. And yet, I couldn't throw the peculiar emotion that pulled at my heart and I needed to figure out what that was.

I winced as Rose's grip got tighter, but I wriggled myself out of Rose's arm. She looked at me with confusion and I said,

"Take care of her."

Elena's eyes widened as she whispered, "Liz! No!"

I just smiled warily at her and said, "I'll be fine."

With that, I ran down the stairs again. I hid to make sure that Damon and Stefan didn't see me. Eventually the struggle between the Original and the Salvatore brothers ensued and I kept myself hidden. Once I was sure that the Salvatores and Elena had left, I came out of my hiding spot.

I sighed as the entire set of events just hit me. Looking down at my dress, I realized how I must look terrible. It was one thing to look messy in dress pants and a blouse, but to have a ripped dress? That was even worse. My muscles were crying out in pain as I walked closer to the body that was clearly desiccating. With Elena safe, I just needed to sort what I had been feeling towards this newcomer.

I stepped towards Elijah, who was impaled and had ashen skin. For a few minutes, I just stood like that as a mess and stared at him. Why hadn't I left with the others? Why did I want to stay behind? I sighed and decided that it would be best to leave Elijah behind and go back home. But I couldn't just do that, when I knew about Hope Mikaelson. I knew that it wasn't even relevant to what happened here, but my conscience ate away at me and I slowly put both of my hands onto the makeshift stake. I jerked it out hard and saw Elijah Mikaelson's body slide down from where he was impaled.

And before he could wake up and see me, I ran away from the place, not wanting to be seen. What had I just done?

I ran and ran and ran until I managed to get to the Lockwood Mansion and drive towards my house. When I finally went inside my home and washed up, I couldn't help but think back to Elijah Mikaelson and my supposed allegiance to the Gilbert girl and the Salvatores.

I felt so lost. I felt so confused.

On one side, I wanted to help Elijah. I wanted to see everything work out for the Mikaelsons. For Hope. I wanted to be with them so I could stop the Hollow from splitting that family apart. But the short amount of time I was here, I had formed a stable enough social life with the crew and if I decided to help Elijah, I would lose everything I had struggled to build so far.

What am I supposed to do?

Not able to clear my head of the various thoughts hovering in my mind, I decided to go to bed. It was terrible though because all I could dream of was that one action of me pulling out the stake earlier in the abandoned house. It kept playing on repeat to the point that I frustratingly woke up at 5 in the morning.

I decided that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep and decided to go take a write things down in a journal about what had happened. What differed from the show I had seen, and yet, I couldn't get the courage to write whatever was going to happen.

And that was how what I thought was going to be one uneventful day turned into several uneventful days, giving me some time to do some of my own work. I just kept drawing for my job or decided to do some historical research. But after doing only that, I realized that I needed to take a breather. Burying myself into work to avoid meeting the supernatural community was not going to do me any good.

I had been avoiding them on purpose. At first, Alaric had called, worried about my well-being when he had heard what had happened to me from Elena. He dropped by momentarily and had seemed worried, claiming that I wasn't acting like myself. I had given him a wary look and that led him to back down and just send a message to the Salvatores that I was alright. Damon seemed to think that I was stupid to just leave Elena alone, but Elena had apparently defended me, saying that I had protected her until they had arrived.

Eventually, I heard about everything from Jules' arrival in Mystic Falls to Rose getting bitten. I felt guilty that I had been avoiding them, but the thoughts of Elijah being in Mystic Falls caused me to think about what I should be doing. Who I should be helping.

Despite all that, I also knew that everyone tried to keep me out of the loop for one reason: Pity. They took pity on me for losing my memories. For getting into that accident. Of course, it relieved me since it left me to my own devices to think for a lot of things, but at the same time, I dreaded what the aftermath would be with what I intended to do.

But that all ended when I got a call from Damon Salvatore. Finally picking up the courage to answer the phone, I said,

"Hello?"

Immediately, Damon went on a rant,

"Do you realize what just happened? Elena was about to offer herself to Klaus and guess who miraculously shows up? Elijah! I thought we had killed that guy."

I stayed silent, not sure how to answer before saying,

"Is Elena alright?"

Damon scoffed and said, "Yeah, considering that she was going to die. Why do I even try Beth?"

I smiled a little and responded with, "You know why."

Damon went silent a little, clearly understanding what I just said. He laughed a little and told me,

"I don't know why I do this. Why does this have to be this way? She clearly likes Stefan."

Ah, so he was nowhere near the two at the moment. I chuckled and said, "Who knows? But Damon, I may regret saying this, but I would have chosen you if I were in her shoes if you hadn't been such a dick to her in the first place."

Damon mock gasped through the phone as he said, "Excuse me! I'm a gentleman!"

"Hardy har har…" Was all I replied with and Damon just laughed.

"I can always depend on you to make me feel better Beth. You know, you really come-"

"OK! Shut it!" I said, not wanting to hear anymore.

I expected Damon to say some type of comeback but there was a moment of silence before he cautiously said,

"But you are ok, right? Considering that accident…"

My eyes widened in surprise. He was concerned about me. I hadn't expected that before. I smiled and worry seeped to my heart as I lied.

"Yeah… I just need to live through the amnesia I suppose. Nothing really came back Damon… I don't think I can ever be the same Elizabeth you knew…"

Damon was silent for a few seconds again and said, "I'm sorry."

I froze at those two words. The raw emotion he just expressed wasn't something I would be receiving any time soon. Knowing what I had done. I froze and sighed before saying,

"Damon, don't worry about it. It's not your fault."

With that, I made up an excuse to end the call an quickly changed. I dressed into a black sweater with a black blouse underneath along with a black skirt. Over it, I put on a grey, cotton trench coat to keep me warm from the brisk air.

I decided to get coffee from the nearby café which was located by the Mystic Grill. I parked my car and got off when I heard Caroline's voice say,

"Yeah, yeah, I'd really like that. I'll just swing by when you're closing?"

I looked to find her talking with Matt. I hung low and decided to eavesdrop, knowing what might happen. Despite feeling scared, I didn't want Caroline to be alone through this. Once I saw Matt leave, I walked up to Caroline and said,

"Caroline!"

The girl turned around and beamed as she said, "Elizabeth! You're out! Are you alright?"

Concern bubbled in her eyes and I smiled back, saying "Yeah, I'm better now."

"I heard about you getting kidnapped with Elena a few days ago. We didn't want to put you under more stress considering you just came out of the hospital not too long ago."

I smiled warmly at that and nodded when suddenly a female voice said,

"Excuse me, Caroline, right?"

We turned around to see a Jules. I recognized her, but I put a façade on right away, not wanting to ruin anything. I gave a sideward glance towards Caroline, who tensed a little but replied in a bubbly manner,

"Yeah."

Jules looked at me warily as she said, "I'm looking for Tyler. You haven't seen him, have you?"

My focus was entirely on Jules, not sure how to react. But I must have been looking tense because Jules' eyes narrowed at me. Caroline responded with a lie, which Jules easily caught as she said,

"I know you're lying."

Caroline glared at Jules as she responded back with, "Really? How? Is that one of your little wolf tricks?"

I grabbed Caroline's arm to signal a warning, which she easily seemed to get, and we both backed up a little, Jules followed and her eyes narrowed in hostility back towards me. But she never acknowledged me as she said,

"Actually, it is."

I whispered, "Caroline, we should go."

Getting the little hint, Caroline said, "Well, I have a trick too."

With that, she sped away and I tried to hold onto Jules. I was able to land a good punch to her and trip her to the ground and keep her down. However, she roughly pushed me aside using her werewolf strength, causing me to hit my head onto Caroline's car. I felt nausea hit me hard as the world seemed to spin. I heard Caroline hiss before I hear a gunshot. I tried to stand up, but before I could move properly, something roughly hit my head and the world turned black.

Pain. That was the only thing that really seemed to echo through my mind before my eyes fluttered open. I flinched at the stench around me before hearing Caroline's whimpering. When I finally managed to adjust my eyes, I noticed how bloody Caroline was. The wooden bullets. I cursed and tried getting up when Caroline looked up at me and asked,

"Elizabeth?"

"Caroline, you alright?" I said, panting in pain. I looked down to notice bruising on my hands and scrapes here and there. Nothing too serious, but there was a ringing in my head. It must have been from the impact with the car.

Caroline responded to me, but I could barely keep my eyes open from the pain. Caroline seemed to tense and I spotted two feet in front of her before a face registered to me. It was Brady. He then proceeded to shoot Caroline with the wooden bullets again.

I tried sitting up more to be able to pay more attention to everything, but that caught Brady's attention and he turned around to face me.

"Well hello there. Didn't think a human would align herself with vampires, but I guess you're one of those few exceptions."

I scoffed and responded back, "Honey, you really don't know me, do you?"

I really shouldn't have done that. I don't know where that bravery to start aggravating him came from, but it didn't stop from there. It just got worse as I saw how riled up Brady got.

"You know, just because you are human doesn't mean you are any better than them. How about I show you what happens when you are friends with the bloodsuckers?"

With that, a gunshot roared and I screamed. The burning sensation in my body was so overwhelming that I gasped in pain. My arm burned from the pain. I realized that he purposefully grazed me with the bullet, but it really hurt. I glared up at his blurry form, my eyes still not helping me out. But as the pain was overwhelming me, I couldn't do much but breath with difficulty.

I was about to go into shock.

"Caroline…" I whimpered out, and the vampire looked at me, horror registering onto her face.

"Elizabeth! Hold on. I'm going to get you out of here!" She yelled and she tried to get herself free, but with the lack of blood, she was weak. She wasn't going to be able to do anything.

I put pressure on my wound and ground my teeth as I felt blood ooze out. Why of all days, did I decide to come out today? I had rotten luck since this was the second time I got kidnapped and gotten hurt just because I left my home.

I looked back up at Caroline, who was crying and I immediately paused, whispering,

"Caroline, save your energy."

Caroline froze and she looked up at me, shaking her head as she rambled,

"I have to get us out of here. You're seriously hurt, you need to get healed. Oh my god, you're bleeding so much. We need to get you to a hospital. What am-"

"CAROLINE!" I yelled, forcing her to stop.

"Caroline, look at me. Someone's going to come for us. Save your energy, you need it. I'll be fine for a while. Just make sure I stay awake."

Caroline nodded and leaned back, whimpering from her already healing wounds.

I smiled reassuringly and looked around, not sure how I would be able to get out of the cage. I leaned back on the wall, huffing out labored breaths in pain. I tried staying awake, and Caroline had to yell at me a couple of times when I almost dozed off.

The longer we sat there, the harder it was for me to stay conscience. How much longer did I have to wait? Coughing, I felt the cold settle in. As if she could see how bad my condition was getting, Caroline started screaming

"Let me out!"

Brady immediately walked in and said, "What was that?"

Caroline screamed "Let me out!"

Brady saw how hysterical she was as she looked at me and turned around. I must have looked sickly considering how Brady merely smirked and just walked away. Caroline screamed again to let her out or to release me, but nobody answered her cries.

But before I knew it, the world was becoming even blurrier and I just felt exhausted. But knowing Caroline, I tried to hang on.

…

Suddenly, a door opened and Caroline looked up. Tyler! Tyler was here. Caroline quickly said,

"Tyler! Hurry, open the door for Elizabeth! She's hurt. Brady shot her, and she's not responding to me anymore!"

Tyler immediately turned around to find Elizabeth leaning on the wall. She was pale, sweat rolling down her face. The front part of her hair was out of the low pony tail and was sticking to her face from the perspiration. Blood was flowing down one of her arms and Tyler noticed that her breathing was shallow.

Caroline's voice snapped him out of his observations as she whispered,

"Tyler?"

Tyler quickly went into action, unlocking the cage for Elizabeth and followed up with Caroline. He quickly grabbed onto Elizabeth as she was unconscious while Caroline weakly stood up. The moment they left the vehicle that was holding them, Caroline was pushed back to its walls as Jules held her. Tyler looked conflicted and was about to help Caroline when Brady screamed in pain. The other wolves soon followed and Tyler held onto Elizabeth tighter, not sure what was happening.

Then Jonas came into view he said,

"Elijah made a promise to Elena. I'm here to see it upheld. You need to go. Get out of here. Now."

Damon and Stefan nodded. Stefan helped Caroline while Damon noticed the weak Elizabeth in Tyler's arms. Damon took her from Tyler and the vampires sped off.

When they arrived at the Salvatore mansion, Damon quickly went to a room and laid Elizabeth down on the bed. Stefan quickly followed as Damon bit into his wrist.

Blood flowed down as he gently rested it on Elizabeth's mouth. Stefan's eyes widened as he said,

"What are you doing? She said she didn't want vampire blood!"

"I'm saving her life." Damon ground out.

However, Stefan pushed Damon out of the way.

Damon sped towards Elizabeth when Stefan held him back. "STOP! Do you want to have this end badly?!"

Damon froze and looked down with a guilty look on his face. Even if Elizabeth didn't remember it, he knew he had promised her that he would not feed her vampire blood under any circumstances. He was the only person to know why she didn't want it.

Caroline looked down at Elizabeth before heading back to her own home. Stefan decided to give Caroline a ride while Damon decided to look over Elizabeth's wounds. It wasn't the first time Elizabeth had gotten hurt protecting them, and the guilt seeped through. He had been the first one to hurt her in Mystic Falls, and yet she tried to protect him. He didn't deserve her friendship.

And yet, he couldn't chase away a feeling of dread. Something didn't feel right. Elizabeth was getting hurt too frequently and ending up in the worst places she could be as if she was attracted to the danger. Of course Elizabeth was reckless, but not this badly. But then again, beforehand, he was the danger compared to now, when an Original Vampire was trying to uproot their lives.

But he also worried what side Elizabeth would take. Before the accident, Elizabeth didn't seem like she had agreed with whatever they intended to do, and it was becoming clearer that the more Damon did something to protect Elena, the more distant Elizabeth was becoming.

With a heavy sigh, he looked at Elizabeth's pain-filled features and whispered, "What am I going to do Elizabeth?"

There was no response, and he just felt horrible.

Chapter Text

Damon waited throughout the night by Elizabeth's bedside, waiting for her to wake. At these moments, she looked so peaceful that he didn't know what to do once she did regain her consciousness.

Trouble after trouble, Elizabeth fell victim to things she was not entirely brought into. Even at the beginning of their friendship, Elizabeth had clearly defined that her loyalty was not to the Gilbert drama that ensued around them, nor would it be to the Salvatores'. And yet, here she was, unconscious because she got caught up in them again.

It was around 5 a.m. when Elizabeth moaned and opened her eyes. Damon immediately woke up from the nap he had fallen into and whispered out,

"Beth?"

Elizabeth just looked at him and groaned. Damon looked at her, not sure if she needed anything and asked cautiously,

"I think you're going to need my blood. Today's the day of the historical society thing you mentioned before."

Elizabeth's eyes widened at that and glared at him, before her facial features morphed into something that looked like hesitance. Damon knew that Elizabeth didn't want to drink any vampire blood no matter what, but since she had a job to do soon, she seemed to consider it. After a minute of silence, Elizabeth sighed and nodded a little, still not looking that happy about having to drink vampire blood.

Damon silently bit into his wrist and offered it to her, lifting Elizabeth's head a little to help her drink the blood. Elizabeth hesitated before taking in a deep breath and drank some. She instantly winced at the taste of it, but just swallowed the liquid before lying back down. She felt her body healing slowly, the burning pain easing away.

She turned her head to watch Damon clean his arm up from the blood. Once she felt the pain disappear completely, she sat up on the bed, hoarsely saying, "Thank you."

Damon just nodded and said, "You better get going to your house to prepare for that event. Andie is coming soon and since you two don't like each other much, better leave soon."

Elizabeth groaned at the mention of the woman. She had hated that character from the beginning. Damon saw the annoyance flash across her face and rolled his eyes as he said,

"Yeah, none of that lady. Hurry up, you're all cured. I need to get my beauty sleep in."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes back at him as she stood up and said, "Until later then."

Damon saluted her as Elizabeth walked out to her car, which Alaric had brought over last night for her.

As Elizabeth sped away from the Salvatore residence, she thought back to all that had happened to her. The run-in with the Original vampire was especially concerning. Why had she thrown herself to protect Elena? She could have avoided all that if she didn't help them out. But was she supposed to let that just unfold without interfering? Why would she have been brought here if she wasn't supposed to?

Then that whole ordeal with the werewolves. The pain might have been gone, but it still remained etched into her memory. With a sigh, she turned into her house lot and stopped the engine. Sitting in her seat for a while, contemplating what she needed to do. Of all days, the historical society's event for Elijah was today. A large part of her wished that he would not notice her, but who was she kidding? He was an original. Of course he would notice her.

Deciding that just thinking about it wouldn't do much, she entered her house and went into the bathroom, needing a shower urgently. She smelled of dogs. If that was even possible to pick up from the werewolves.

Once she felt refreshed, she went to her closest and picked out a white dress to wear with white heels. She of course still had hours until the meeting, but she desperately needed to get some work done. Despite what life she led, she needed to go early to help prepare for the event.

She opted for putting her hair down and then doing minimal make-up as she didn't enjoy the thick amount of makeup that was the rage during that time. She hated doing makeup. It didn't feel right with her.

After finishing her preparations, eating a solid breakfast, and catching up on the world news, she went back to her car, driving to the Lockwood's mansion. Upon her arrival, Carol pounced on her and asked,

"Oh good! You're here! We need your fantastic help with the decorations."

Elizabeth just nodded, not believing how Carol asked her to help out with the decorations for the event of all things. When they went into the building, Elizabeth was immediately ordered to arrange some of the flowers. Great. Just what she had needed to do at the moment with all the supernatural events that had been happening around her.

By the time the crew had finished up with the preparations, guests started trickling in through the door. Elizabeth immediately walked to a corner of the room and hid, hoping to not get bombarded with questions the last time she was in a similar event since her arrival to this universe. Carol had constantly been hounding her down and Elizabeth swore that the woman was more perceptive than she let on.

Elizabeth cursed when she suddenly heard Carol's excited voice ask someone,

"Have you spent much time in Richmond for your book? There's such a wealth of history there."

Her eyes immediately spotted Carol and the man beside him: Elijah Mikaelson. As she fidgeted and took a step to the side to hide, the vampire's eyes met hers briefly, as if challenging her to hide herself from him before replying to Carol politely,

"No. I'm focusing mostly on the smaller regions of Virginia. Lots of research. Strictly academic."

Carol noticed how his eyes had flashed to Elizabeth and smirked. She muttered,

"That's fascinating" before calling Elizabeth over.

Elizabeth inwardly winced and noticed how a small upward bend in the Mikaelson's lips grew as she neared and realized that he knew what was taking place. Carol had a tendency to introduce some good-looking men to Elizabeth frequently. The woman loved to play matchmaker.

When she arrived at where the duo stood, Elizabeth heard Carol say,

"Elizabeth Kim, meet Elijah Smith. He's the writer we are hosting this event for."

Elizabeth politely smiled and extended her hand as she said,

"Elizabeth Kim. Nice to meet you, Mr. Smith."

Elijah looked at her before giving her a slight smirk while shaking her hand with a firm grip as he said,

"Likewise. Elijah Smith. I heard Carol talking about some of your work here."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she asked, "The flower arrangement?"

Carol had snuck off at some point and Elijah just smirked even more as he said, "Ah, I'm afraid it was rather the… historical contribution she was fervently sharing."

Elizabeth let go of his hand and just shook her head as she sighed. "Well Mr. Smith, if that's really your last name, it looks like we might have company."

Elijah followed where her eyes went and spotted a rather haughty looking Damon Salvatore walk into the room.

"Seems like we do."

Elizabeth continued with, "Well, whatever he's thinking of doing, it's not going to be good. Just don't cause a scene here."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her this time and asked incredulously, "Now, what might make you think I will Ms. Kim?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and responded with, "Don't call me that. Just say Elizabeth. And as for Damon? Well, he's going to aggravate either you or me or even both. I think we both would know that at this point."

Elijah scoffed quietly, but Elizabeth noticed. Elijah merely straightened his tie as Damon walked up when Carol popped up out of nowhere again as she introduced them.

"What a surprise. Elijah, I want you to meet Damon Salvatore. His family is one of Mystic Falls' founding families."

Damon gave a smirk and extended his hand to the other vampire and said, "Such a pleasure to meet you."

Elijah gave a tight, but gentle smile as he said, "No. Pleasure's mine."

Elizabeth looked at Damon, her eyes narrowing. Damon ignored her silent warning and shook the original's hand.

But when Elijah tried to take his hand out of the handshake, Damon gripped it tighter and said, "Let's talk."

Elijah looked down at the younger vampire, and silently nodded. His hand was finally released and Elijah followed after Damon. He quickly glanced back at Elizabeth, who remained at her position when Alaric approached her, followed up with John before turning his attention back to Damon.

Elizabeth didn't follow the two men, feeling exhausted and relieved that her interaction with Elijah was momentarily over. She sighed out, but jumped again in shock when John approached her and asked,

"What's Damon doing with Elijah?"

Elizabeth ignored the man. Alaric rolled his eyes at her wariness to the other Gilbert and asked back,

"How would we know?"

John looked at Alaric and said, "Because you're his little helper."

Elizabeth scoffed at that, keeping her eyes glued onto the office door while Alaric shrugged in mere annoyance as he sarcastically replied, "If you say so, John."

She tuned John and Alaric out, getting nervous about the meeting Elijah and Damon were having. As she grew impatient, she approached the door when it swung open and Elijah came out from it.

Elijah stopped upon the sight of Elizabeth, who looked up at him calmly, as if asking him what happened in there. Elijah just smiled back as he closed the door behind him and said,

"How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise, not sure if she should answer that when Elijah gently grabbed her wrist and took her to another room, a little further away. He then closed the door and turned around, as he said,

"I'm sure yesterday's ordeal was quite stressful. And yet here you are, interacting among the supernatural."

Elizabeth studied Elijah warily. She saw he was doing the same thing with her, trying to determine if she was a threat to his plans. Elizabeth shrugged as she sat down at a chair and said,

"I could be better. But I guess I should thank you for your help with the warlocks. And as for interacting with the supernatural, you're probably the most dangerous one here as of now."

Elijah chuckled at that and said, "And yet you don't seem to fear me too much as our first meeting."

Elizabeth asked at him, studying his face carefully as she asked, "Should I be?"

Elijah's eyes widened just a fraction, his brown eyes darkening at the challenge she was posing. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned onto the desk comfortably as he nonchalantly replied back,

"Well, as long as my deal with Elena Gilbert stands, no. You are under my protection and you shall have my assistance with the… supernatural dealings you get yourself into."

Elizabeth looked at him before spotting red spots on his shirt sleeve. Elizabeth shook her head and stood up, walking towards him. Elijah studied her. The woman was giving out an air of confidence with what she was doing. And something in her behavior demanded his full attention. When she stood right in front of him, he felt her eyes look down at his sleeve. His eyes quickly looked down at her small hands grab and extend his sleeve a little to get a better look at something.

"You should be careful. Even if you're an Original, you shouldn't leave traces like this."

Elijah noticed the small blood spots on his sleeve and looked back up at her, seeing her disappointed look.

He smiled and said, "I shall have to be careful from now on. I feel as if I'm being scolded."

That was when his breath stopped just a bit, the look in her eyes froze time for him just for a fraction as she said,

"You are getting scolded."

With that, he saw Iris bring out a small stain remover and get rid of the bloodstains on his sleeve. He just watched her do this action, surprised at how she was treating him. Her eyes grew more focused on the task, her biting her lip in her concentration. He watched her carefully, not wanting to miss anything she was expressing. It was strange, this girl in front of him wasn't that spectacularly beautiful, but had a warmth to her that attracted him to it more than the beauty itself. It was as if he had never felt that warmth until now. He didn't want to separate from it. It felt comforting.

When she finally finished, she sighed and put the stain remover back into the purse she had with her. She looked up to say something when the words died on her and she just stared back at the Original in silence, seeing his eyes on her. His brown eyes met her own brown, which were so close to a redwood brown in the light from the office. After a moment of just staring at each other, she stepped back a little. And she nonchalantly said,

"The stain's gone, but I suggest you be more cautious with where and who you stab things with."

She turned around as if to leave him, but his hand instantly grabbed her wrist and turned her back to face him as he asked,

"Your friends don't appreciate my being here, and yet you don't seem the least concerned about being judged for staying and talking with me."

Elizabeth looked at the vampire and smiled gently at that. Elijah's eyebrows went up, inquiring her to explain and she said,

"Well, they don't have my allegiance nor my loyalty. Yes, I am a friend to Alaric Saltzman and some others of that group, but they know that I won't have my entire life revolve around them unless I feel like joining the fray. Honestly, If I had, we would have met again much sooner, trust me. I also know why you're here and who Klaus is to you Mr. Mikaelson, but you don't see me going around telling anyone about you two, do you?"

Elijah tensed at that last revelation about Klaus. He instantly grew wary and asked,

"And if they abandon you? If they turn against you for not sharing information?"

Elizabeth looked at the vampire straight in the eye and said, "Well then, that's where our paths divide. It would be unfortunate, but both they and I know that I don't have that obligation to them unless I say so."

Elijah saw how Elizabeth spoke her mind. She was being honest, but there seemed to be an overlapping sense of sadness. She did care, but distanced herself away purposefully. And something about her words told him to trust her. But as he was thinking this, Elizabeth quickly turned around and left the party, needing space from the Original that made her question her choices.

Elijah saw the door close behind her and just stood there, not sure what to think. The woman intrigued him. She remained a mystery to him. She feared him, yet was brave enough to approach him and treat him like another person. Not infatuated like other girls, not hatred like those who wanted to oppose him, nor feared him to the point that they would rather distance themselves or threaten him. No, she was kind. It was strange, really, to see someone be so accepting of his presence, and now he wanted to know more about the woman.

Elizabeth quickly drove back to her house and immediately changed into something more comfortable. Her new wardrobe consisted of jeggings along with a v-neck black shirt with a grey cardigan over it. She had put her hair in a bun and put on her glasses for the work she was about to do. But as she was making herself some coffee she couldn't help but think about how how she was eerily calm around Elijah. Why was he different? Why did she feel so comfortable with him around? And she wasn't sure if the original had noticed, but when he had gripped her wrist in that office, Elizabeth felt her heart skip a beat.

Deciding to just do some more drawing, she went to her tablet with her coffee and began drawing her work. After some hours, it was almost night time when her phone rang. She checked the caller ID to find that it was Damon. She answered it and said,

"Hello?"

Elizabeth immediately tensed when Jule's voice said from the other end,

"Hello again. Remember me? So, I have Damon Salvatore here all tied up and Alaric unconscious. But the leech here says he doesn't know where the moonstone is. So, let's say you come here to the Salvatore residence and tell us the information and save them, or they die."

Elizabeth sighed as she leaned back and said, "I'll be there."

With that, she hung up and placed her glasses back onto her desk before she quickly drove over to the Salvatore's place. Once she arrived, she was dragged out of her car and into the room by one of the werewolves that had been waiting for her to come to the Salvatore residence. She was eventually taken to where Damon was tied to a chair with a makeshift torture collar around his neck.

Damon's eyes widened at her arrival and yelled out,

"What did you bring her here for?"

Jules shook her head and said, "You weren't telling us what we wanted to know, so we wanted to give you a little motivation to start talking."

With that, Elizabeth saw Jules aim her gun at her, causing Elizabeth to roll her eyes as she muttered,

"Oh please, this trick? You think Damon's gonna talk because you aim a gun at me?"

Damon looked nervous at that comment and bit out, "Elizabeth…"

This caused her to look over at him and wink, as if stating that she had a plan in her mind for this event. Damon shifted a little, trying to get a better view of what she intended to do. Jules just put the gun against Elizabeth's chest as she said once more,

"Now, Damon, is it her? Or Elena?"

Damon wasn't sure if he had to say anything as he said, "Darling, you know that this tactic is getting a bit old? Why her?"

Jules chuckled and moved her trigger finger as she said, "Well, since you gave her your blood to heal. Vampires don't freely give their blood around do they?"

Damon bit the side of his mouth at that and he glared at Jules. He then bit out, "I don't know where that thing is. Someone else has it!"

Jules shook her head in anger. And as she was about to say something, Elizabeth took this chance at her distraction and grabbed the carabine in Jules' hand and tugged it away before slamming it to the werewolf right by her. The werewolf let go of her grip when she shot him in the stomach and then tossed it hard to the werewolves charging at her before shooting those two with the handgun she brought. But she wasn't able to match Jules' speed when the female werewolf grabbed her from behind and then slammed her to the nearby wall.

Elizabeth struggled against the hold until she felt a knife by her lower back. Damon yelled out,

"Beth! Dammit!"

They could hear Damon struggling against the collar, but they couldn't do much as Jules threatened,

"Now, that wasn't so nice to hurt my family, was it? Now, Damon, better tell me where that moonstone is."

But as Damon was about to respond to the werewolf, they all heard a voice say,

"You looking for this?"

Elizabeth was still held against the wall so she couldn't see him, but she recognized the voice; it was Elijah. Jules' grip tightened by her as the werewolf whirled her around to use her as a shield and then grip the knife to her throat. Elijah showed them all the moonstone and put it on the bar before retreating a few steps from it as he said,

"Go ahead. Take it."

Elizabeth held her breath a little as she felt a small streak of blood flow down her throat from the knife. One of the werewolves she had injured just a moment ago went towards the moonstone when Elijah suddenly sped towards him and ripped the creature's heart out. Two others, angered by their dead friend, ran towards the Original vampire when they met the same fate as their other friend. Jules decided that at that point, the best thing was to leave, so she pushed Elizabeth away from her and bolted as fast as she could. But the werewolf that had been torturing Damon folded himself on the ground as if to hide himself, but Elijah caught up to him as he asked,

"What about you, sweetheart, hmm? You want to take a shot? Yes? No? Yes?"

He carefully looked around and asked angrily, "Where's the girl?"

Damon shrugged a little as he said, "I don't know."

Elijah looked a bit annoyed as he took in the answer before nonchalantly said, "It doesn't matter."

With that, he punched the werewolf in the face, causing the man's death in the same time. Elijah noticed how Elizabeth looked extremely exhausted and a bit pained as she grasped her neck a little before heading over to Damon and removed the chains.

Elijah walked over to Elizabeth after grabbing the moonstone, all the while saying, "So you realize this is the third time I've saved your life now Mr. Salvatore?"

Damon just nodded when Elijah knelt down to Elizabeth and said to her, "Let me take a look at that wound."

Elizabeth looked at Elijah, trying to see if it was alright to show him her bleeding, but she decided to show him and removed her hands gently from her small cut, wincing from the stinging sensation it caused. Elijah studied the wound before helping her stand up. Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise before he bit his wrist and offered her his blood. Elizabeth saw the finality in his eyes and drank the blood he offered. Immediately, she felt her wound close and she whispered out, "Thank you."

He nodded before running out of the house. Elizabeth sighed out and looked over at Damon, asking,

"You alright?"

Damon just nodded as he said, "You shouldn't have come here. It was dangerous."

Elizabeth glared at him and said nothing while walking over to Alaric and waited for him to wake up. Damon rolled his eyes and started calling Bonnie. The moment he ended his call with Bonnie, Alaric gasped and coughed as he started breathing air again.

Damon exasperatedly said, "Finally. You missed all the fun."

Alaric's phone rang as he was standing up before he answered it. Alaric walked a bit away as he talked with Jenna on the phone when Damon said,

"You need help getting to your place?"

Elizabeth shook her head as she said, "Nah, I'm fine. I think I'm gonna head home now."

With that, Elizabeth headed home and once she arrived and had washed up again, she lied down onto her bed, tired of all the events. She thought about how easy her life was before this. How she didn't involve herself in any drama, and now? She was stuck close to it. And her reaction to Elijah at the tea party didn't help either. She knew that the Original family was close by and that it would not do well to get stuck with them, but Elizabeth knew that she didn't want to remain with the crew in Mystic Falls either.

With this dilemma in mind, she wasn't sure what she really wanted. And with that, the next day, to empty out her mind, she grabbed her sketchbook and headed outside. She was wearing a navy blue coat and had tied her hair up in a pony tail with a skirt on. Inside, she wore a dark blue blouse.

She drove out to a small area in Mystic Falls and started sketching a bird that had perched nearby. She had her glasses on and was intensely focusing on the bird, trying not to scare it as she was drawing when she heard it fly away and voices approach. She looked up to see Jenna and Elijah walk in her general direction.

Jenna was saying, "The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence."

Elijah replied with, "Ah, the Fells… one of the Founding families."

Apparently, the two didn't spot her as she was sitting in the brush of tall grass, effectively hiding her from them. She continued to hear Jenna and Elijah talk.

Elijah responded to a question Jenna asked as he said, "My research showed me that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier. It was a migration of townsfolk from the northeast, um, it was Salem, to be precise."

Jenna seemed to look decently surprised as she asked, "Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?"

Elijah nodded as he said, "Which means the ever-lauded founding families… they didn't actually found anything."

Elizabeth decided that this was the best moment to join in as she stood up from her spot as she closed her sketch book while saying, "Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men tend to be territorial."

Elijah and Jenna's eyes widened at the sight of her, not having seen her like this and Jenna exclaimed,

"Elizabeth, what are you doing here?!"

Elizabeth walked over to the two people as she said, "Well, I needed a break with everything and had decided to come here to draw and take a breather. But I see that you are giving him a tour of the old property lines."

Elijah then said, "Ms. Elizabeth, it's nice to see you here. I hope you have been well since our last meeting. Although, I must have to agree with your statement about men."

Jenna looked confused at how Elizabeth smirked at her, when she looked behind her to see Alaric run towards them. Sighing with annoyance she said,

"Elijah, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow to Jenna at that and Jenna just rolled her eyes while Alaric said,

"Yeah, I got your message about walking Elijah here through the old property lines. I thought I would tag along. You know, being a history buff and all. Where to next?"

Elijah continued with his act as Mr. Smith while saying,

"I'm pretty curious abou the freed slave property owners. Some say, you know, the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history."

Jenna seemed to think for a bit before responding with, "Well, I only brought the surveys. I got he list in the car, just give me a sec."

With that, Jenna ran to her car, leaving the three people behind. Elijah looked over at Alaric and said,

"Alaric Saltzman. So you're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect."

Alaric glared at the man and said, "So is Jenna."

Elijah rolled his eyes as he said, "You don't have to be jealous. I don't really pursue younger women."

Alaric and Elizabeth both tensed at that, but for different reasons. Alaric because of Jenna while Elizabeth for the short memory of her encounter at the tea party. But Alaric muttered something that Elizabeth couldn't quite catch and they saw Alaric walk towards Jenna. While left behind, Elijah, still looking at the retreating form of the man, said,

"Elizabeth, do you normally come out to the old property lines to draw and clear your head?"

Elizabeth just shrugged as she said, "Only when things I don't really understand happen to me."

Elijah turned around to study Elizabeth as she looked wistfully at the landscape before her. The silence brought her eyes back to his and Elizabeth warily studied the man, not able to take anything from him. Elijah saw how her eyes shined, and despite her smaller height, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. But this wasn't the time for such feelings. He quelled it as he turned back to look at the scenery as he said,

"And I assume this doesn't happen often."

Elizabeth sighed and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as she said, "This is a new habit. Ever since the accident, I like to think things through in this area. It's quiet and calming."

He noticed the sad tone in her reply but did not hint at it. He just said, "You're also one of Elena's list of loved ones."

Elizabeth didn't reply for a while, not sure what to say. Then, she just wistfully smiled and said, "Mr. Mikaelson, I don't deserve that protection. Not from Elena anyway."

Elijah looked at her, curiosity causing him to ask, "And why not?"

Elizabeth turned to look at him, looking grim as she said, "Because I don't think you can really kill your brother."

This surprised Elijah greatly. The weight of her response was so heavy that he wasn't sure what to say back to her immediately.

With that, she walked forward towards Jenna, who was coming back to the duo. Elijah did not get the chance to say anything back to Elizabeth. He just saw her get in the car Jenna and Elijah had come in and he merely followed Jenna, who claimed that they should go get lunch together to further discuss about the history around Mystic Falls. As they entered the Mystic Grill, Elizabeth warily eyed Damon Salvatore, who had his arm around Andie while Alaric seemed to be trying his best not to look upset.

When the three people got close enough, they all heard Damon say,

"Ah, there's Jenna with her new boyfriend. Hi."

Jenna rolled her eyes while Elijah just put his hands in his pockets, trying to look like he was interested in the conversation. Meanwhile, Elizabeth just closed her eyes momentarily and slightly cursed at her luck for being in this conversation. This didn't go unnoticed by Elijah but they were quickly brought out of their thoughts as Jenna said, "Hey, guys." To the other group.

Damon smirked as he said, "So, I hear you three had quite a meeting of historical minds today."

Jenna answered with, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

Damon then looked over at Elizabeth, who sighed out loud as she said, "I was there gathering my thoughts when I ran into these two. It was just a coincidence really."

Elizabeth sounded so nonchalant about it that Damon wasn't sure if he really believed that she was feeling the way she made it sound. But he didn't have time to say much as Alaric suddenly stood up and awkwardly said,

"Well, as much as I'd love to continue this, I've got papers to grade."

Elijah's eyes narrowed at the man's awkwardness while Elizabeth just tiredly watched the man gather his things. Andie then suddenly piped up with,

"No, you know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party."

Elizabeth immediately grimaced but didn't say anything as Damon just chuckled and gave Andie's cheek a peck as he said,

"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host. Say… tonight. Maybe?"

With that, Andie looked up expectantly at Jenna as she said, "It's good for me. Jenna?"

Alaric noticed how Elizabeth didn't seem too enthusiastic about the idea and muttered, "I don't know if tonight works…"

But Jenna took that answer with annoyance, not quite understanding why the man had said that as she stubbornly said, "I'm free."

Alaric immediately frowned while Elijah smiled and added, "It'd be a pleasure. Especially if Miss Kim attends."

Elizabeth's head spun around to face Elijah rapidly. She didn't expect that kind of response and her mouth gaped at that. Damon and Alaric also looked shocked at that and looked towards Elizabeth, not sure what she would say. Elizabeth slowly closed her mouth and her eyes narrowed just a little bit as she analyzed the original vampire by her side. She then answered,

"I don't think I have a choice."

Damon clapped his hands, looking somewhat smug as he said, "Great."

When that was settled, Elizabeth looked unhappy and said as she looked at the group,

"Well, I guess I should head home and get ready. I don't want to go under-dressed."

Elijah saw her stand up from her seat and depart. He felt her annoyance even from where he was and struggled a little to keep himself from smiling at how adorable she was at the moment. What he didn't notice was the guilt flowing through Elizabeth's features as she got further away from the group.

She knew what was about to happen and she had decided that she wasn't going to change the events. But she felt guilt seep through her, despite having told herself that there was nothing going on between her and the original for her to feel it.

She quickly changed into a blue dress with lace covering it. For makeup, she just lightened up to keep it at a minimum.

Once she had prepared for it, she hid her gun that she normally used to hunt vampires in her handbag and walked over to her car, ready to drive over. It seemed that she had arrived just in time for her to spot Elijah in the doorway. She sighed, not sure if she felt ready for this. Before leaving the car, she quickly hit her forehead on the steering wheel to keep her nerves. Once she gathered her breath and courage, she got out and walked over to hear the Mikaelson say,

"Just one moment. Can I just say that if you have anything less than honorable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider."

Elizabeth added on, "Please do. I don't want to have come here all the way for you to unleash some ghastly murder plan for Mr. Mikaelson here."

Elijah smirked a little while Damon rolled his eyes and said,

"No, nothing, nothing dishonorable. Just getting to know you more Elijah."

Elijah smiled, though the threatening gleam in his eyes remained as he warned,

"Hmm. Well that's good. Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, if you so much as make a move to cross me, I'll kill you and I'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?"

Damon glanced over to Elizabeth, who looked equally as serious as Elijah was, as if warning him to heed the warning. But Damon just smiled and said, "Crystal." As if he really didn't care. Elizabeth frowned momentarily and watched Elijah walk in and glared at Damon as she lowly whispered,

"Whatever you got planned, I don't want to be a part of it. If you do something monumentally stupid, I'm gonna shoot you."

Damon sighed and said, "I promised to Elijah, didn't I?"

Elizabeth glared at him, and he flinched but quickly hid it by closing the door behind her and helped her to the dining room. When she had joined Elijah and the others, the dinner had not been quite ready yet so she joined in on the easy conversation. Elijah faced her, causing her to look up at him as he took her hand and kissed the back of it as he smiled and said,

"You look beautiful Elizabeth."

Elizabeth gave a small smile and thanked him, trying to not get captured in the man's eyes. She quickly but smoothly joined Jenna's conversation with the others, not feeling comfortable with the amount of attention the original vampire seemed to give her.

When they were finally ready to eat, Elizabeth realized quickly that she was to be seated next to the original vampire and grimaced inwardly. But she hid it well as she just calmly sat down and followed the discussion that went on. It was just awkward as John Gilbert was there and he suddenly asked,

"So Elizabeth? I heard you were in an accident? How was your recovery? You still seem a little pale."

Elizabeth visibly tensed at that and clenched her teeth in annoyance. She quickly checked her temper as she calmly said, "I'm still on the mend. Although, given the current circumstances, I could be better if there wasn't so much tension coming from one person."

John glared at her for the insult while Jenna coughed a little from the awkward tension in the room before clearing her throat and said something to change the subject,

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town."

Damon looked at Jenna and said, "Hmm… do tell."

Elijah politely answered, "Well, as I mentioned to Jenna earlier, a faction of settlers migrated from Salem after the witch trials in the 1690s. Over the next hundred years they developed this community where they could feel safe from persecution."

Jenna thought on this while she ate before saying, "Because they were witches."

Andie scoffed as she said in response, "Yeah, but there's not tangible proof there were witches in Salem."

Damon looked proud at what the woman said and added, "Andie's a journalist. Big on facts."

Elizabeth just silently ate, not really wanting to pay attention much as Elijah continued with,

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. It broke out in the neighboring settlement, so these witches were rounded up. They were tied to stakes in a field together and, uh, burned. Some say you could hear the screams from miles around us. They were consumed by the fire."

Elijah paused before saying, "Could you pass the…"

Elizabeth noticed what he was asking for and quickly gave it to him while Jenna said,

I wouldn't repeat this to the rest of the Historical Society."

John just frowned and said, "It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me."

Damon ignored the man and asked with actual curiosity, "So why do you want to know the location of these alleged massacres?"

Elizabeth tensed a little at that question and remained silent as Elijah looked down at her, as if wondering why she had frozen a little at the question that had been directed at him before saying,

"You know… a healthy historian's curiosity, of course."

Damon didn't really seem satisfied with the answer, but he nodded and replied with, "Of course."

Elizabeth finished her meal first, but she didn't feel comfortable in her seat. Elijah noticed this and didn't say anything. He wanted to grab her hand and console her, but he just kept his distance. He didn't want to risk her life by involving her into the seeming conflict between him and the other vampires in the Mystic Falls area.

Once everybody else had finished their meal, Damon asked,

"Does anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle I've been saving for ages."

Alaric shook his head, causing Elizabeth to narrow her eyes as she heard him say,

"None for me, thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit."

She hadn't noticed Alaric drinking that much, but she just remained silent. Elijah noticed her wary looks and kept himself wary of his surroundings as well. He didn't know why she was wary, but he didn't want to risk it himself. Rather, he was just getting irked by the whole setting. He didn't like how tense the woman next to him was. Rather, when he had met her near the old Fell property, she seemed relaxed even seemed to show her real self to him more so than ever. And he wanted more of that. But soon enough, Andie broke his thoughts as she said,

"The gentlemen should take their drinks in the study."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and scoffed as she stood up with Elijah while saying, "What is this? The early 20th century? And if there are gentlemen in this room, I would think Elijah here is the only one."

Elijah smirked with amusement gleaming in his eyes at the comment while Damon retaliated with,

"I can be a gentlemen if I want to be."

Elizabeth laughed darkly while stating, "Yeah, over my dead body."

But as the tension between the supernatural hunter and the vampire seemed to intensify, Elijah cleared his throat and politely said,

"I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company."

While he said this, he looked at Elizabeth, whose eyebrows went down a little as she was surprised from his statement when he directly gazed at her. She slowly moved her gaze away from his as to not seem like she had been affected by his comment whatsoever. Andie noticed this while chuckling and said a little flirtatiously,

"Oh, I like you."

Elizabeth's smirk died a little at that, causing her to panic internally. She wasn't feeling jealous at that. She couldn't. Jenna awkwardly stood up and started collecting the plates before setting them down on John's hands as she said,

"Here you are, gentleman, make yourself useful. Hmm?"

Alaric went up to her quickly as he said, "Here, here. Put me to work."

Jenna frowned at that and awkwardly distanced herself as she quickly said, "Um, I got it."

Alaric noticed the distance she had set with him and frowned, clearly upset. He wanted to get closer to her as he asked, "Hey, Jenna, are you… are you ok?"

Jenna nodded with a tight smile on her face as she responded with, "Yeah, fine, Ric."

With that, Jenna took the plates from John's hands again and quickly walked towards the kitchen by herself. Elizabeth glanced around warily, noticing how antsy Damon was slowly getting. When he noticed that she was staring at him, he quickly stopped his nervous finger movements and just put on his nonchalant façade back on.

Everybody looked towards the trio as John just sighed and looked apologetic as he muttered,

"I suspect this is my fault."

They then all jumped as Alaric grabbed John by his lapels while asking, "What did you do now?"

John raised his hands in surrender as he answered, "I merely mentioned you haven't been completely honest with her about your dead wife."

Alaric's face became red as he looked murderous while biting out, "You son of a bitch."

John just looked back at the man coolly while saying, "I think I've been very clear with you, Ric. I want my ring back."

He then shook Alaric off of him and sauntered out of the building. Elizabeth sighed out, disappointment clear in her eyes as she shook her head while taking a sip of her leftover wine. Elijah noticed that she hadn't let go of her handbag and raised a single eyebrow at her. She saw this and lowered her wine glass before opening her bag to show him the gun in there. Elijah looked at her with amusement and Elizabeth shrugged while muttering lowly,

"I'm a hunter. What do you expect me to carry in here? Makeup?"

Elijah chuckled lowly. The woman was surprising in various ways. And it did not feel unpleasant. Rather, it calmed him and he enjoyed the warmth that followed despite how dangerous she could be with just how she knew him and his secrets that he kept from the crew in Mystic Falls.

Suddenly, Alaric's phone rang and he stepped out to take it. Elizabeth followed Damon and Elijah into the library, clearly ignoring Andie's protests about how it was only for gentlemen. Andie annoyed Elizabeth and she didn't want to give her the satisfaction of paying her any more attention than necessary.

As she followed them in, she closed the door and asked,

"Damon, there better be a good reason we are here."

Damon handed her a glass of scotch as he nodded and said "I just had a few questions for a new vampire here. So, let me guess. In addition to the moonstone, the doppelganger, the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe, you need to find this witch burial ground."

Elijah looked amused at how Elizabeth looked bored about this scenario as he answered,

"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon, I'll tell you, yes. Do you know where it is."

Damon eyed the original before answering, "Maybe. Tell me why it's so important."

With that, he provided the man with his glass of scotch. Elizabeth set her glass down, not touching it. Even though she didn't like scotch, she came here to not miss this conversation. She warily opened her handbag and acted as if she was checking her makeup while listening in.

Elijah smiled as he said, "We're not that close."

Elijah eyed the books in the library as he casually said, "It's quite a collection you have here."

Damon made a noncommittal noise and shrugged, not having really read anything from the library in a while. He had lost interest in it. Elizabeth sighed and said, "Yes, for such a wonderful collection, the books have remained ignored for what, a few decades?"

Damon glowered at her while Elijah chuckled and said, "It's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories."

Damon slowly took the dagger out, which didn't go unnoticed by Elizabeth. She had her hand in her handbag still and was ready to shoot the Salvatore for his foolishness when Alaric and Andie walked in as Alaric said,

"Gentlemen, Elizabeth, we forgot about dessert."

Andie looked at Elijah, blinking her eyes a little flirtatiously as she said, "Elijah."

Elijah saw Elizabeth roll her eyes as she didn't take her hand out of her handbag, acting as if she was rummaging through it. Elijah straightened his suit out to act natural like Elizabeth was, remembering her threat to Damon Salvatore and warily glanced around. But he did answer to Andie as he said,

"Miss Star…"

He walked out and Elizabeth followed, giving a warning glance to Alaric. Alaric shook his head, realizing that Elizabeth was not on their side for this one and knew her reasoning as to why. It wasn't great to do this. The Original had given his word to protect them, but they were still doing this regardless of the promise.

As they rejoined Jenna and John, who had come back after cooling off from his confrontation with Alaric earlier, they heard Jenna mutter,

"Sorry, guys, dessert is taking longer than I thought. I usually just unwrap food."

Andie ignored it while saying, "So… I know this is a social thing, but I… I would really ove to ask you some more questions about the work that you're doing here."

Elijah sat down as he said, "I'd love to answer."

Andie nodded and smiled brightly as she said, "Great, that's so great."

Elizabeth reached into her handbag again, grasping the gun tightly as Damon and Alaric walked back into the room. Andie looked behind her shoulder as she asked Alaric,

"Ric, would you do me a favor and grab the notebook out of my bag?"

Elizabeth's eyes trailed after the other vampire hunter, narrowing her eyes at that. Damon snapped her attention back to him as he said, "Elijah, did John tell you he's Elena's uncle/father?"

Elijah looked a little annoyed at that and asked, "Yes, I'm well aware of that."

Damon just shrugged while smirking as he said, "Of course, she hates him, so there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list."

John glared at Damon, not really enjoying the statement pointed towards him. Alaric walks back in without the supposed notebook and Andie looks frustrated as she said,

"Ric, it's in the front pocket. On the… you know what? Excuse me guys. Sorry."

John took this chance without the human to say, "What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how do you intend on killing Klaus?"

Elizabeth glared at the Gilbert and stood up as if she was angered by that. Elijah risked a glance and set a hand on her back to calm her down as he said,

"Gentlemen, there's a few things we should probably get clear right now. I allow you to live solely to keep an eye on Elena. I allow Elena to remain in her house living her life with her friends as she does as a courtesy. If you become a liability, I'll take her away from you and you'll never see her again."

At that moment, Andie walked in and started saying, "Ok. My first question is when you got here to Mystic…"

Elizabeth quickly spun around and shot Alaric as he had raised the dagger to stab Elijah. Elijah quickly turned around at the silent ping of the gun and saw Alaric stagger a little before spotting the dagger. Elijah's calm demeanor turned to anger rapidly as he saw Elizabeth fighting Damon on the side. Elizabeth was fighting off the vampire well when she ended up dropping the gun. John quickly took that weapon from the ground and aimed at Elijah, who sped towards the Gilbert and tossed him across the building. Elijah then sped back to face Damon, who had shoved Elizabeth to the side, causing her to crash into the nearby wall and hit her head hard. She crumpled down and Alaric frowned before running over to Elijah, who had become distracted from her falling to the floor.

Alaric then successfully shoved the dagger through Elijah's heart. The last thing the original saw was the unconscious form of Elizabeth lying on her side. And then, everything went black as his skin turned grey.

Alaric then took out the dagger and pocketed it before grunting out, "Now, get rid of him and I'll take Elizabeth back home before Jenna comes back with dessert."

Alaric was driving over to Elizabeth's house when suddenly, the car stopped moving as the engine died. Alaric cursed, not liking the situation and grabbing the gun Elizabeth had been using earlier. Checking to find that there was only 1 bullet left, he cursed again. He warily locked the doors, not liking the situation. He heard groaning come from the back of the car and saw Elizabeth groan as she seemed to regain her consciousness.

Elizabeth blinked her eyes multiple times to clear away the black spots in her eyes. That was when she realized that she was in her car and someone was driving it. She sat up quickly to have eye contact with Alaric, who looked guilty. Elizabeth just stared him down, disappointment and anger clear in her eyes. She didn't say anything, raising the tension until Alaric caved as he said,

"I'm sorry…"

Elizabeth just exited the car and walked away, not really feeling like responding to the other hunter.

"Elizabeth! Wait, I-"

Elizabeth quickly whirled around and punched Alaric square in the face. Alaric tumbled to the ground and felt the little bit of blood on the corner of his mouth as it split from the punch. He still felt the immense amount of guilt as the pure anger poured out from Elizabeth and it became clear she didn't want to talk to him.

"Keys."

Was all she muttered, to which Alaric handed her the keys to her vehicle without a fight. With that, she stepped into the driver's seat and locked the doors, collecting her breath to calm down. After a while, she bit on her lip, deliberating whether to leave Alaric out here before sighing and rolling down her window.

With that, she bit out, "Get in the car. I'll drop you off."

Alaric looked down at the ground as he shuffled himself onto the passenger side of the car. Once he got in, the car started again and he was dropped off at his place. The whole car ride had been silent and he was smart to not talk about it.

In all honesty, despite knowing that this was going to take place, Elizabeth had been genuinely upset that this took place. She would have rather had skipped the dinner. That way, she would have not had to feel her heart race at the sight of Elijah. She didn't want to get involved, but it seemed like this universe had something else planned for her.

When she parked her car in her garage and entered her house, she leaned against the wall and brushed her fingers through her hair in frustration. Exhaustion hit her and the pain from her body hitting the wall earlier at the Salvatore residence was obviously bruising. She slowly and painfully slipped out of the dress and took a lukewarm shower to clean up for the night.

Once tonight passed, she knew that Elijah would have been daggered and the infamous Klaus Mikaelson would finally arrive. And this meant that she would have to decide which side to take as it was clear that the Mystic Falls crew realized that she would not blindly help them like they had initially wished for.

In her pajamas, which consisted of a tang-top and sweatpants, she put on her glasses to read some paperwork she had to do after setting her hair in a messy bun, when she heard a knock at her door. Frowning, she went up to it while putting on a woolen cardigan and asked,

"Who is it?"

Then she heard a voice she did not expect to hear; it was Elijah's. He said, "It's me. Elijah."

Elizabeth took in a hesitant breath before opening the door to find the original vampire across from her. His eyebrows shot up at her casual dress and the glasses perched on her nose. It seemed like a completely different view from earlier throughout the day, when she had been formally dressed. Elizabeth waited for him to talk, but realized his eyes sweep her figure in amusement and some type of interest.

She cleared her throat, indicating for him to talk and his eyes found hers again as he looked at her intensely before saying,

"I think I have you to thank for the events that took place at the dinner."

Elizabeth sighed and he could tell her exhaustion was deep and he frowned as he noticed her wince a little as she looked back up at him. She responded to his earlier statement with,

"Mr. Mikaelson, it was the right thing to do. I know that when you give your word, you keep it. There was no excuse for their actions."

Elijah noticed the bruise forming on her shoulder that he could see a little from the neck that the cardigan did not cover. His hand couldn't go through the barrier since she didn't invite him into her house, but he said, "You're hurt."

Elizabeth looked down at her shoulder and said, "Oh, this? Yeah, it's from earlier. But it should be fine in a while."

Elijah shook his head and began to unbutton his suit when Elizabeth quickly stopped his hands with her own as she said tiredly,

"Don't. I'm not going to drink your blood."

Elijah raised one eyebrow, causing Elizabeth to let go of his hand and say, "I'm fine. It's just a bruise. If I can't handle that, I won't be able to protect myself later because I get used to it. I'd rather not."

Elizabeth sighed and stepped out of her house to help the vampire trust her. Elijah said,

"You protected me. Why?"

Elizabeth shrugged a little and looked up at the starry sky as she said, "I don't know. I told myself that I wouldn't get involved… and yet," she glanced back at the older man and said,

"I keep finding myself in these situations since you popped up here in Mystic Falls."

Elijah found her eyes. They drew him in and he couldn't help staring at them as much as possible. There was something about them that made her older, yet he could see the innocence that radiated off of her. The fierce longing to do right. Elijah let her words sink in as he thought to himself when Elizabeth snapped him out of his thoughts with,

"You're going to find Elena, aren't you?"

Elijah nodded, as he asked, "Do you know where they are?"

Elizabeth looked away from him again and stared at the scenery in front of her as she nodded while saying, "I would highly suggest not going. At this point, they will try to dagger you again and leave that thing in this time."

Elijah scoffed and said, "I'm an Original. They won't be able to do it this time."

Elizabeth shook her head and glared at him, fixing her glasses while saying,

"Don't underestimate them. They might be teenagers, but they will go to extreme lengths to achieve what they want to do. You might be surprised."

Elijah saw the wary look in her eyes and felt how she was being honest about this. He nodded and quickly thought of something and leaning in to kiss her forehead. With that, he whispered,

"Goodnight Elizabeth." And then he sped away, not asking her for more answers to not place her in a tight place between him and her friends in the town. But what he didn't know was that Elizabeth stood there for a while, touching the spot he had kissed her.

She sighed and felt her heart flutter and a small pain form that she had not felt in a long time.

She was falling for the Original.

Chapter Text

Elizabeth sighed and headed inside again and then sighed. What was she supposed to do? She wasn’t sure if letting things play out like they did in the show was the right thing. But there was one thing she was sure of: She needed to keep her emotions in check.

Falling for an Original Vampire was not on her list of adjusting to a life here in Mystic Falls. And yet, nothing really made sense to her. Why was she here? Her head began to hurt after a while and she decided to leave it, since there was nothing she could possibly do about the situation now. What was she able to do, stop an Original from doing whatever he wanted? She may have been a supernatural hunter, but she was still human. There was no way she could beat the Original when he was intent on retrieving Elena Gilbert.

Elizabeth washed up and went to bed, not wanting to linger on dark thoughts any longer.

The following day, Elizabeth was drinking coffee while drawing on the tablet for her work when she got a phone call from Stefan Salvatore. Sighing, she answered with,

“Hi Stefan. Can I help you with anything?”

Silence only lasted a few seconds before the younger Salvatore brother said, “Elizabeth. We need to talk about yesterday.”

Elizabeth shook her head even though she knew the vampire wasn’t there to see her do so. She answered with,

“No, I don’t want to talk. Yesterday, Damon did something stupid, and whatever issue you guys have done, I’m not cleaning it up for you.”

Stefan quickly responded to that with, “Elizabeth, this is urgent. We need your help.”

She asked, “With what? Dealing with Jonas and Luka? That’s not on me. I tried stopping to you all from daggering Elijah, but you guys did anyways. What do you expect me to help all of you with?”

Stefan was quiet for a moment before saying, “Let’s just talk this out. Please?”

Elizabeth sighed and then said, “Fine, where do you want to meet?”

Stefan instructed her to meet up with him and Bonnie at the Mystic Grill. Elizabeth cleaned up and wore some better clothes to go public in and then drove over. Once she entered the building, she spotted Stefan and walked up to him, noticing how Bonnie glared at her.

“I’m here. What is it you wanted to discuss?”

Bonnie stood up and accused her with, “How could you help Elijah? He wants to kill Elena!”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and hissed out, “I’d be careful with what you say Bonnie. He gave his word and I know what Elijah is like based on the information I had on him before he came here. He would keep his words unless the most urgent problem requires him to break it. But you guys broke that trust that came with him keeping his word. I only wanted to stop him from attacking any of us, but because of your distrust to anyone but you guys, you went ahead and gave him a reason to kill all of us when he wakes up. So I don’t think you should be so daring to accuse me of putting all of us up for execution.”

Stefan tried to diffuse the situation with, “He’s daggered, and he’ll stay that way. We can’t risk him waking up now. Not when we know that he can use this all against us. Elizabeth, I’m sorry things turned out this way.”

Elizabeth sighed and sat down at a table and exhaustedly said, “I can’t believe you guys didn’t think things through. There are better ways to deal with this then trying to murder someone. What you are doing is so… juvenile…”

Bonnie glared at Elizabeth, not liking her attitude. Elizabeth looked down at Bonnie and asked her, “Is there a problem Bonnie Bennett? You may be from one of the strongest lines of witches, but trust me, I’m a supernatural hunter. Witches may have been created to keep the balance of nature, but you witches can easily be as monstrous as other supernatural creatures. Be very careful of what you do around me if you want to continue living.”

Stefan remained quiet. He didn’t want to face Elizabeth’s wrath. He had been through that experience once and that ended up with him being stabbed in the stomach with a vervain-covered knife.

Before any of the two women could start arguing again, Jonas and Lukas walked over to them and Stefan stood up and said, “Thank you for coming.”

Elizabeth uncrossed her legs and sat straighter in her seat as she heard Jonas say, “I didn’t want to, but my son made a case to hear you out.”

Lukas looked at Bonnie with a wary look and said, “Bonnie said that you have information about Elijah.”

Elizabeth stood up and responded before Stefan did with, “I’m afraid Elijah’s been daggered. He had gone after the doppelganger and this is the result.”

Jonas glared immediately at Stefan and Bonnie, as if he knew Elizabeth wasn’t the culprit when Stefan stopped Jonas by putting a hand on the older man’s shoulder, saying,

“Hear me out. We can help you.”

Bonnie continued with, “We know that Klaus has your daughter. I’m sorry about the way I had to get that information, but it’s good that we know. We can all work together to get her back.”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “I’m not becoming a part of this. This isn’t my fight.”

In truth, she already knew that the daughter had willingly gone with Klaus, not having been forcefully taken away by the hybrid. She didn’t want to discourage the two men in front of her, but she wasn’t willing to risk her life in a fight that she wasn’t a part of.

Luka seemed to have an understanding look before facing Bonnie again as he asked, “How?”

Stefan ignored Elizabeth as she glared at him while he said, “I suspect you and Elijah had a plan to kill Klaus. I’ll just help you carry it out. You can trust us. I give you my word. We all do.”

Elizabeth scoffed at that and stood up to leave the restaurant as she muttered, “The lot that word will do.”

With that, she sauntered off, impatient to be by herself to avoid this whole ordeal. But as she was walking away, she heard Jonas call after her. She turned around to face the older man as he ran after her and said, “Ms. Kim! I wanted to ask you something.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question that the man caught as he continued with, “I know that you fought against the Salvatore brothers the night Mr. Mikaelson disappeared. You were helping Elijah and we were wondering if you will help us deal with the vampires.”

Elizabeth stared at him and asked, “And why should I?”

Luka looked surprised at the question before answering with, “Because you would be saving more people by helping Elijah to stop Klaus. We know that you know why Elijah is here to stop him. We need you to stop Klaus so we can get my sister back.”

Elizabeth’s eyes immediately softened and she had to reign in the pity that was starting to creep through her as she said, “And what if your sister willingly walked away from you to help Klaus?”

Jonas looked distraught at such a thought and said, “I’ll drag her away if I have to. Being with Klaus Mikaelson is a death sentence in itself. As long as you’re not a Mikaelson, that’s inevitable, most people know that already. Please, we need your help. Elijah is the answer for getting my Greta back. We need you to help get Elijah for us.”

Elizabeth looked over at Luka, thinking on it with a scowl on her face. The two men waited, knowing that his wasn’t some simple request. They were asking her to betray her former friends further. Elizabeth studied the younger boy and decided that his death would not be what she wanted if she had a choice in this matter. She sighed and grudgingly answered with,

“Fine, I’ll do it. I can’t assure you that I will succeed, but I’ll try. But Jonas, I don’t want you to go after the kids. As homicidal they seem to be, they’re still kids. I don’t think this warrants their death. Also, if Greta truly did walk away out of her own volition, then I can’t do anything to help her.”

Jonas nodded and said, “I understand. I give you my word.”

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow again as she asked, “Jonas, when someone gives me their word, I expect them to keep it even if they don’t want to. The moment you break your word, you should remember well that I’m not a vampire hunter. I’m a supernatural hunter, which means you become fair game for me.”

Jonas nodded grimly and said, “I know. Elijah is the same way with someone giving their word. I’ll make sure to keep it.”

Elizabeth nodded back before saying to Luka, “Boy, stay away from Bonnie and her friends. They’re no good for you. Don’t risk your life by being around them.”

Luka looked conflicted but nodded, not confident about how he truly felt. Elizabeth then motioned for the two men to follow her before stepping into her car to drive over to the Salvatore residence to keep an eye on things. Elizabeth parked far away enough so that Damon and Katherine, who she knew were inside the residence, could not hear them. She opened her trunk and took out her arsenal, loading her guns. It wasn’t much, but it would stop them momentarily to allow her to take at the Original’s body outside at least. With that, she looked up to Jonas and Luka and said,

“I need you to make me invisible. I think you can do that, right? I won’t be able to do much with the dagger in his heart within the building, but I can take his body out within the time slot. Give the two vampires aneurisms on my word.”

Jonas and Luka nodded. Luka then stepped up and said, “I’ll go in with you. I’ll cover for you.”

Elizabeth glanced over at him and shook her head. “No, I’m not risking your life Luka. Just cover for me from a safe distance. Even if you have some magic, they’re vampires. They can easily kill you in a short amount of time. I’m not letting that happen.”

Jonas gave her a look of gratitude before she started heading over after the older witch made her invisible.

She cautiously waits outside the building, out-of-sight and sees Katherine go down to the basement to grab a blood-bag. She then sees Stefan enter the building, making her curse her luck at having to deal with three vampires rather than two. She waited for Katherine to come up before hurrying over to the basement. Elizabeth put the gun into the holster attached to her belt before kneeling over Elijah. She didn’t bother taking out the dagger. Rather, she hoisted Elijah into her arms and felt him become invisible too. It helped that she was fit enough to hold onto the bigger body in a princess hold without too much trouble. She cautiously crept out of the building and bolted for it once she was outside.

That was when the hunter heard Damon yell out in panic and then signaled the two witches to start the aneurisms. The few minutes the vampires were held back, Elizabeth had made it to her car, having Jonas open the car door for her and shove the body in with Luka.

Elizabeth had Luka orient Elijah comfortably in the back with him while she ran into the driver’s seat while Jonas slipped into the passenger seat. The moment the older man stepped his entire body inside, she drove her car away. Elizabeth was breathing heavily from the adrenaline as she couldn’t believe her luck. But she didn’t let the moment get to her as she sped away to one of her safe houses.

This one was probably her most secret one, slightly outside of Mystic Falls and within quite a populated place. She stopped the car and breathed out, confident that the vampires hadn’t followed her all the way back here. Elizabeth risked a glance over to Jonas, who looked like he couldn’t believe they had succeeded in such a risky move either.

The three people all released a breath of relief before Elizabeth stepped outside and unlocked the entrance to the safehouse, which was spelled. Jonas followed her and asked, “You have strong connections.”

Elizabeth didn’t respond and opened the door for Jonas and Luka to carry Elijah inside. Once she directed them to a guest bedroom after having invited Elijah inside to this place, she grabbed the dagger and pulled it out.

The Original vampire was still desiccated, and Elizabeth sighed warily. She didn’t have any blood bags to offer. As she stood up to go to the kitchen to see if there was anything she could get for herself to drink to calm herself down, Jonas stepped up to her again and said,

“Thank you for helping us.”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything for a while before managing to say, “You realize you put me in a tough position here Jonas. But if this saves your child, I guess I can’t say that I regret it. But make sure to keep your word.”

Jonas nodded and smiled at her. Elizabeth then said to him, “Don’t leave this place unless necessary. This place should be stocked enough to keep you all safe while you are inside. But it’s spelled so that without me, you won’t be able to find it again once you’ve stepped outside. Even Elijah won’t be able to come back inside without me to invite him in again. I set up precautions.”

Jonas nodded when they all heard Luka step out and say, “He’s waking up.”

Elizabeth looked over and grimaced at that. She looked over to Jonas and said, “You’d better go and explain to him. I don’t think I would be a good thing to wake up to… Considering my night job.”

Jonas nodded and then walked over to the guest bedroom with his son. Elizabeth looked inside her fridge and sighed in frustration. She then opened her phone to find 5 missed calls from Damon Salvatore. He knew then, that she might have had a hand in it. She put her phone away and started drinking some whiskey she had poured herself for her nerves when she heard a set of footsteps approach.

The female hunter looked up to see Elijah in his tattered suit approach her with a slightly smile and say, “I believe a thanks is in order.”

Elizabeth eyed him and shrugged him as she said, “Don’t. I didn’t do this for you. Whatever Jonas and Luka would have done, that man would have lost his son by trying to save you in their desperation. I only did this to stop that from happening.”

Elijah nodded, seeing the exhaustion and wariness in her eyes. Elizabeth was still bothered by the tattered clothes and sighed again as she said, “Follow me, I have a set of clothes here somewhere for you.”

Elijah silently followed her to a separate set of rooms. He stepped further inside to find a room with male clothes stocked in the closet. He was impressed at the collection and grabbed a new set of shirts and suits. Elizabeth leaned at the entrance and said,

“The bathroom is next door to the left, so just wash up if you need to and feel free to change into any of those. I’ll let you clean up.”

With that, the vampire nodded and smiled at her, watching the huntress walk away to provide him some privacy. He selected a clean white shirt and then a set of a black suit and then headed over to the bathroom to clean himself up like instructed.

Elizabeth was back in the kitchen watching how Luka was looking at her collection of artwork as he was in awe. It was a collection of modern superhero drawings she had done when she had worked as an artist for a company. He occasionally asked her questions about the characters that she had drawn and she answered politely. Jonas had retired to a room of his own after Elizabeth had seen how exhausted the man looked.

Elizabeth was pondering what to cook for herself when Elijah came back to the kitchen. Luka scurried himself away to go to his own room at the appearance of the Original, leaving the two people alone.

Elizabeth looked over at him and saw that he cleaned up well. She just watched him as he approached the table in the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs. Her eyes were wary all over again before stating,

“You need blood.”

Elijah looked surprised at that and asked, “Do you have any blood bags?”

Elizabeth shook her head and said, “No… but it’s not exactly safe to head outside of this place at the moment either.”

She grew quiet, and Elijah saw her contemplate something when a steely resolve seemed to come into her eyes as she looked at him again and said, “We’re gonna have to do this a more traditional way…”

Elijah looked confused before Elizabeth pulled a chair next to Elijah, motioning him to face her so that they sat across from each other. He adjusted his chair like she asked and then saw her roll her sleeve from her wrist. His eyes widened and he said,

“I assure you, I can wait until-”

Her eyes snapped up to him with a warning look as she said, “Not tonight. They are all probably scouring the area. It’s not safe to risk getting you daggered again. I’ll be fine. Just drink.”

With that she offered him her wrist with a look that silenced him from arguing to her about it. He was thirsty, that was true, but he didn’t want to risk drinking too much from her. His eyes looked at her dark brown eyes, seeing the confidence and trust she was placing in him. He was intoxicated by her eyes and gently took her wrist with one hand. He rubbed his thumb over the pulse point, seeing Elizabeth’s mouth open slightly, as if she was drawing in a small breath. But her eyes never left his as he then he slowly brought her wrist to his mouth before gently biting into it.

He watched her while drinking her blood, sensing a shift in her. But the thirst caught up to him once he tasted her blood, he brought her wrist closer with his other hand grabbing onto it. He heard Elizabeth gasp a little and opened his eyes again. The woman in front of him had closed her eyes while gripping onto her chair tightly with her free hand.

Seeing this shifted something in Elijah. He wanted her in his arms. Not holding back, he released his mouth from her wrist, causing the woman to look at him in confusion. In this entire time, he hadn’t drunk much from her, taking it in slowly and in tiny amounts. Elizabeth then felt Elijah pull her up to stand and bring her into his arms as he looked into her eyes again before taking the wrist again and drink.

This drove Elizabeth mad as she realized how intimate he was suddenly being with her. Her heart fluttered and she was having trouble keeping her sanity in place from just how sensual this seemed. The offering of blood in the show didn’t seem intimate if one person was not a vampire, but here she was, wrapped in his arms as he continued drinking from her.

After what seemed like a century for Elizabeth, she felt Elijah step away from her. Elizabeth looked up at him and brought her wrist up to study the wound. It didn’t look too bad when she heard a noise that sounded like a harsh version of skin breaking. Her eyes immediately jumped up to find Elijah holding his wrist up for her. Elizabeth frowned at it but drank a little from his wrist, pulling it closer so that it was at a comfortable angle for both of them.

Elijah watched the woman in front of him drink his blood and felt that similar shift in the environment again. Something about the scene wanted him to make her his. And it felt foreign. He hadn’t felt this intensely for someone in such a long time, that it didn’t seem real.

Elizabeth quickly pulled away and grabbed a napkin to clean her mouth as she muttered a thanks to him. He smiled and said,

“Thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”

Elizabeth glanced over at him and said, “You looked horrible without the blood Elijah. Let’s just make this a one-time thing. My hunter self is not too keen with the fact that I gave you blood.”

Elijah then noticed that Elizabeth looked exhausted as he asked, “Are you alright?”

Elizabeth shrugged in an almost, nonchalant manner and replied with, “I’m fine. It’s not the first time I ended up doing something against people I knew. That’s what ended me up here in Mystic Falls in the beginning.”

Elijah’s curiosity was peaked when Elizabeth headed back to the stove and pulled out some frying pans as she said, “I’m gonna cook some food for dinner. Let me know if you want anything.”

Elijah smiled and shook his head, having sated his thirst. It was strange. Her blood was not only warm, but it had a subtle sweetness to it that made you crave for more. And once he was done, he felt sated like he never had been before. It was a strangely hypocritical analysis of what her blood did to him, but that’s what it felt like. A comfortable debate. Elijah sat down in one of the chairs and took in his surroundings as he asked her,

“Why did you bring me to a safe house of all places?”

Elizabeth was chopping up some mushrooms when she responded with, “Nobody but me used to know this place. The witch that spelled this died from old age and the spell lasted. It’s almost like a safe haven of sorts if something serious were to happen. But this was the closest one to Mystic Falls I could get you safely hidden from the other supernatural beings in that town. I apologize if it’s a bit too distant for your liking.”

Elijah shook his head and said, “No, this place has a nice… rustic feel to it. I like it.”

Elizabeth paused for a moment, not sure if she heard him correctly, but shoved it away as she said,

“Well, I owed you for saving my life a few times. So take this as me repaying the favor.”

Elijah nodded while watching her cook. The food smelled delicious and he was curious to see how it actually tasted. But he held back as he watched her work. There was precision in her movements and nothing seemed to have been done without a plan. But it was strange because she had seemed so out of her element when he saw her in her comfort clothes that time when he had visited her before he got daggered.

Once the food was out, the father and son warlocks approached the two individuals and quietly ate the meal Elizabeth had prepared. It was a Korean recipe that they had never seen before, but both ate it with gusto. Elijah declined as he didn’t think he would be able to take a bite of the food after the blood he drank.

Elizabeth ate quietly too, not starting up a conversation since she wasn’t sure what she felt about having so many supernatural beings around her at once. Her body was tense, ready to pounce into action if the warlocks were to try anything to her. She should have relaxed, but that wasn’t easy when there was also an Original vampire in the vicinity that openly watched your every movement. His glances did not look hostile, but she had trained to be careful regardless as a hunter.

After she had quickly finished her own meal, Elizabeth was washing the plates that had been set inside the sink. That was when Elijah stood up and approached her as he asked,

“Knowing my brother and what type of monster he is, why are you still helping me?”

Elizabeth turned the water off as she turned to face the man and said, “You’re still curious about me risking myself by involving with you?”

It was a very blunt response, but Elijah realized that Elizabeth did not enjoy others questioning her decisions. Her voice had a slight irritated tone to it that he didn’t realize she could make. Elizabeth looked over his shoulder to see if the warlocks had left the room. Confirming that they would be unable to hear her speak, she said,

“Because I believe what you used to. That Niklaus Mikaelson can be saved.”

Elijah’s eyes widened ever so slightly at that and a bittersweet look overtook his features as he said, “You sound so confident that he can be. After everything he’s done.”

Elizabeth said, “That oath you took with your brother and your sister on that one fateful day. The day that changed everything, you made sure that you grasped anything that seemed to be his saving grace. And now you’re hell bent on revenge because you think he broke it. But, I don’t think he really did.”

Elijah looked down at her and he contemplated a little before saying, “How is it that you know about us so well?”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed at that and she took a step back to start washing the dishes again as she responded with,

“I have contacts. Also, you shouldn’t dig for information regarding me. You won’t like what you find.”

“Oh?” was all he said as he eyed the woman who seemed to end the conversation all too soon. He had hit a sore spot and he saw something akin to sadness in her eyes. With that, the two people went quiet again. Elijah merely observing the mysterious woman in front of him while Elizabeth moved around the kitchen cleaning it up.

However, that comfortable silence ended when Elizabeth stretched her muscles and said, “I’m going to go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Let me know if you need anything. But don’t leave this building, you won’t be able to come back. Also, if you try anything funny as to trying to enter my room, you will find that you won’t be able to do much for the next few hours with your own body.”

Elijah nodded as a smirk crept into his lips and he said, “Have a good night Ms. Kim.” This caused the hunter to roll her eyes as she sauntered away. He remained standing there a little longer as he contemplated the recent turn of events until another small smirk crept onto his face as he felt his heart warm up to the fact that the huntress had risked her life to save him.

A few days later, Elizabeth finally allowed everyone’s departure and went back to her house on her own. Elijah had provided himself as her escort, but she shook her had and told him that it would probably destroy everything that they had been aiming for. Elijah had appeared a little bit disappointed before putting on his calm demeanor back quickly.

Once she had arrived Elizabeth noticed a change in her relationship with Elijah. It was more than a mere acquaintance. It had become much more than that and it unnerved her.

But her peace was shortened when she read an email that had come from Alaric last night that asked for her to meet with him. Sighing, she dialed his number and waited for the man to pick the phone up. When the phone was answered, she heard Alaric’s voice say,

“Hello Iris, so, you got my email?”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “Yeah, I don’t need to justify what I did Alaric.”

There was a pause and then he answered with, “No, but I need to talk with you either way.”

Elizabeth pinched her nose and said, “Fine. We can talk, where do you want to meet?”

They then decided to meet at the Grill the following day after his classes ended. But by the phone call ended, Elizabeth felt something was off with Alaric. He was never that polite with her like was during that conversation, and something didn’t sit well with her. She made sure her gun was ready for any dangerous scenarios.

Elizabeth understood there would be repercussions with what she had done when she had helped Elijah escape. This wasn’t a simple matter that she could just ignore even if she wanted to. With that, Elizabeth resumed her work for the night until she headed to bed.

The following morning, Elizabeth decided to go for a simple look of navy blue jeans a grey shirt and a black leather jacket. She double-checked her weapons and then drove over at the right time. After a few hours of phone calls for work, she headed over to the Grill, seeing Alaric sit at the bar by himself.

She studied him a bit before walking over and said, “Not sure if you should be drinking this early Alaric.”

The man in front of her chuckled and said, “Well, someone caused quite a bit of chaos days ago… considering that I was in the line of fire for not realizing your plans, I think you can’t blame me for wanting a drink.”

Elizabeth sighed and eyed him warily still and said, “Are you alright Alaric? You don’t seem like yourself.”

That caused the man to look up at her and study her real well. Elizabeth didn’t shy away from him and saw a dangerous glint in the man’s eyes. Elizabeth quickly recognized what this meant. Klaus Mikaelson had finally come to Mystic Falls. Tightening her grip on her handbag, she said,

“Hm… well, the whole Elijah scenario was because the teenagers here are idiotic and couldn’t help but be idiots. I just rectified that a bit.”

Alaric-Klaus stared at her and said, “Well, I don’t think that was smart. And if anything, he’s still dangerous.”

Elizabeth shook her head and retorted back, “He’s only dangerous if you threaten him, which you all did, by daggering him. So, if you remember clearly, I wasn’t a part of that. I tried to prevent you all from doing something stupid, but it’s too late for that.”

Alaric paused and said to her, “Do you really believe he’ll keep his word? That he will stop Klaus.”

Elizabeth tensed at that and managed to raise an eyebrow at the man in front of her. What was his game? Was he testing her? They almost had a battle of wills and Elizabeth sighed out and said,

“He’ll do what’s best for him and his family. That’s all I can say.”

Alaric nodded, as if not quite satisfied with the answer, but also satisfied at the same time. Elizabeth knew that Klaus was thinking on the matter. Not wanting to be with the man any longer, Elizabeth said,

“Look, I’ll be at the dance like you asked me to be as a chaperone, but don’t expect me to be Elena’s bodyguard. I’m not here to protect her or anyone. As far as I know Alaric, you’re not doing your job as a vampire hunter. If you need a job, let me know, I can track down a supernatural thing for you for you to hunt. Might be good to hunt something other than your friends for the time being.”

With that, Elizabeth stood up and left the building, not looking back at the startled Klaus. The man stared at the retreating form of the woman he just interacted before chuckling and thinking how interesting things seemed to turn out. His brother has managed to get a supernatural hunter involved, and there seemed to be something there between her and his brother. He would have to wait and see.

That was when he got a call from Damon and was summoned over to the Salvatore residence. Once he arrived, he said,

“Sorry, I’m late.”

Damon looked at him and said, “Hey, I need you to put me down as a chaperone at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move.”

Elena said, “Ok, so we find him and then what, hmmm? What’s our plan of attack?”

Bonnie answered that with confidence with, “Me. I’m the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel. If you can find him, I can kill him.”

Alaric-Klaus had to hold in a sardonic laughter as he said, “That’s not going to be that easy. I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around.”

Damon studied the man a bit and nodded as he said, “Alaric has a point. I mean, what if he…”

With that, the vampire rushed over to Bonnie, but the girl quickly threw him to the other side of the room with her magic.

Stefan whistled out and said, “Well, I’m impressed.”

Bonnie confidently said, “It doesn’t matter if he’s an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena, I know I can.”

But as they were discussion this, Elizabeth charged in and said, “I hope you’re not doing something fundamentally stupid as trying to kill Klaus tonight.”

The crew glared at her other than Damon, who rushed over to her and yelled out, “Why did you steal Elijah out?!”

The huntress rolled her eyes at that and answered with, “Do you honestly think daggering Elijah was a smart move? He made a deal to keep us safe, and you ruined that. Now everyone here is vulnerable to Klaus because you broke the deal and got rid of the one protection that Elijah could have offered with his warlocks.”

Damon paused and managed to look a little guilty at that before putting on his haughty façade and saying, “Well, we need a plan B for this quick. And it’s to kill Klaus at the dance.”

Elizabeth shook her head and argued, “Well, I hope you realize there’s a reason Klaus is feared among the supernatural community for centuries. He’s not going to be easy to kill. And even if that were the case, you don’t have my support in this one.”

Alaric-Klaus looked over to her in genuine surprise and asked, “Why?”

Elizabeth looked at him and the rest of the group sternly, especially Bonnie and Elena as she responded with,

“This is a reckless move. Almost idiotic. Also, I don’t think this is the right moment to be attacking Klaus. It can only lead to more problems by doing so.”

If Klaus was in his own body, he would have smirked at that. But he managed to keep his act as Elizabeth sauntered back out the door and said, “While you guys think about your decisions, I’m going to make sure that you supernatural beings don’t harm innocent people. If I find that innocents are being roped into this and start getting hurt, I’m going to start hunting any of you that starts harming them. Understood?”

The group nodded, but Klaus could tell that the warning was directed at him more than anyone else in the room. With that, they all saw Elizabeth leave and drive away.

Later, Elizabeth changed for the dance. Unsure of what would fit for the ‘60s concept of the dance, she opted for a simple, dark-green plaid dress, keeping her hair down.

Afterwards, she headed out and arrived at the dance, only to run into Damon, who looked her over and said,

“You look nice. Although, not really…”

“ ‘60s?” Elizabeth finished for him.

Damon nodded and she just sighed and said, “I don’t have anything in the wardrobe for that time period. Also, I wasn’t really happy with that theme anyways.”

Damon shrugged at that and said, “Well, you still look nice. Also, I understand that you’re not obligated to help us. It’s just that I forget that a lot. I don’t want us to be enemies, Elizabeth.”

The woman sighed and said, “I don’t blame you. It’s easy to think that when we were friends for a while Damon. But you also have to remember that I’m not always going to be on your side. I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but Elena and Bonnie haven’t come to that realization yet. Talk to them for me, will you?”

Damon nodded and then walked over to Bonnie, who entered the room. With that, Elizabeth sighed and started her chaperoning duties, making sure to keep an eye out for Alaric at all times. She saw him near the girl called Dana earlier and knew that it wasn’t going to be too long until he started his plan to stop Bonnie Bennett. Shen the noticed Damon, Stefan and that group start to panic a little, even if they tried to hide it or keep it to a minimum. She decided to follow Jeremy out when she saw him run into Chad and two other students.

She heard Jeremy say, “What’s going on guys?”

Chad answered with, “You ok, Gilbert? You don’t look so good.”

Jeremy sighed and said, “Dude, seriously? Wrong day, wrong guy.”

The moment they started fighting, Elizabeth stepped out and shouted, “I thought we said no fighting!”

Chad ignored her while the two boys started to attack her. She rolled her eyes and muttered, “idiots” and started to run towards them before jumping and kicking the both of them back. When she landed on her back, she quickly pulled herself back up and blew out a few strands of her hair to the side.

“I don’t want to hurt you two, but if you insist on fighting, be my guest.”

With that, she engaged the two boys. It wasn’t difficult, but she wasn’t trying to kill them, so it limited her options. She kicked the first of the two boys back and then pinched the other boy’s pressure point on the back of his neck to make him go unconscious.

She then pursued the same with the other boy and then went up to Chad, who Damon grabbed a hold of and said,

“Well, guess I can’t be your knight in shining armor then.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, “Shut up. This was just a distraction. Compel them to go home. I have an Original to deal with.”

With that, she took a hold of the gun that was hidden on her thigh and ran over to find Elena and Bonnie, knowing that Klaus would already have met up with them at this point. Leaving Damon behind, she bolted through the hallways of the high school until she heard Elena question Klaus,

“Ok, so where are you taking us?”

But when Elizabeth came into view, she blocked their path and said, “I don’t think he’s taking you two anywhere further.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Elizabeth and tried to continue his act and said, “Look, Jeremy’s in danger-”

Elizabeth aimed her gun at Klaus, causing Elena to back up to Bonnie as the woman said,

“Really now? Then well, it’s a good thing I just saved him from a bunch of bullies. Really, Elena, you need to take a better care for your brother in this school. Now he’s getting bullied.”

Elena looked confused and asked, “Elizabeth, what’s going on?”

Elizabeth didn’t lower her guard as the group heard Klaus finally laugh as he muttered out, “I just had to get away from that dance, love. Please, lower the gun. The sixties, ugh… Not my decade. I mean, whose call was that, anyway? I much prefer the twenties. The style, the parties, the jazz…”

Elizabeth continued with sarcasm, “The glory, the power you mean you had? Honestly Klaus, I understand the whole twenties thing, but don’t you think you’ve been looking behind you for far too long?”

Elena’s eyes widened as she whispered, “Klaus?”

Bonnie pulled Elena behind her as she warily studied the situation. Klaus looked at Elizabeth with amusement as he responded to her with,

“Now love, I wonder when you caught my ruse.”

Elizabeth smirked and grasped her gun tighter as she said, “The moment we met at the Grill earlier today. Too polite for Alaric. And that stuck-up attitude? Well, that can only come from two people I know, and you’re the only one that would make sense in that scenario, considering.”

Klaus laughed as he shook his head and said, “Well, as amusing as this one, I think that you’re getting in my way. And I believe that I don’t take that very well. So while I feel amused, why don’t you go toodle off?”

Elizabeth didn’t lose her smirk and said, “Hmmm… how about no? I did warn you at the Salvatore’s place. But you just had to compel innocent children to get hurt didn’t you? If you hadn’t done that, then maybe I wouldn’t be hunting you down.”

Klaus tensed at that and warily eyed the huntress when he turned around and prevented Bonnie and Elena from running off.

“Now, we can’t have you two running off just quite yet, can we?”

Elizabeth then shot towards Klaus, who avoided it easily as she said, “Let them go. They probably learned their lesson.”

But as she said it, Elizabeth cringed inside, knowing that they definitely did not learn anything from this.

Klaus rolled his eyes and said, “Relax Elizabeth. I’m not here to hurt Elena. She’s not on my hit list tonight.”

Then he immediately eyed Bonnie and rushed towards her as he said, “But you are.”

Bonnie was quick enough to throw Klaus to the walls with her powers. As he was flying away, Elizabeth quickly grabbed Bonnie and Elena’s wrists and pushed them behind her as she said,

“Go! I will hold him off.”

Bonnie nodded and dragged Elena from the hallway as the Original got up, but froze as he came face-to-face with an angry looking Elizabeth as she kicked him to put him back towards the wall. Klaus chuckled, although he was frustrated at how frail the human body was, but took in a breath as he said,

“If you kill this body, I’ll just get a new one. Maybe Jeremy.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and said, “I think you need a reminder. You used somewhat not involved with the supernatural. I think you need to realize I don’t take that lightly.”

With that, she shot him in the leg, causing the man to scream. But when he didn’t heal quickly, Klaus glared at the woman in front of him and yelled at her,

“What did you do?”

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders as she said, “I’m a hunter. Do you really think I would use normal bullets? I’m not stupid, you want to be a hybrid, so be it. I’m not going to stop you, rather I wanted to make a deal.”

Kaul glared at her and said through gritted teeth, “Funny way to show it.”

Elizabeth bent down and grabbed his chin, almost in a demeaning way and said,

“Look, if I had any say in you becoming a hybrid, my deal is more beneficial to you than anything. I was hoping to find you your components. The werewolf, the vampire, and maybe a warlock or witch powerful enough. If I can get you this, maybe you can let the poor Greta go. Of course, I doubt she will leave you, but it’s worth a try. You see, I got a request from two warlocks hoping to get her back, so not having her die would be a plus.”

Klaus moved his chin away and said, “Now why would you do that? What’s in it for you?”

Elizabeth glanced at him and said, “The ingredients I’m taking won’t be innocent people that need to be sacrificed without any idea what they are getting into. And I would find this benefits you in the long run along with me. So how about that?”

Klaus let out a breath and said, “Let’s see if you can get the ingredients in time. Let me know within a night beforehand by the latest. I hope you will keep your promise?”

Elizabeth smirked and helped Klaus stand up and said, “Of course. Now, I do hope that you heed my warning about not harming innocents?”

Klaus smirked and said, “I give you my word, love.”

Elizabeth nodded and made way for the man, letting him go. With that, she sighed and headed out, not sure what to expect. She looked down at her dress, which was unbelievably still intact considering she had fought hand-to-hand combat.

As she headed out of the building, she didn’t meet with any of the younger supernaturals or the Salvatore brothers. Getting into her car, she drove back to her house and cleaned up. After showering and changing to her comfort clothes again, she looked down at her phone.

As she was doing her work, she heard her doorbell ring. Annoyed that she as interrupted from her work, she went and saw that it was Elena Gilbert. Frowning, Elizabeth opened her door and asked,

“Elena, what are you doing here?”

The younger girl looked up at the hunter and said with determination,

“Thank you for earlier. Damon and I talked about you, well, not being one of us. I forgot after such a long time. But, I also came for something else.”

Elizabeth looked at her, waiting for her to continue. Elena hesitated before looking back at her with a newfound determination and said,

“I need your help to talk to Elijah. I want to make a deal with him.”

Chapter Text

~~…..~~

“She was powerful,

Not because she wasn’t scared

but because she went on so strongly,

despite the fear.”

-atticus

~~…..~~

Elizabeth stared down at the younger girl in front of her and after a moment of silence, she managed to say,

“And you come to me because?”

Elena looked up at her with a shy look and said, “Well, he seems to like you over any one of us. And since you undaggered him…”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and finished her statement with, “Because I undaggered him, you thought I would be able to come out from his hiding spot.”

Elena nodded guiltily and Elizabeth released a breath in frustration. With that she looked Elena and said,

“Elena, as much as I understand where you’re coming from, you can’t just come up to my doorstep and demand for his presence from me. I’m a hunter, you have to realize how bad that sounds to the hunter community outside of Mystic Falls. They’re not going to understand why an Original comes just because I ask him to without a legitimate explanation.”

Elena started to look panicked as she responded with, “I understand that, I really do. But I really, really need your help. You saw Klaus! We are over our heads with this and I really need your help! I know that you’re not obligated to helping any of us, but you understand that Alaric needs help. And, I don’t know what would happen if he were to come after my aunt and Jeremy.”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “I understand that, I really do, but I’ll call him, but you’re going to have to talk with him yourself. I’m not going to get stuck in the middle of this.”

Elena nodded gratefully and watched Elizabeth dial a phone number before holding it to her ear. Elena waited anxiously as she heard Elizabeth say,

“Hello Mr. Mikaelson. It’s me, Elizabeth Kim.”

There was a pause and Elizabeth walked away from Elena a bit, quietly conversing with the Original vampire. After a while, Elizabeth came back towards the high schooler and handed her the phone with,

“He’s willing to listen with what you have to say.”

Elena nodded and swallowed thickly, nerves rattling her inside and out. She took the phone and said,

“Hello Elijah.”

Elijah responded with, “Ms. Gilbert, I heard you wanted to make a deal?”

“I’ll tell you everything. But we have to work together, Elijah. I need your word.”

Elizabeth crossed her arms as she gauged the younger girl for any reactions as she continued to converse with the older of the Mikaelson brothers.

Meanwhile, Elena heard him say,

“Your ability to make demands has long passed.”

Elena shook her head as she swallowed thickly, feeling terrified as she said, “No demands. I’m offering you my help. And in return, I want yours.”

Elijah sounded bored as he responded with, “And why should I even consider this?”

Elena sighed as she answered, “The same reason that you haven’t killed me. You need my help to kill Klaus. Elizabeth has agreed to watch over me. And… And I need you.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that, not remembering of an agreement of any sort. She scoffed out loud, which made this clear to those holding a conversation, but that was when Elena heard,

“I will meet you at Ms. Kim’s residence. I would like to advise you to remain where you are.”

Elena agreed quickly and handed Elizabeth her phone back once the phone call was done. Elizabeth studied the young girl and asked,

“Does Stefan and Damon know what you’re up to?”

Elena shook her head, looking extremely guilty as she said, “No, they don’t.”

But at that moment, Elena’s phone rang and she picked it up to find it was Stefan Salvatore. Elena stood up and went to a corner of the living room and answered it. Elizabeth sighed as she headed to her closet and changed into something more logical for a conversation.

Elizabeth opted for black sneakers with grey jeans, grey long-sleeved shirt and topped it with a black leather jacket. She didn’t want to bother trying too hard considering recent events. She tied her hair back, although some of the front strands fell out. Sighing in frustration, she hopped down to the first floor to find Elena still talking with her boyfriend when there was a knock at the front door.

Elena abruptly hang up on Stefan and Elizabeth opened the door to find Elijah there. Elijah studied her outfit and raised an eyebrow, not having seen her in a leather jacket before. Elizabeth didn’t notice however as she told Elena,

“Elena, he’s here. Get out.”

Elena shivered at that and walked over hesitantly. Seeing this, Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked over at Elijah, who didn’t look that amused and asked,

“Are you going to hurt her in this discussion? As much as I would like to not be involved, she did ask me for protection over her love interests.”

Elena tensed at that and glared at the older woman while Elijah’s mouth tilted up to a smirk and he said,

“Not in this discussion, no. I give you my word Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth nodded and looked over at Elena and said, “See? You’re safe. If he breaks his word, I’m going to gank him, so don’t worry about that.”

Elena’s eyes widened at the word “gank” and shook her head at that and said, “Uh, yeah, uh, let’s go.”

Elijah studied Elizabeth again with a hint of amusement in his eyes. Elizabeth looked back at him and said, “Is there something wrong?”

Elijah mouthed, “Gank” as a question, causing Elizabeth to grumble out, “Don’t mind me. It’s hunter lingo.”

Elijah followed Elena out, still smirking. Elizabeth mentally banged her head on an imaginary wall, thinking, ‘I couldn’t stop myself from talking like Dean Winchester, could I?’

Sighing out loud, she followed them out, locking her door behind her. As they were driving to the Lockwood residence, Elena started the conversation again with,

“He’s here.”

Elijah remained calm and asked, “Klaus is here?”

Elena nodded and responded with, “He’s taken over Alaric’s body.”

Elijah turned around to get a confirmation of this from Elizabeth, who nodded at that, but remained silent as she eyed everything outside. The vampire noticed that the woman was focusing on their surroundings as a hunter at the moment. He could feel the intimidating amount of force and danger the woman was emanating from her. He quickly pushed down the stir in his heart and turned back to Elena as he sighed and replied,

“Of course he has. One of his favorite tricks.”

Elena then looked up and asked both people, “Well, what are his other tricks? What is he going to do next? You two are the only ones who know him in this town.”

Elizabeth warily glanced over at Elijah before focusing her eyes outside again, not answering. Elijah sighed warily and said,

“Yes, I do.”

It wasn’t long after when they arrived. Elizabeth quickly stepped out and eyed the building distastefully but didn’t remark on anything. Elijah realized that the hunter Elizabeth was one of the more dangerous hunters he has encountered in his lifetime. If he hadn’t known about her as a hunter from his resources, he even might have suspected her to have been one of the Five.

He let her assess their surrounding as he knocked on the door. Not too long after he finished knocking, Carol opened the door to find three people at the door with decent surprise.

Carol smiled and said, “Elijah, Elizabeth, Elena! What are you all doing here? What happened?”

Elijah looked her in the eye as he compelled her with, “I’ve had a bit of an incident, Carol. I’m hoping you could help.”

Carol looked hesitant as she warily eyed Elizabeth, not having seen the woman in that getup before as she said,

“Well, I’m on my way to a meeting, so I-”

But the woman was cut off as Elijah continued with, “We won’t take but a minute of your time.”

That caused the woman to smile and say, “Of course. Anything you need.”

Elijah smiled politely, though Elizabeth noticed the small glint of feeling smug in his eyes. That caused her to just chuckle internally although she maintained a stoic look the entire time. Elena looked surprised at the scenario playing out, looking over to Elizabeth with a question. Elizabeth just shrugged nonchalantly, but looked back outside as they entered slowly, not letting her guard down.

Elijah then looked into Carol’s eyes again as he ordered her with,

“Well, first things first. I’m going to need a change of clothing.”

Carol smiled and said, “Well, we can try one of my husband’s suits. I haven’t boxed them up yet.”

Elijah smiled and answered her with, “Wonderful.”

Elena looked at the Original and asked incredulously, “How di you know she’s not on vervain?”

Elijah was about to answer, but Elizabeth beat him to it as she said,

“Because he was the one who took her off it. I noticed him doing it before you guys daggered him.”

Elijah looked surprised at how she could have possibly noticed. Elizabeth just smirked and pointed over to Carol, who approached them with a suit and said,

“You should go change.”

Elijah nodded and stood up as he said, “If you two will excuse me. I’ll be done in a moment.”

Elena looked at his disappearing form and then over to Elizabeth, who decided to sit down on one of the sofas in the room and asked,

“I never know how you know all these things.”

Elizabeth’s eyes met hers and Elena noticed a dark glint pass through the older woman’s eyes before it returned to an almost empty look, as if nothing happened. Elizabeth knew that it wasn’t exactly normal for her to use her foreknowledge of everything based on the show that she had watched and that it would be questioned from time to time, but she wished that she did not have to answer this kind of questioning. It just made everything that much more complicated.

She had to thank the Elizabeth of this world for generously having so many informants for information. Without that, her lie would have been feeble and easy to notice. Elizabeth continued to stare at Elena, who shifted nervously at the empty stare she gave before replying with,

“I have informants. That’s all you need to know unless you want to join the profession of being a hunter for all supernatural creatures.”

Elena looked at her nervously still and then asked, “So then do you hunt other things on top of vampires?”

Elizabeth nodded as she responded with, “Vampires, werewolves, witches, and more. There’s a lot that you don’t know of Elena.”

Elena’s eyes, however, widened at the mention of witches as she asked, “Witches? But they help maintain the balance of nature, don’t they?”

Elizabeth sighed at how naïve Elena was and answered her with,

“That’s what they claim. But honestly Elena, do you really think that all humans, when given that kind of magical mojo, would use it all for good? No, just like any other human, they use it for their benefit. Nothing else. There are witches who try to get more power by kidnapping children, killing other witches of their coven and sacrificing others using that same excuse. I killed those kinds of witches. Bonnie is not an exception just because she is a Bennett witch. There have been evil Bennett witches in the past. That’s also a reason why I have hunted ghosts too. Ancestors are not exactly selfless.”

Elena swallowed as she seemed to grasp a bit of that concept, though she was a bit upset about the whole thing with Elizabeth’s distrust of Bonnie. But before she could voice that, Elijah came back down and sat down before saying,

“So I assume that Katerina has been released from my compulsion when I died.”

Elena looked guilty at that and said, “Klaus took her. We think that she may be dead.”

Elizabeth shook her head and said, “She’s not. She’s compelled to stay at Alaric’s place.”

Elijah and Elena both looked at her at that information. Elizabeth sighed and continued with,

“Katerina has information of you guys, he’s not going to do anything blindly. Even if he wanted to torture her, he’s going to do that while getting information from Katerina.”

Elijah nodded and added, “Yes, I doubt that he would have killed her. Not Klaus’ style. Death would be too easy for her after what she did.”

Elena looked confused and said,

“I don’t understand. You say that you want Klaus dead, but you still made Katherine pay for betraying him.”

Elizabeth remained quiet while Elijah answered, “I have my own reasons for wanting Katerina to pay. There was a time… I’d have done anything for Klaus.”

Elizabeth studied the man and noticed a slight look flash across his features. It was almost like he was reminiscing the past he had with her long time ago. Thinking that, something almost akin to annoyance tugged at her. Elizabeth bit the inside of her cheek to prevent making a comment on that while Elijah told his story.

Elena looked shock at the revelation that Klaus was Elijah’s brother and Elijah said,

“Yes. Klaus is my brother.”

Elena looked over to Elizabeth and asked, “I heard that. I’m still processing. Elizabeth, you knew this?”

Elizabeth looked over at Elena again and remained quiet for a minute before carefully saying, “I did.”

Elena heard the terse tone behind Elizabeth’s short answer and felt that the woman didn’t want to be questioned about her knowledge behind this again. Elena then faced Elijah who smirked and said,

“Yes, I’m a little behind on times, but I believe the term you’re searching for is ‘OMG’.

Elizabeth grimaced at that joke as he took a sip of his tea. Her grimace did not go unnoticed by Elijah, who smirked at her discomfort at his attempt to match the situation for the younger Elena.

Eventually, Elena asked the two people in front of her, “There’s a whole family of Originals?”

Elizabeth nodded while she let Elijah answer the question with,

“My father was a wealthy land owner in a village in Eastern Europe. Our mother bore seven children.”

Elena’s eyes widened as she asked, “So your parents were human?”

At that moment, Elizabeth’s phone vibrated. She looked at who was calling and found that it was one of her contacts. Excusing herself, she headed out of the living room and to one of the rooms. Elijah’s eyes followed her movements, curiosity filling his mind as he conversed with Elena.

Elizabeth closed a door behind her as she entered a private room as she answered with,

“You find them?”

The man chuckled and answered her with, “Yup! Finally managed to catch these two. It took a while and a lot of tracking, but we managed. Now, would you explain to me why you needed this particular vampire and werewolf?”

“Because I have a deal to fulfill. And I don’t think it’s any of your business regarding what I’m planning with them.”

The man on the other end sighed and said, “Fine. I’m paying back my debt with this so I won’t ask. But be careful, will you? I heard about what was going down in Mystic Falls.”

Elizabeth sighed in irritation at the man and said, “Look James, I will do whatever I need to do for this. Meet me at the usual tradeoff point.”

James responded with, “Got it. See you in 2 hours.”

With that Elizabeth ended the phone call and headed back down. Once she entered the living room, Elijah stood up immediately and said,

“Ah, Elizabeth perfect timing. We were about to head outside. Will you join us?”

Elizabeth warily eyed the vampire and nodded, following after the duo. Elijah noticed that the phone call had been a serious one as Elizabeth maintained a colder attitude than he had ever seen. He was impressed, he hadn’t seen the more serious side to Elizabeth, and this proved to him how deadly she was to the supernatural community in general. She wasn’t to be underestimated.

As they were walking outside, Elijah continued his explanation with,

“So as you’ve seen, nothing can kill an Original. Not sun, not fire, not even a werewolf bite. Only the wood from one tree. A tree my family made suer burned.”

Elena looked at him in shock and said, “That’s where the white ash for the dagger comes from.”

Elijah nodded, glancing over to Elizabeth from time to time, who seemed to grow bored, but wary all the same as they continued walking.

He then said, “Yes. The witches won’t allow anything truly immortal to walk the earth. Every creature needs to have a weakness in order to maintain the balance.”

Elena recapped all of this with, “So the sun can’t kill an Original. Why is Klaus so obsessed with breaking the sun and moon curse?”

Elijah smirked while Elizabeth remained quiet still as he said, “Right. The curse of the sun and the moon. It’s all so… Biblical-sounding, don’t you think?”

Elizabeth sighed and glared at him and said, “Don’t tease her.”

Elijah shrugged and continued with the story, which Elena interrupted later with,

“I don’t understand. So Klaus drew the Aztec sketches about the curse?”

Elizabeth then added, “Roman scrolls, African tribal etchings, and probably any other culture or continent they felt like planting that curse in.”

Elijah nodded while Elena asked, “Why?”

Elijah answered that with, “Easiest way to discover the existence of a doppelganger or to get your hands on some long, lost moon stone is to have every single member of two warring species on the lookout.”

Elena seemed to realize what that meant as she asked, “So it’s not Aztec at all?”

Elizabeth nodded and said, “The curse of the Sun and the Moon. It’s fake. It doesn’t exist.”

Elena was shocked and she warily glanced at the hunter and vampire with trepidation. Elijah smirked and said,

“Klaus and I faked the Sun and Moon curse dating back over a thousand years.”

Elena muttered, “But if there’s no curse…”

Elijah shook his head ands said, “There’s a curse. Just not that one. The real one’s much worse. It’s a curse placed on Klaus.”

Elizabeth noticed how Elijah’s eyes grew soft for just one second before it switched back to the cold look he had as he answered Elena’s question with,

“Klaus has been trying to break it for the last thousand years. You are his only hope.”

Elena looked confused and ignored the now vibrating phone that Elijah had in his pocket. Elizabeth rolled her eyes while Elena asked,

“What is this curse?”

Elijah looked irritated and took out her phone though and handed it over to Elena to make her answer it. Elijah then turned around to face Elizabeth, who wasn’t paying attention to the conversating much and had opted to impatiently tapping her foot.

“Is there an answer to a question about your deal with this mysterious man from earlier?”

Elizabeth looked up at him and quietly said, “Yes. I brokered a deal with Klaus.”

Elijah’s eyes widened at that and he whipped her around to face him and asked, “What deal?”

Elizabeth stared at his intense eyes and responded with, “I said I would bring him his vampire and werewolf for the ritual if he agreed to not hurt innocent people for it.”

Elijah let out a breath of relief, which caused Elizabeth to frown, but the intensity of his eyes grew, causing her heartbeat to become faster. They both remained quiet, before Elijah said,

“And who exactly are these sacrifices?”

Elizabeth looked at him sternly. If she wasn’t a hunter, she knew that she would have cowered by the intimidating feeling coming from him. And she would have been a nervous wreck from the emotions that overwhelmed her because of how close he was. Instead, she maintained a cold look as she answered,

“Criminals. People I have been hunting for a while. They were not easy to track, so I recruited someone to get them. I pick them up in a hour and 45 minutes.”

Elijah sighed and looked at her before letting her go and said, “I trust that you have it handled? I could escort you if you like.”

Elizabeth studied him for a while, as she thought on it before nodding warily. It would help with having an Original around to control the two people.

“Fine. But you’re going to have to follow my instructions.”

Elijah smirked at that and said, “Gladly.”

Elizabeth’s eyes faltered just a little bit, breaking her hunter demeanor, but it didn’t last long as Elena returned with a panicked look.

“Klaus visited Jenna. I have to go to her.”

Elijah sighed and glared at her as he said, “I’m afraid that wasn’t part of today’s arrangement.”

Elena glared back at him and said, “She’s my family Elijah. I have to. I’ll be back. You have my word.”

Elijah growled lowly as he said, “That doesn’t mean anything to me until you live up to it.”

“Elijah.” Was all Elizabeth said in a stern voice. Elijah looked up at her, who calmly said,

“Let her go.”

Elijah nodded and took a step back, causing Elena’s eyes to widen almost to the point that it looked ridiculous on her. Elizabeth was able to order the Original vampire around, and he had willingly followed her orders. That wasn’t something you would expect from the oldest vampire in the world. But Elena gulped before thanking Elizabeth and running to her car.

Elijah then looked over at Elizabeth and said, “It’s not wise to send her over. She could reveal a lot of things.”

Elizabeth eyed the Original and said, “Isn’t that why you told her though?”

Elijah chuckled and said, “You know me too well.”

Elizabeth shook her head and said, “No, Mr. Mikaelson, you’re not easy to read. But I recognize what you’re doing. But if anything, Klaus hasn’t hurt Jenna. Only visited. This is a warning for the both of us. He wants his sacrifices sooner than later. I’m being watched.”

Elijah tensed at that and told her, “Then we should hurry.”

Elizabeth nodded and then looked at him as she said, “You think you can take me home quick enough?”

Elijah smirked and walked closer to her, leaning close to her ear as he said, “You wound me. I’m an Original.”

Elizabeth shivered a little, unable to keep herself in check as she whispered back, “Then prove that you can.”

With that, Elijah put arms around Elizabeth and ran towards her home. Once they arrived, Elizabeth quickly separated herself from him, breathing out in relief by the distance she put between them.

She knew he could hear her heartbeat and hoped that he believed it was from the run rather than from him. Because her mind was so occupied with trying to focus on getting her car ready, she missed a soft look come in to Elijah’s eyes as he watched her. Once she got ready, Elijah entered the passenger seat and she drove away.

Elijah got curious and asked, “May I ask where we’re headed.”

Elizabeth bit her lower lip, before shaking her head and said, “I’m sorry. You can look outside all you want, but I can’t answer that question for you.”

Elijah nodded, understanding that she had secrets of her own. He looked at her cold features that he had seen throughout most of his conversation with Elena. She was more practical of a hunter, not thinking too much of her appearance, but still, he couldn’t help how the intensity of her focus on her task made his heart flutter just a small bit.

He had seen her in many scenarios, mostly through dresses, then at her most comfortable, but this appearance of the huntress was new. It felt almost as if she trusted him enough despite her night profession to allow him to assist with her task.

Elizabeth gave the man a side glance and said quiet. She could feel the sting of his intense stare and struggled to maintain her focus. She didn’t need this. Elizabeth knew that it was out of the question for her to have these feelings for the man next to her. It would do her harm in the long run considering what she knew of his future.

The ride was a bit quiet until Elijah asked, “May I ask what got you into this business?”

Elizabeth frowned before answering, “I entered this business like most people.”

Elijah answered with, “The loss of a loved one.”

Elizabeth gave him a bitter smile and said, “It’s… something more on the gruesome side. The reason I don’t specialize in just vampires is because of this. I ran across some beings that… well, it required years of hunting and tracking to get them down.”

Elijah studied her as he noted the sad tone she spoke in. Whoever she lost, he realized that left the woman next to him full with holes and made her different… she became stronger. Now he wondered what kind of woman she was like beforehand.

Elizabeth, as if knowing his thoughts, tightened her grip on the steering wheel and said,

“Hunting… it changes one’s life and attitude towards the world. You have the knowledge that these things that go bump in the night exist in reality. You learn how to kill them, but you can’t sit still because you know there’s more harm in ignoring their existence, denying it. And then you realize you only continue losing more and more of those around you despite saving innocent people. It was hard coming to terms with that.”

Elijah nodded, not sure what to say to that. He was one of those creatures that she had sworn to hunt. But here she was, studying and calculating each and every one of them, never letting anyone close to her because of this.

“What were you like before you started hunting?” He asked out of the blue.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, completely losing her cold and empty focus at that question. She thought on it and cautiously said,

“Ignorant. Naïve? I’m not sure anymore. It’s been so long.”

Elijah noticed that she had genuinely not remembered what she was like beforehand. It was as if she didn’t understand how people perceived her. But after a moment of silence, Elijah realized that Elizabeth had turned to an off-road path and parked in the middle of a forest. Elizabeth got off the car and picked up a bag from the trunk.

Elijah followed after her calmly, noticing Elizabeth walk forwards with a stride. They entered a small clearing where Elijah immediately noticed a salt circle around the vampire, who looked like he was drained.

The man was tall and appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He almost had a red coat on with a grey suit combined with a red tie. In another circle of some kind filled with symbols, there was a werewolf trapped. He recognized her as Jules, the one that had attacked Damon Salvatore and Alaric and had injured Elizabeth in the process in order to obtain the moonstone.

From the trees, a man walked from the darkness and Elijah immediately prepared to attack him, but Elizabeth held him back with,

“James.”

The man came to light and smirked at her as he said, “Well, look who it is. The famous Atalanta.”

Elijah raised an eyebrow at that and looked at Elizabeth, who coldly gazed at the man in front of her, completely ignoring Elijah as if he wasn’t there at the moment. He understood the reference but wasn’t sure if this was truly the rumored hunter that he had been hearing about and had been avoiding for a while now.

The hunter Atalanta was known by most supernatural creatures, and many were wise to stay away from her. There were stories that floated around the supernatural that she was perhaps one of the most brutal of hunters and had managed to deal with something more than just the typical werewolves, vampires and witches. Those who managed to cross her path were known to never come out alive. Picturing his interactions with Elizabeth, he couldn’t imagine that it was truly her, but her cold visage that she had on at the moment seemed to confirm that she truly was the infamous huntress.

Elijah warily eyed Elizabeth as she moved towards the huntr James, who continued with a smirk before Elizabeth handed him a large pile of cash. James whistled and said,

“Look, we can maybe discuss something about the hunt. It wasn’t exactly easy rounding up these two.”

Elizabeth looked at him with a silent glare that caused James to raise his two hands in surrender as he said,

“I… Nevermind. Look, are you sure it’s wise to be hanging with Mr. Original Vamp right there? You have a reputation to hold. It won’t be good to be seen with him around.”

Elizabeth remained silent and jerked her head to the side. James frowned and said, “Fine, I’ll leave. Don’t need to signal my murder, jeesh. Just, be careful, alright? “

Elizabeth didn’t say anything as James stared down at the Original and said,

“Word of advice Mr. Mikaelson, don’t trust Atalanta. It only brings back more harm than good.”

Elizabeth didn’t say anything as she warily studied the man who walked away quietly. Once the roar of the car sounded and they all heard the car leave, Elizabeth sighed before walking back towards Elijah.

Elijah eyed her and asked, “What are you going to do with these two?”

Elizabeth remained quiet for a bit before tersely saying, “My job.”

Elijah watched on as she dropped her bag on the ground and then revealed a series of weapons. His eyes widened in shock at what she held all this time. These were all torture devices that could also be considered almost brutish. Elizabeth pulled out a knife that had a black blade with a silver handle of a serpent.

Elijah felt a strong force emanate from the knife itself and watched Elizabeth stand back up and approach the vampire. He then watched her say,

“You know, it took a bloody 5 years to track you down. I admit, you’re hard to catch.”

The man struggled and said, “Why don’t you kill me now?!”

Elijah froze at the cold-hearted, almost insane laugh that emanated from the woman in front of him. This was Atalanta, not the Elizabeth that he knew. Had she been putting an act with him all along? Or was this something else entirely? He froze as he heard Elizabeth stop laughing and kneel next to the man in-between the two circles and coldly say,

“Now where’s the fun in that?”

The man glared at her and ran up to the border, causing Elijah to rush by the circle and stand threateningly towards him. The man didn’t pay him any attention while the man said,

“You’ve hunted me for five years! For something as inconsequential as killing those useless human females! The undeserving ones!”

At that, he saw something snap in Atalanta as she pushed the vampire down with unnatural strength and cut a part of his face with the knife. Elijah grimaced at the sheer brutality of it. He had a few gory memories, but it had mostly come from Klaus and not from him. Seeing someone almost as brutal as Klaus or even more so was disturbing. Perhaps also because it was the woman in front of him. But he shook the thought away as the man screamed in pain at that.

Atalanta then stopped but remained in her position of holding the man down as she growled out,

“Undeserving? Useless?! Who are you to determine that! Those were innocent people who you murdered! It’s not always their fault that they end up in the streets!”

Elijah’s eyes widened at that statement. The huntress Atalanta was a huntress of the supernatural for a reason, and this seemed to be it. He found a common theme with her. She killed in this manner to protect innocents. Those who are too naïve to realize what existed in this dark world.

The vampire then started chuckling then laughed darkly at that and said,

“That’s thick coming from you, who murdered and slaughtered down so many of us! Yes, I slaughtered and did all of that! But who are you to judge me for what I do!”

Atalanta smiled evilly and leaned down close to him and said, “Darling, if you’re trying to say I play God, then you’re right. But you see, I’m not going to kill you. I’m going to use you for a bigger thing, and then you will be free.”

The man’s eyes widened and then looked over to the Original and fear truly seemed to grasp him as he yelled out to Elijah,

“Please help me! No, I don’t want to be a part of this. I don’t want this!”

Elijah looked confused as Atalanta pulled out something from her pocket and then shoved it down to the man’s mouth, forcing him to swallow whatever she had given him. The man immediately fainted and became unconscious. Elijah looked at Atalanta with a small feeling of fear as he asked,

“What do you want me to do with him?”

Atalanta gave him a side glance and said, “Put him in the back and make sure he’s tied. He’s a pretty old vampire. I might as well not risk anything.”

Elijah nodded and dragged the body of the man and shoved him inside the back of the car. Once that was done, he found July beg for mercy but Atalanta looked down at the woman before knocking her out with the same method but hadn’t tortured the woman like she had the vampire.

As Atalanta dragged the woman over and put her in the car too, Elijah asked,

“These are the ones to be sacrificed for Klaus?”

Atalanta turned around and studied the man before sighing and pushed her hand through her hair as she asked,

“You aren’t disgusted by this?”

Elijah was caught unawares of this question. He looked at her and saw her eyes soften, resembling more of Elizabeth then Atalanta. He then eyed the two unconscious bodies and then back to her as he carefully thought on that. She had brought him here not because she trusted him. She was testing his trust in her.

That was when James’ words echoed back to him,

“Word of advice Mr. Mikaelson, don’t trust Atalanta. It only brings back more harm than good.”

So instead of responding to the question, he asked her another as he stepped closer to her with determination,

“Are you Atalanta or Elizabeth? Is Elizabeth even a real person?”

The woman in front of him eyed him, feeling her heart skip a beat at the intensity of his brown eyes that almost seemed to turn black in the moonlight. With that, she answered,

“Elizabeth is real. That’s me. But I am also Atalanta.”

Elijah looked at her and stepped closer. However, the woman didn’t move away from him. She stood her ground as she continued with,

“I told you Mr. Mikaelson, this job changes a person. Atalanta is what I became from the hunts. Elizabeth is who I chose to be when I lost who I was before all this.”

Elijah saw the bitterness in her eyes and stepped even closer, their bodies almost touching. He then reached up and then cupped her cheek with one hand as she rubbed her face gently and murmured,

“Then I am not disgusted.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she looked up at him to find a new look come into his eyes as he glanced momentarily down at her lips. Elizabeth’s brain screamed to move away, but something about his heated glance and warmth and softness made her forget about the cold and insane Atalanta for a moment.

Her brain screamed and kicked saying that she had no place in this man’s life in the future, but her body stood frozen there as she realized what was happening. The man’s head leaned down and slowly, his lips met hers.

His lips were gentle and Elizabeth could feel him placing his trust entirely onto her. Trusting not just Elizabeth, but also leaving him vulnerable to Atalanta’s mercy. With that kiss, Elizabeth’s eyes slowly closed as she gave into the unbearable pain of falling hard for the man that left his life into her hands.

She responded Elijah and they both immediately deepened the kiss, causing Elizabeth to shove the man to the car and dominate the kiss. Elijah groaned as it progressed, feeling emotions go all over the place, having never felt such intense amount of attraction until that moment. Eventually, Elizabeth pulled away a little for air and the two people stared at each other.

They both knew that this was dangerous for both of them but couldn’t deny the attraction they felt for each other. Elizabeth whispered,

“We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Elijah then brought his thumb to skim Elizabeth’s parted lips and stroked it as he said,

“Probably not.”

But the two did not separate for a minute or two until they realized that they couldn’t remain like that. Elijah unwillingly let her go as he said,

“I should head over to Mystic Falls to finish the deal with Ms. Gilbert.”

Elizabeth studied him and straightened his tie for him silently before saying,

“And I need to hand these two over to Klaus.”

Elijah instantly looked worried as he said, “Be careful… Atalanta.”

Elizabeth immediately looked up at him, seeing him smile softly, though his eyes remained as intense as ever. Soon, Elizabeth closed her eyes and then slowly opened them, to reveal an evil glint in them. Atalanta smirked coldly as she stepped away from the Original and said,

“Never.”

With that, Elijah watched the woman drive away before heading off to finish a deal with a certain doppelganger.

Elizabeth drove towards Alaric’s apartment and once she arrived later that night, she dialed up Klaus. Soon, the man in question came down the stairs, no longer in Alaric’s body. Elizabeth got out of her car and closed the door as she signaled to the two people and said,

“Your werewolf and vampire.”

Klaus looked at her with a smirk and said, “Well, Jules I understand you might dislike, but who is this and what had he done to receive your ire, love?”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “Just take them. What he did, I’m sure he can tell you.”

Klaus knowingly smirked and said, “Well, considering it’s a request coming from you love, I will have to take them if I don’t want to end up with a nasty cut like that.”

Elizabeth glanced back and opened the door to shove the two unconscious bodies towards the two men that were behind him.

Klaus then directed them to take the bodies to a safe place and said, “Now then, you may talk with Greta as we discussed. If she shows that she wishes to leave, then you are free to take her with you and return her to her family.”

Elizabeth studied Klaus to find he wasn’t lying and followed him inside. Once they entered Alaric’s apartment, Elizabeth spotted the unconscious body of Alaric and Katerina at the side of the room.

Katherine’s eyes widened upon seeing her, but she remained quiet as Greta stood up to see Elizabeth.

Elizabeth then smiled innocently as she said, “Hello Greta.”

The woman eyed her as if she was competition for Klaus and coldly responded with, “Hello Elizabeth. If you would like to know, I don’t think you’re quite Klaus’ type.”

Elizabeth then looked decently surprised as she glanced over to Klaus, who looked a little annoyed. She then proceeded to laugh at the jealous girl in front of her. Klaus them smirked a little, as he said,

“Love, you wound me. Am I not ravishing enough?”

Elizabeth’s laughter died a little afterwards as she said, “Oh Klaus, if you must know, I think I’m a little too insane for your bite.”

Klaus’ smirked remained, though Greta seemed strongly displeased with how the man seemed to comfortably flirt with her, as if he knew the Asian woman for years.

“If the cut on the man is any indication darling, I think we would be perfect for each other.”

Elizabeth scoffed as she shook her head and looked back towards Greta, who was turning red in the face. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and leaned forward to Greta as she said,

“Your father and brother asked me to return you to them.”

Greta’s jealous look faltered and her face paled at that for a second. This didn’t go unnoticed by Elizabeth, but she waited for the woman’s response. Greta then looked determinedly at Elizabeth and said,

“I miss them. I honestly do, but if they can’t respect my wishes to help Klaus, then they need to let me go.”

Elizabeth leaned back in her seat as she told the girl, “I’ll warn you, that you will be losing your life over this. Are you prepared for that?”

Greta smiled at her and said, “I was the moment I came with Klaus.”

Elizabeth studied the girl a little before letting out a sigh and said, “Well then, that’s all I need to hear. Your father understands that I can’t drag you to him kicking and screaming. You’re an adult, but I wish you a safe journey.”

Greta nodded and said, “Tell my father and Luka I love them.”

Elizabeth saw that Greta was serious on that and nodded. Perhaps this was a change that she had caused in saving Luka and the father. Their deaths must have pushed the girl to have become cruel in the series.

With that, Elizabeth stood up and went over to Klaus and said, “Keep your word. I hunted the damn vampire for five years, and if I hear you didn’t use him for the ritual, I will personally hunt you myself.”

Klaus smirked and said, “I give my word.”

With that, Elizabeth walked away from Alaric’s apartment and headed home, knowing full well that despite her calm demeanor she had put in front of the Original and the witch, her mind was still swirling with the kiss she had shared with Elijah Mikaelson.

Elizabeth sighed and hit her head on the steering wheel multiple times as she grimaced from the memory. Things were beyond fixing. She couldn’t avoid her feelings for the Original.

It was too late to turn back.

Chapter Text

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of her alarm clock and groaned. It had not been that long since she had given Klaus the sacrifices for the ritual. Having done that, she hadn’t headed home directly. Rather, she had decided to go to a nearby lake to clear her mind a bit, knowing that she wouldn’t be bothered there.

With that, Elizabeth sat up in her bed and looked around herself to only sigh and think back to the events that happened last night. The kiss had greatly disturbed her but she couldn’t stop her heart from beating faster just at the thought of Elijah.

She then proceeded to clean up and prepare for the day when her phone rang. Elizabeth looked at the caller ID to recognize it as Damon. Elizabeth sighed and picked up with,

“Hey Damon.”

Damon answered with, “You do realize what day today it is, right?”

Elizabeth was brushing her hair as she replied,

“I understand what today means to you Damon. And here’s your warning, if Elijah is there with you, then trust him.”

Damon remained quiet a bit before hissing, “Are you serious? You trust a 500-year-old elixir that might not work?”

Elizabeth sighed and frustratedly asked him, “So what do you want? For me to bring a witch or warlock over there to prove there’s magic in it still so you know it will actually work?”

 “Yes.” Was all he said as the response to that questions.

Elizabeth then said, “Fine. But don’t do anything stupid until I get there, do you understand me?”

“Crystal clear.” Damon responded.

Elizabeth hung up on him and looked at her own reflection. She could see the dark circles that framed her eyes from the lack of sleep from last night. In truth, Elizabeth was terrified. She tried so hard to prevent certain things from taking place, but she could never feel confident with Klaus Mikaelson.

Sure, she put up a brave front, a confident act for everyone else to see so that they couldn’t realize that she wasn’t the Elizabeth that used to exist in this universe before she had taken over this body.

Shaking her head, she finished preparing for the day and immediately drove over to pick up a witch that owed her a favor. The witch looked utterly bored in the passenger seat as she tugged at the chains on her wrists. Elizabeth’s brow twitched in irritation from all the fidgeting the witch was doing next to her.

“Will you stop?” Elizabeth asked.

The witch rolled her eyes as she said in her Scottish accent, “Dearie, could you please explain where I am going?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and said, “Mystic Falls. Happy?”

The woman next to her sighed and said, “That small-rate town? Whatever for?”

Elizabeth looked over to her and responded with, “Look Rowena, after this, you’re free to go, alright?”

Rowena smirked and said, “Ah, that would be nice. A wee little bit of freedom for me to frolic in before more little hunters come along.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she turned around the corner into the Salvatore residence and entered with the witch, finding the door unlocked. She headed towards the library and stopped at the door to hear Elena ask the Original,

“You’d think he’d understand why I’m willing to do this.”

Then the Original’s voice responded with, “Why are you?”

Elizabeth quietly entered with Rowena while Elena said,

“I’m the key to breaking the curse. Klaus is here because of me. If I don’t stop him, then he’s going to hurt people. It’s that simple.”

Elijah glanced towards Elizabeth, who had brought a red-haired woman along with her. The woman looked pretty interested in the conversation and seemed to be the witch Elizabeth said she would bring.

With that, he responded to Elena with, “You know, there’s a possibility this elixir won’t work. I don’t want to mislead you.”

At that point in the conversation, Elena had also spotted the woman and Elizabeth as she said,

“I know the chance I’m taking.”

But then, a commotion from the front door was heard and Elena ran over to meet Jenna. Elijah hung back and turned to Elizabeth, who glanced over to him and said to her,

“Hello Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth felt a shiver go through her at his voice, but quickly hid it with a polite smile and said, “Hello Elijah. I brought the witch.”

Elijah nodded and handed Elizabeth the elixir and she introduced him to the witch.

“Elijah, this is Rowena, a witch who owes me a favor from a hunt long time ago.”

Elizabeth felt a twinge of irritation upon seeing Rowena eye Elijah hungrily as she said in her Scottish accent,

“So, what is this that you want me to look at?”

Elizabeth handed her the elixir and said, “We want to confirm that this elixir will work.”

Rowen raised an eyebrow at that and said, “Well, it’s clearly by a witch that favors drawing magic from nature rather than pagan gods like I do. But there’s definitely magic here.”

Elizabeth immediately took back the jar and handed it back to Elijah, who noticed a change in Elizabeth. She felt a little distant from before and that was when he noticed it. With a smirk, he retrieved the jar from her hands, intentionally brushing his fingers with hers as he got it back.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened a little and she looked up at him, to only come across his eyes, that were almost black and sucked her into them like a black hole. Elizabeth struggled to look away, but managed it as she took a step back and said,

“I… I should get her back to her place.”

Elijah nodded and watched her step out, hearing her talk with Damon Salvatore, causing him to eye Damon more carefully throughout the conversation. But once that was done, he thought back on the way he had kissed Elizabeth. He would have said that he prided himself on guarding his heart, almost barricaded it, but something about the woman had drawn him towards her more and more.

The mysterious air about her, and then her eyes. The eyes seemed like she knew much but also aged that much more because of it. Old eyes in a young body. It was something he had never seen in himself and Klaus. So to find that in a human woman had shocked him. But as he was thinking about the huntress and reflecting on his feelings for her, he heard a commotion and went to hear the struggle as Damon arrogantly said,

“Admit it. You just wish you had the balls to do it yourself.”

With that the sound of a physical struggle ensued and eventually a wooden stick hitting its mark on one of the vampires.

He went up to find Elena screaming at the haughty vampire, “Get out of here!”

Eventually Alaric pushed Damon out of the room and Elena with Stefan. Immediately understanding which scenario had taken place despite Elizabeth’s efforts, Elijah hid his anger at Damon as he carefully said,

“Well, it sounds like you won’t be needing this anymore. Feeding her vampire blood rendered it useless. Tell Elena I’ll be back before nightfall. We’ll proceed as planned.”

Damon warily glanced at Elijah and said, “I know that the elixir would have worked.”

Elijah paused and looked around him, not understanding what the man wanted. Damon eyed him while drinking the liquor in the glass he held as he said,

“What are you and Elizabeth playing at?”

“Excuse me?” Elijah asked cautiously.

Damon glared at him and said, “Beth never looked flustered, ever, but now she had met with you and for the first time in my life, I see her flustered. What are you doing to her?”

Elijah glared while ignoring that question as he answered with,

“The problem, Damon, you talk a good game, but you don’t actually know anything. She’ll never forgive you. And never for a vampire… It’s a very long time.”

With that, Elijah left the Salvatore residence and decided to drive over to Elizabeth’s house. Once he arrived, he waited on her front porch, not having the access to enter her home. He looked around and found some views into her house. It was well-organized and reflected some of her personality as Elizabeth, the artist more than the huntress.

The way it was more white and yellow in color with cyan colors here and there reflected that she enjoyed the comforts of those brighter colors. Something calm, rather than chaos. It matched her personality of planning and knowing what she wanted to do and how to get that to work.

As he was studying this, a car arrived, and Elijah turned around to find Elizabeth step out and look at him in surprise. She closed the car door and walked over to him and asked,

“Elijah? What are you doing here?”

Elijah looked over to her, knowing the severity of the short amount of time he might have left. If he were to fight Klaus, there was no guarantee that he would win. And he didn’t want Elizabeth near that despite knowing she could protect herself.

Elijah then managed to say to her, “I came to talk with you about something.”

Elizabeth looked at him expectantly, though he could still see the hesitation and doubt swirling in her eyes. He then asked in a more straightforward manner with,

“Was I wrong to assume that there was something the other night?”

Elizabeth immediately tensed, and her eyes turned sad at that. Elijah frowned and took a step forward, only for Elizabeth to take a step back towards her door. Elijah waited as Elizabeth collected herself and said to him quietly,

“Elijah… we shouldn’t be doing this…”

Elijah took a step towards her, causing her to take a step back, only to feel the door hit her back. Elizabeth looked at him, feeling her heart beat faster, giving her away. Elijah then stopped right in front of her as he said,

“Elizabeth, you felt something that night, there’s no denying it. Why do you avoid it?”

Elizabeth trembled at the intensity of his eyes, which always seemed to cause her to lose her resolve as she answered with,

“Because it can’t end well.”

Elijah then understood why she was distancing herself by trying to act like nothing had happened so miserably. She was scared of the future. Elijah put his hand on her chin and made her look at him more directly as he responded,

“How do you know that without giving it a chance?”

Elizabeth took in a breath as she couldn’t answer that. She struggled to find a response to that and couldn’t move away or look anywhere else but him. Tears crept into her eyes as she imagined how everything that could cause this to end terribly.

But there was a selfish part of Elizabeth that wanted to surrender herself to the feelings that had developed in her for this man. Despite her knowledge and prediction that this could be a doomed relationship, she wanted to let it happen desperately. Elijah saw this and said softly,

“You feel the same way for me as I do for you…. Don’t resist it.”

With that Elijah leaned in and kissed her. Elizabeth felt tears fall as she closed her eyes and gave into her feelings. She slowly responded back to his kiss and unlike last time which was filled with passion and almost lust, this held more desperation from both sides. They were navigating their feelings for each other as they kissed, and it overwhelmed them as they both lost themselves to each other.

Eventually, Elijah pulled away a little to wipe away her tears and said, “I care for you Elizabeth. And if this was to be the last time we get to be together alone, I want you to know how I feel.”

Elizabeth opened her eyes slowly, trying to calm herself down, but the emotional high was difficult to break. She looked up at Elijah, whose eyes bore down into her own as she breathed deeply before saying,

“This won’t be our last-”

But before she could finish, Elijah leaned down again and kissed her hard, causing Elizabeth to gasp. Taking the opportunity, Elijah deepened the kiss and pulled her hard against him. Elizabeth felt her legs weaken at the sheer intensity and wrapped her arms around his neck. His tongue begged for entrance and she let it in, wrestling with her own.

Once they pulled apart, Elizabeth tried to catch her breath as Elijah leaned his forehead against hers, doing the same thing. No words were shared, but something changed in both individuals, as if indicating that they could never be the same ever again without the other person in their lives.

With that, Elijah slowly put some space as Elizabeth collected herself and said to her,

“I then sincerely hope to see you after this is over.”

Elizabeth then watched him speed away, leaving her flustered and changed. She stood there for a few minutes as her heart continued to hammer away before entering her home.

Struggling to come to terms that their relationship had changed, Elizabeth opted to distract herself with her work. Knowing full well that the sacrificial ritual was tonight, she had a few hours until she was going to observe that everything happened.

She then threw herself into her artwork until the alarm clock rang out, alerting her to prepare for the night. Once she prepared her weapons and drove over to an area near the ritual site. Having arrived, she hid in the shadows from a far distance, but close enough to hear the young Greta say,

“Don’t bother trying to get through. I spelled the circle. You’re trapped. No matter what you do.”

Elizabeth watched the vampire she had given to Klaus growl in anger and frustration. Elena quivered in fear as she eyed the man warily while Jules screamed. Elizabeth watched the entire scene with a stoic expression, hiding her the warring emotions underneath.

Jules glared at Greta when she was thrown down to the ground, whimpering out, “What’s happening to me?”

Greta smirked and said, “I cast a spell to slow down your transformation. Your insides are trying to tear themselves free.”

With that, Greta created a third circle of fire around Jules in preparation of the sacrifice. Elena looked over and with fear, she said,

“Greta, witches are supposed to maintain the balance in nature. It’s your duty to them to keep this curse sealed.”

Greta scoffed and said to the teenager, “My duty is to Klaus! The new order. Also, haven’t you learned anything from Elizabeth? She hunts witches… and it seems that all of it is for good reasons. You don’t know what we are always like.”

Elena’s fear only grew when Klaus arrived as he said, “Glad to know I still have a dance partner.”

However, Greta and Elena both seemed to miss Klaus eye the woman in the shadows. Elizabeth looked back at him, answering his silent question. She would not interfere with this. But at that time, Klaus did not know that this was due to Elizabeth having known his future and trying to keep it going.

Klaus then turned around to look around him and the sacrifices as he smirked and said,

“Hello, my lovelies. Are we ready?”

With that, Klaus handed Greta the moonstone while saying cheerfully, “I spent 500 years looking for this. I hate to part with it.”

Greta nodded and said, “The moon has passed its apex. Remember everything you need to do?”

Klaus nodded and affirmed it. He once again eyed Elizabeth who remained a stoic expression, that could almost be considered cold. Fascination flashed through before he smirked to hide it. Then Jules whimpered out,

“Everything I did… I was just trying to help Tyler.”

Elena looked over at the woman, with fear clear in her eyes as she asked, “Are you Jules?”

But Jules continued to say, “I didn’t want him to be alone!”

Klaus rolled his eyes and looked at her while asking, “Shall we?”

With that, Greta killed the fire surrounding the werewolf, causing her to transformation to start. However, Klaus sped up to her and ripped her heart out. The vampire that Elizabeth had caught immediately grew quiet as he saw that while Elena gasped in fear.

But Klaus did not pay them any attention as he proceeded to squeeze the blood out of the heart and into the bowl for the sacrifice. Looking up at Greta, he said,

“Tell me it’s working.”

Greta smirked and said, “It’s working.”

Elena and the vampire were silent, fear taking over the both of them. The vampire then sensed a pair of eyes and looked over to the shadows as he realized that someone was watching. He immediately recognized who it was: Atalanta. She was here, watching at him with a cold smirk that he had been running away from for five years. He was an old vampire, but once he had gotten on her radar, he realized that there was no escaping her forever. He trembled at the satisfactory look she had on her face before Klaus stepped up to him, grabbing his attention.

“Hello Mr.?”

The vampire glared up at the Original and spit out, “Hyunwoo.”

The Original’s eyes widened in decent surprise and said, “Well, well, well… if it isn’t the infamous vampire that had terrified his own country’s people with his widely known torture methods during the Japanese colonial rule in Korea? I was very fond of your work, but then again, I recently heard that you lost your touch within the past few years. Hmmm… getting Atalanta’s attention was a foolish move, mind you.”

The vampire’s eyes widened at that and he sputtered out, “You know her?”

Klaus smirked and said, “If you think that I would have brokered the deal with dear Elizabeth without knowing that she was Atalanta, then you are truly foolish. You see, I have done deals with her in the past. Resulting, with you being my sacrifice for tonight rather than Elena’s dear Aunt Jenna.”

Elena’s eyes widened in shock at that revelation. She wasn’t sure why they were calling Elizabeth Atalanta, but the fact that this man was a criminal in his own right and was being used as the sacrifice rather than her aunt caused her to sigh in relief. Elizabeth had prevented her aunt from dying.

But the vampire seemed to find the courage to argue with Klaus as he said, “Then you should know that Atalanta is-”

Hyunwoo didn’t get to finish as he and Klaus whipped their heads around to find Stefan Salvatore at the top of the cliff, saying, “I’m here to talk.”

Klaus sighed and made a hand motion as he said, “Very well, then.”

Klaus rejoined Stefan at the top of the cliff as he politely asked, “What can I do for you, Mr. Salvatore?”

Elena looked scared while the vampire frowned and asked, “You, what’s going on?”

Elena answered with, “I-I don’t know. You can hear them, right?”

The vampire glared at her and shook his head as he responded, “I don’t think I want to know.”

Elena glared at him incredulously. Who was this man, anyway? Klaus seemed to know him, Elizabeth had hunted him down, so what had caused her to hunt him only to hand him over to the Original for tonight’s ritual? But before they could continue,

Klaus returned to them, Stefan following him not too far behind. Klaus chuckled sarcastically as he said,

“Quite the predicament. You know, it’s funny. All this talk about till death do us part, and here’s Stefan, granting your wish.”

Elena looked over to the younger vampire and fearfully said, “Stefan…”

The vampire smiled at that as he whispered to her, “It’s okay.”

Klaus then said, “Well, but if you choose him, then that man over there, will start murdering hundreds of innocents. So, who’s it going to be, Elena?”

Elena eyed the man, who glared at the Original and struggled against the magic holding him down. She then looked over to Stefan, seeing the desperation in his eyes. Elena’s heart broke as she choked out, “No.”

Klaus smirked evilly and said, “Oh, don’t worry. There’s actually no choice.”

With that, Klaus staked Stefan in the back and Elena screamed in fear for her lover. Klaus sighed and said,

“I have other plans for your boyfriend. I want him alive. Him, however, I can’t let him live. You see, the deal between me and Elizabeth still stands.”

He then turned his head slightly to look at his witch and said, “Whenever you’re ready, Greta.”

Greta let the ring of fire die down as Klaus said, “Your turn.”

With that, Klaus staked the vampire, who immediately turned grey as he died. Klaus glanced to where Elizabeth stood, seeing her look back at him with a grateful nod. Klaus smirked and let the corpse of the man drop to the ground while saying,

“It’s time.”

The ring of fire around Elena was put down and Klaus watched Elena walk over to the altar with resignation in her features. He joins her as he said,

“Thank you, Elena.”

The teenager growled at him, “Go to hell.”

Klaus smirked and quickly bit into her neck, drinking her blood. Elizabeth watched as the life in Elena’s eyes dimmed as her blood was drained from her body. Elizabeth turned her head away with mixed feelings as she heard Elena’s body hit the ground after Klaus had finished.

The man grinned widely as he said, “I can feel it. It’s happening. Yes, yes!”

The transformation began, and Elizabeth brought her eyes back to the scene, only to find his body thrown to the ground by Bonnie Bennett. Elizabeth stepped further into the shadows, not willing to partake in this while Damon killed the young witch.

Klaus glared at Bonnie as he yelled out, “You were dead!”

Bonnie continued to use her magic on him while Damon gently pick up Elena’s body and brought her over to the heartbroken Stefan. Nobody noticed Elizabeth hide in the darkness, still keeping the entire scenery in her sight.

Damon left with Elena’s body while Klaus screamed from the magic Bonnie continued to inflict on him. But when she finally stopped, Elijah had pounced on top of his brother. Klaus looked fearful for the first time since the ritual had started and whispered out,

“Elijah?”

Elijah glared at his brother as he responded, “Hello, brother.”

With that, Elijah shoved his hand into Klaus’ chest, taking hold of his heart. Elijah growled out, anger and resentment reflected in his voice and eyes,

“In the name of our family, Niklaus…”

But he was interrupted when Klaus yelled out, “I didn’t bury them at sea! Their bodies are safe. If you kill me, you’ll never find them.”

Elizabeth watched hesitation come into Elijah as he tried to decipher whether his brother was lying or not when Stefan yelled out, “Elijah! Don’t listen to him!”

Klaus took this opportunity as he honestly said, “I can take you to them. I give you my word… Brother.”

Elijah looked conflicted when he felt something stir in his heart, while he ignored Bonnies threat and responded to her with, “You’ll die.”

Bonnie raised her hand and said, “I don’t care.”

Elijah shook his head as he took a glance at younger brother and said, “I’m sorry.”

With that, Elijah left with Klaus, finding a safe place for his brother to finish his transformation. Elizabeth witnessed everything and then decided to follow after the Original. She decided to follow directions her heart seemed to give her, almost as if it was a tug leading to the man that had crumbled her resolve to hide her feelings from.

Eventually, she came up to a section of the forest and heard a whoosh come from behind her as a man said,

“You shouldn’t be here. It’s not safe.”

Elizabeth breathed in and then out as she turned around, looking at him softly with, “I told you. You wouldn’t be able to kill him.”

Elijah studied her and shook his head and said, “I find myself wondering if I did the right thing.”

Elizabeth looked back at him, sensing conflict in him as she said, “You did.”

Elijah tensed in surprise as he asked, “How are you so sure of that?”

Elizabeth then sadly smiled and looked over to an area of the forest sadly as she said, “I may not have known you for long Elijah, but you value family over anything else. If you had killed Klaus, that won’t get rid of the fact that you love your brother.”

Elijah saw something akin to sadness emanate from the woman and stepped towards her as he said, “You watched, didn’t you?”

Elizabeth provided him a look and said, “I did. But know this, I think that your brother deserves a chance. He’s been lost for a very long time, and he just needs the right moment to come along for him to find who he wants to be and find himself.”

Elijah was surprised that someone thought so positively of his brother that had not been involved with Klaus intimately in some manner or form. With a sigh, he heard his brother come close as he said,

“He’s coming. You really should leave. You may be able to defend yourself, but this is Klaus. He’s not going to be easy to control in his wolf form.”

Elizabeth shook her head at that and said, “For some reason, I have a notion that he wouldn’t, but I will let you deal with him so that I don’t distract you.”

Elijah nodded and watched her walk away when she turned around to say,

“Elijah… thank you.”

The original vampire looked at her, confused at her statement but he didn’t get a chance to ask as Klaus came up to him in his wolf form running around. By the time he turned around, Elizabeth had gone.

By the time Elizabeth had arrived home, she had thought long and hard about her changed relationship with Elijah, knowing that she couldn’t push it off forever. Her heart ached in pain, thinking about losing him in the end. But whenever she thought of his genuine, unguarded smiles directed at her, she couldn’t prevent herself from smiling a little.

Elizabeth sighed as she felt miserable at what she was going to do. She spent a few minutes staring blankly at nothing as she tried to convince herself to give up on the man, but could not, as it felt as if she was giving up on everything that made her smile or laugh.

And with that, Elizabeth realized one thing, she wasn’t falling anymore. She had finished falling. Now she was stuck with no way out. She loved Elijah Mikaelson and it was final. A tear slipped down her face as she could not resist her selfish desires.

She couldn’t let him go anymore. Even if this love was supposed to be doomed from her knowledge of the future.

~~…..~~

A few days later, Elizabeth was submitting her work to her office, that was to publish her story after double checking everything for the comic she had been working on. Drinking her coffee and checking that she had all the files, she scrolled through her files when a knock sounded from her door.

She sighed and went over to her door to find Stefan at her door. In surprise she asked,

“Stefan? Can I help you with something?”

The younger Salvatore looked crushed as he begged her, “Do you know anything that can heal a werewolf bite?”

Elizabeth eyed him before realization hit her as she asked, “Damon?”

Stefan nodded, and she sighed as she muttered, “The only thing that will save him now is Klaus’ blood.”

The vampire in front of her grimaced, despair hitting him as he asked, “Is there really nothing else?”

Elizabeth looked at him sadly and said, “Unfortunately, no, not to my knowledge.”

Stefan looked crushed and she sighed as she said, “But if it helps, I think I can go and persuade him to get your brother some blood.”

Stefan nodded and with that, Stefan rushed them over to Alaric’s place using his vampire speed, as they were running out of time. When they arrived, they found Katherine sitting on the bed. Stefan looked irritated upon seeing her and tersely said,

“Hello, Katherine.”

Katherine completely ignored Elizabeth as she walked towards him, saying

“Two days, I’ve been waiting. I’m supposed to be free of Klaus’ compulsion by now. He’s supposed to be dead.”

Stefan grimaced and answered, “We ran into complications.”

Katherine angrily pushed him to the wall, but shushed him when the two Originals walked in. Klaus and Elijah saw Elizabeth standing there, irritated at the female vampire who resembled Elena.

Elijah looked at her, trying to see if she had been harmed, but felt relief go through him as he didn’t find any indication that she was injured in any way. He ignored Katherine as he walked over to Elizabeth and asked,

“What are you doing here?”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “Damon was bit by a werewolf of all things.”

Elijah frowned at that and then looked over to Klaus as he asked, “And you think the cure is here?”

Elizabeth nodded, not quite clarifying when they heard Stefan say,

“I need your help… for my brother.”

Klaus rolled his eyes and said, “Well, whatever it is, he’s gonna have to wait a tick. You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention.”

Elijah continued with, “You understand how important family is, or you wouldn’t be here. My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own.”

Elizabeth looked at Klaus warily, but didn’t stop him a he said, “And so I shall.”

Suddenly, Klaus made a move to dagger Elijah. However, Elizabeth pushed him to the side and got nicked by the sharp blade on her arm. Elijah looked over at Klaus, anger flashing in his eyes as Elizabeth said,

“Don’t. You can retrieve your family and not make this complicated, Klaus.”

Klaus eyed the bleeding Elizabeth with irritation but could see how Elijah seemed to be more on edge at the fact that she was bleeding. Sighing with the irritation clear on his face, Klaus said,

“Love, you’re testing my patience.”

Elijah watched Elizabeth look angry at the hybrid and say, “You’ve been testing mine for a very long time Klaus.”

Elijah’s brows furrowed at that when Klaus chuckled darkly and suddenly pushed Elizabeth onto a wall, effectively gripping her throat, preventing her from breathing. Elijah pushed Klaus out of the way, not liking how Elizabeth’s eyes had started to roll back.

But while he was distracted at the wheezing Elizabeth, Klaus had grabbed the dagger. Elizabeth struggled to get up and shouted, “No!”

With that, Elijah turned around too late, finding himself stabbed with the dagger. Elizabeth glared over at Klaus, who flashed over to her again and pulled her up, starting to suffocate her. Stefan couldn’t do anything during the chaos as Katherine effectively held him near her and said,

“Don’t, you’re only going to get killed.”

Stefan struggled against her as he watched Elizabeth weakly pull at Klaus’ hand that held her. Klaus smirked and said,

“You know, I might just have an idea.”

Elizabeth managed to say, “Just do it.”

Klaus’ eyes widened at that and asked, “Might I ask what you are mentioning, love?”

Elizabeth smirked weakly and said, “You want me dead. So do it.”

With that, Elizabeth let go of his hand and felt Klaus’ grip tighten just a bit. The hybrid studied her warily, trying to glean a reaction from her. But as he gripped her neck tighter, he realized something dark about Elizabeth’s strained smile. He immediately let go and said,

“No. Not yet.”

Elizabeth coughed from the struggle of her lungs and she glared at him darkly. Klaus internally winced but decided to leave Elizabeth there as he turned around to Stefan, who said,

“Just give me the cure and let Elizabeth go, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Klaus looked at the young man and smirked as he said,

“Trouble is, I don’t know if you’d be any good to me the way you are now. You are just shy of useless. I heard about this one vampire, crazy bloke, always on and off the wagon for decades. When he was off, he was magnificent, 1917, he went into Monterey and wiped out an entire migrant village… A true ripper. Sound familiar?”

Stefan’s eyes widened in fear as he said, “I haven’t been that way in a very long time.”

Klaus shrugged and said, “Well, that’s the vampire I can make a deal with. That is the kind of talent that I can use when I leave this town.”

Meanwhile, Elizabeth had crawled over to Elijah and set him in a more comfortable position before whispering out,

“How about a ripper hunter?”

Klaus looked over at Elizabeth, who looked up at him tiredly and repeated, “I’ll take that position. I’m more feared than the ripper over there. Take me and give him the cure.”

Klaus laughed at that and said, “Well, this is a surprise. I thought you would do anything to kill me after the stunt I just pulled. How does this benefit you?”

Stefan looked at Elizabeth worriedly as she said nothing. Klaus then saw Stefan’s look and then chuckled as he said, “You have a soft spot for the older Salvatore, don’t you?”

Elizabeth grit her teeth but didn’t answer. Klaus seemed to consider this as he said,

“Well, it would benefit me to have you on my side. Especially if that’s Atalanta you’re talking about.”

With that, Klaus bit into his wrist and poured some of his blood into a vial and said to Stefan,

“There it is. You want to save your brother? How ‘bout a decade-long bender? And I have big plans for you when we leave this town.”

Elizabeth said, “I said just to take me!”

Klaus rolled his eyes and said, “As much as I would love having you on my team darling, I also need Stefan.”

Elizabeth sighed and eyed Stefan. This was not going as she had hoped. Stefan looked to her and Elizabeth mouthed ‘I’m sorry’ to him. Stefan then looked resigned and nodded to Klaus, who smiled evilly and handed him a blood bag. Stefan started drinking it desperately, looking back to Elizabeth who still held onto Elijah’s limp body while Klaus handed Katerina the blood as he said,

“You’re very cooperative. It’s almost as if you’re enjoying it.”

With that Stefan grabbed onto another blood bag and emptied it quickly as he said,

“No more. Not until you give me the cure.”

Klaus looked displeased at that but felt someone’s anger flare up and turned to see Elizabeth stand and walk over to him as she hissed out,

“The cure. Now.”

Klaus warily eyed her and then sighed as he handed the vial over to Katherine and said,

“Sweetheart... take this over to Damon and come right back.”

Katherine, who had just been compelled, hesitantly asked, “You want me to leave?”

Stefan panicked and looked to Elizabeth, who just nodded subtly and hinted that it would work out in the end. Stefan backed down and eyed Klaus as the hybrid said,

“Yes and if I were you…”

But before he could finish, Katherine had taken off quickly, not wanting to stay in that apartment a second longer.

Klaus smirked and finished with, “I’d hurry.”

Elizabeth then turned around and sighed as she looked at him with disappointment marking her features. Klaus’ smirk died and they eyed each other until he saw Elizabeth’s eyes close and then open again, only for the disappointment to be entirely gone and an empty, dark look come into it.

Stefan stood up, feeling a shiver run down his back at how quickly the woman seemed to change into someone else entirely so quickly. Klaus then walked over to her and put a hand to her cheek as he said,

“Welcome back Atalanta.”

Atalanta looked up at him and smirked as she shoved the hybrid back and said, “Hmmm. Make sure to keep your end of Elijahs’ deal later.”

Klaus nodded and stepped back and then said, “Well the, let’s get to work.”

~~…..~~

Eventually, the trio were at a warehouse and Elijah was inside a coffin. Stefan were slightly away from the group while Klaus whispered to Atalanta,

“You care for him. I would have thought it might be Kol if it would have been anyone from my family.”

Atalanta looked down at the grey Original and said, “I do care for Elijah. I won’t deny it. But I also won’t lie that I did try to avoid falling for him.”

Klaus eyed her and said, “Well, I suppose, brother, you’ll be reunited with our family soon. Just be patient.”

Klaus then turned around and said to the two men behind him and ordered, “Put him with the others. We’re leaving town tonight.”

Atalanta eyed Stefan then, seeing how he looked at his phone, and said to him so that Klaus wouldn’t hear her,

“The wise decision would not to do that.”

Stefan looked distraught, but quickly covered it up as the hybrid neared them and asked them,

“So… did Katerina make it in time?”

Stefan glared at the man and said, “You won’t be seeing her again, you know.”

Klaus scoffed at that and responded, “Because she’s on vervain? I’ve been around a long time, Stefan. I rarely get played for a fool. Besides, she won’t get far. You’ll help me see to that.”

Atalanta tuned out the conversation for a while, getting bored until a girl was brought inside and given to Stefan. Rolling her eyes, she muttered,

“Really? What did she do?”

Klaus smiled and said, “Well, you would be decently surprised darling. This one, apparently had been doing some deals under the protection of night.”

Elizabeth eyed the girl and did see the signs of drugs on her and sighed as she turned around and walked over to Klaus’ car, not wanting to see her get drained of blood. As she sat there waiting, Klaus walked over to her and said,

“You try to act like you have no emotions, but I know you Atalanta, you’re not that type of person.”

Atalanta shrugged and said, “It’s not my problem as long as you don’t get innocent people. I don’t like you grabbing people here and there, but it’s not exactly you’re fault that you have to feed off humans to survive. I’m just making do with the options here. Also, I promised to give you a ripper hunter. This is part of it.”

Klaus smirked and said,

“As long as you don’t give into being emotionless, I’m fine love. It wouldn’t be fun to see you not enjoying your hunts.”

Atalanta smirked and leaned into him and said,

“Oh what a shame it would be to not cut up some criminal beings.”

Chapter Text

“If I cannot bend the will of Heaven, I shall move Hell”—Virgil

Days had passed since the group had departed from Mystic Falls and Atalanta was stuck sitting in the passenger seat of the car next to Klaus while Stefan had been shoved to the back. Something about Klaus enjoying Atalanta’s presence more than Stefan, who was struggling with his ripper self.

As they were driving in the middle of the night in Tenessee, Klaus stopped a while when he sensed the presence of a human nearby. Atalanta raised an eyebrow at the hybrid when he opened her door for her and extended a hand for her.

With an annoyed sigh, Atalanta grabbed his hand and stepped out of the car. Stefan looked over to the hybrid, who gave him a warning glance that the younger vampire was not welcome. Atalanta rolled her eyes when Klaus put an arm over her shoulder and swaggered both of them to a house.

Atalanta recognized the house from her recollection of the show and sighed as she whispered to the Original next to her,

“Remember your promise about innocents?”

Klaus sighed and nodded, and he proceeded to knock on the door. It did not take too long for a dog to start barking at the door and a girl to open the door for them. Klaus immediately gave a dashing smile to the girl, almost looking genuinely apologetic as he said,

“I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The girl eyed the couple suspiciously. Mostly at the woman in front of her, who had applied heavy eye makeup, almost making her look like a dark character with her straight her and black leather jacket. She looked like a punk rock wannabe, but considering how the man seemed to dress, fit in well with him. The girl warily asked them,

“Can I help you?”

Klaus smiled awkwardly and said, “Yeah, my, uh, my car ran out of gas a couple miles back. My girlfriend and I feel like we’ve been walking forever. Yours is the first house we’d come to, so we were just hoping we could use your phone.”

The girl looked hesitantly at them and asked, “Don’t you two have a cell phone?”

Atalanta looked apologetic and said, “Uhh… out phones’ batteries died.”

Klaus almost smirked at how well she was acting along with this as he continued,

“Look, we promise we’re not a serial killer. We just want to use your phone.”

The girl eyed the one more time before saying, “Sure.” With that, she took a step back and seemed to walk back into her house. Klaus hesitantly asked,

“So… can we come in?”

The girl’s eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion at that question and shook her head, answering,

“No. I’ll get the phone and I’ll bring it out to you.”

Klaus sighed in annoyance as he said, “I thought you country folks were supposed to be more trusting.”

The girl looked offended as she ground out, “I’m from Florida.”

Klaus muttered under his breath as he looked at Atalanta, “Well, that explains it.”

With that, he flashed over to the girl and compelled her with, “Now, show me a little Southern hospitality… Sweet pea.”

Atalanta made a gagging noise at the nickname, causing Klaus to smirk over at her as he grabbed Atalanta’s hand and stepped inside the house. As they walked in, another girl told her friend who had been compelled,

“I bet you a hundred dollars that the dog ran off to a house with air conditioning.”

When the second girl saw her friend have a blank look in her eyes and Klaus bringing Atalanta to the kitchen, she looked fearful as she asked,

“What’s going on?”

Klaus just smiled as he said, “Please don’t be alarmed. I’m told Ray Sutton lives here.”

The girl trembled as she managed answer, “He’s almost never here. He’s on the road mostly.”

Atalanta looked at the interaction, making sure to not twitch in impatience. Klaus sighed, losing his smile as he responded,

“But I expect he makes it home… Once a month.”

The girl didn’t answer, fear taking over her features. But before he could threaten her, Atalanta sighed and grabbed his shoulder as she walked over to the girl and told her,

“Look, it’s going to be easier if you tell us where he is. And don’t think of running, it’s not going to help you at all.”

The girl looked at the girl before whispering and said, “He’s… he’s in the Tully. It’s near the border. I think it’s a bar called Southern Comfort.”

Atalanta smiled, making the girl cower away from her as the huntress told the Original, “I know the place. It’s off Highway 41.”

Klaus smirked and put an arm around her shoulder again and said, “Thank you, love. Now…”

With that, Klaus called Stefan over and then looked at the girl he had compelled earlier and asked, “May my friend come in your home?”

The girl teared up as she whispered, “Yes.”

Stefan entered with that, eyeing Atalanta, who seemed to look bored as she eyed Klaus, when the hybrid turned around as he said,

“Kill this one quickly.”

With that, he pushed the girl that had answered the question about the location of Ray Sutton towards Stefan. Atalanta eyed Klaus, who looked towards the other girl, who stood frozen and terrified. When the hybrid then looked back towards the huntress, he saw the displeasure flash through her eyes. The other girl was allowed to be killed, but this one wasn’t a criminal. With a sigh, Klaus told Stefan,

“Make that one forget we were ever here. I’ll be in the car.”

Stefan quickly went over to the other girl, having lost some control over his ripper self. Atalanta took out her whip and quickly threw it so that the other end held Stefan back by the neck. With that, she went over as she said,

“Tsk, tsk Stefan. That’s not what he ordered.”

Stefan growled back at her, causing Atalanta to smirk at him and tighten her grasp on him. Stefan tried to release himself as Atalanta went up to him and whispered,

“Now, we don’t want Elena to see you have killed both girls, now would you? Also, you would be going against Klaus and me. Not a good spot to be in.”

Stefan finally calmed down at the mention of Elena’s name and hung his head low in submission. With a smirk, Atalanta unwrapped the whip from his neck and watched him compel the younger girl. As he did so, Atalanta walked towards her seat in the car. Once she entered, the hybrid studied her with a smirk and said,

“Are you enjoying yourself?”

Atalanta glared at him and said distastefully, “I haven’t had anyone to kill or torture. I’m not even sure I am smiling much. So, what would you think Niklaus?”

Klaus chuckled at that response and shook his head as he said, “Does my dear, noble brother Elijah know of your bloodthirsty side?”

Atalanta gave him a side glance that seemed to momentarily turn soft until it completely disappeared as she shrugged and said,

“He has seen me get your sacrifices and torture the vampire I had gotten for you. That’s a glimpse at what I do, but I’m sure he’s heard of stories.”

Klaus just smiled when Stefan came over to them, sliding into the back seat, quiet. The two people in the front noticed he was back to the normal Stefan Salvatore rather than the ripper. Both sighed in slight disappointment at that. Atalanta embraced herself as a ruthless hunter while Klaus had embraced himself as the monster of many. But Stefan constantly fought his vampirism, which caused the other two people some irritation at his attempt to almost seem like a saint.

They didn’t share more words with that, content with the silence as Klaus drove them over to the bar that was mentioned by the girl they had interrogated earlier.

Not too long after they arrived, they saw Ray enter the bar and the person serving there ask the man,

“What’s up, Ray?”

Ray responded with, “Hey, Red. Can I get a beer?”

Klaus then sat next to him while Atalanta was at a separate table looking utterly bored a completely different picture from the tense Stefan next to her. Klaus smirked at the man as he asked,

“Ray? Ray Sutton?”

The man in question warily eyed Klaus as he responded with, “Who wants to know?”

Klaus then said, “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. We started in Florida, Pensacola. I met a young chap there who you worked with before you moved to Memphis. Now he directed me to two lovely young women. And they led me here.”

Ray stood up, clearly uncomfortable at that knowledge as he said, “I think I’ll be going.”

Atalanta stood up, smiling with a glint in her eyes as she stopped him from stepping outside the bar. Everyone saw the blood drain from Ray’s face at the sight of her as they heard Klaus smirk and say,

“Not so fast, mate. You only just got here. Now your type are very hard to come by.”

Ray turned around to leave through another door when Stefan flashed in front of him and said,

“I wouldn’t do that.”

Ray felt a lump form in his throat as he whispered, “Vampires…”

Klaus chuckled darkly as he said, “You’re swifty swift, Ray. Yes, my friend over there is a vampire. He’s compelled everyone in the bar, so don’t look to them for any help. The lovely woman over there, however, as you seem to know, is Atalanta, the infamous huntress. She’s actually the one to let me know of your existence. However, I’m something else. A different kind of monster. I’ve got some vampire, I’ve got some wolf.”

Ray tensed up at that piece of information and muttered out, “A… what?”

Atalanta sighed at the man’s stupidity, tempted to just torture him a little bit while the hybrid placed a calming hand on her shoulder as he responded,

“A hybrid, Ray. I’m both. You see, I want to create more of me. Now, you being the first werewolf I’ve come across in many a moon, pun intended, Ray, heh, I need you to direct me to your pack. So… where can I find them, Ray?”

Ray took a step back from Klaus, terrified as he said, “You can’t compel me, it won’t work.”

With a sigh, Atalanta walked over to the bartender, looking irritated as she told him, “I need a scotch on the rocks, please.”

Stefan watched as Atalanta then walked over to the werewolf and said,

“Ahem. Tell you what, Ray. We’re going to play a little drinking game. Something I like to call truth or wolfsbane.”

With that, she took the bag of wolfsbane from Stefan’s hand, causing Klaus to laugh wildly as he said,

“Oh, this is going to be fun, Ray.”

Stefan frowned at that and whispered, “Didn’t you want me to do it? Why is she taking my place?”

Klaus just grabbed a drink and smirked as he said, “She was itching to do something. Who am I to deny her from having fun?”

Stefan eyed him warily while Atalanta walked over to Ray, an evil look taking over her features, as if she was about to enjoy her time with Ray immensely.

~~…..~~

Meanwhile, back in Tennessee, Alaric and Damon arrived at the house the trio were at earlier. Despite Damon’s phone ringing, the vampire did not respond. Alaric eyed the vampire warily. After Katherine had given him the cure, which turned out to be Klaus’ blood, Damon was not the same.

He had been paying less attention to Elena, as before. He had heard that the older Salvatore had been like this since he heard that Elizabeth was the one who managed to get the cure for him, going after Stefan so that his brother wouldn’t be alone.

Guilt overwhelmed him for getting Elizabeth involved. Alaric asked his friend,

“Elena? I don’t know why you just don’t come clean and tell her where we are.”

Damon sighed, frustrated at what he was seeing as he said, “ ‘cause Andie said this was a half-lead and I don’t want to get her hopes up.”

Alaric noticed something else in Damon’s tone, as if he didn’t also want to get his own hopes up as he said,

“Yeah, well, they’re all half-leads, and I don’t want to get handed that I’m your accomplice. What do you want me to say to her? I’m practically living there.”

Damon then looked at the man and asked, “Still sleeping on the couch?”

Alaric shrugged while looking around as he said, “You know, I keep waiting for them to kick me out, but they don’t. I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m helping or anything.”

But that was when they noticed the silence from the house. Alaric didn’t like it as he commented,

“It’s quiet.”

Damon nodded and responded with, “Yeah, too quiet.”

When they entered, the found blood everywhere. When they entered a room, they found one girl’s body along with another girl that just sat in the corner, looking horrified. When the two men found her, Damon went up to her and asked using compulsion,

“Who did this?”

The girl shook her head, crying as she answered, “I… I don’t know. Once moment, I saw this couple asking for my phone, and the next, my friend is dead like this… Oh God, I can’t remember what happened!”

Damon sighed, frustrated while Alaric said,

“Vampire for sure.”

Damon noticed something and said, “Stefan for sure.”

Alaric looked surprised at that and asked, “How do you know?”

Damon motioned to the dead girl’s body as he said,

“It’s his signature. There isa reason they called him the ripper. He feeds so hard he blacks out, rips them apart, but then when he’s done, he feels remorse. It’s the damnest thing. He puts the bodies back together.”

With that, he proved his reasoning by gently touching the girl with his feet. The smallest motion caused the girl’s head to fall onto the floor. With a grimace, he said,

“Definitely Stefan.”

Damon sighed and then went back to the girl and compelled her to leave the place with her belongings and to forget everything that had happened. With that, he went back to Alaric, who was sadly wrapping the dead body with a sheet.

Damon muttered, “She said something about a couple. If Stefan did this, then the only reasonable answer for the couple is…”

Alaric finished his thought with, “Elizabeth and Klaus.”

Damon hid the amount of emotions that ran through his head at that thought. He ground out with,

“I don’t believe that Elizabeth went willingly.”

Alaric saw something in Damon’s eyes and asked, “Damon, do you have something for Elizabeth?”

Damon looked up at the hunter in surprise and said, “What? Me? What makes you think that?”

Alaric shook his head at that response. Clearly, the vampire wasn’t even aware of his feelings. With that, he helped Damon get rid of the body when he walked on something that made a noise on the floorboard.

Damon looked over at him and said, “Hang on.”

With that, Damon took the rug that Alaric had been stepping on off the floor. To both men’s surprise, there was a trap door and Damon quickly opened it. Inside, they found chains tied to the wall, a familiar setup as those that Tyler Lockwood used.

Damon smirked as their search seemed to get them somewhere as he said, “Well, what do you know? Werewolves.”

With that, he quickly closed the trapdoor and started to set the body on fire.

~~…..~~

At the bar, Ray was strapped against the wall, bleeding severely. He had darts not only around him, but some pinning him to the wall, like the one in his left hand. Atalanta was stirring a dart in a glass with wolfsbane in it and threw it at Ray, causing the man to scream in pain when it hit him on the arm.

Klaus was smiling at the sight as Atalanta leered at the werewolf as she said,

“Ray, you can end this right now if you just tell me where your pack gathers for the full moon.”

Ray shook his head, panting in pain as he muttered, “I can’t.”

Irritated, Atalanta walked over slowly as if stalking a prey, her right hand holding onto her knife that had the serpent handle. Upon seeing the blade that was her trademark, Ray shuffled in fear as she muttered,

“Oh Ray, I understand that you live by a code, but honestly, do you think that I will stop if you don’t tell me? It hurts doesn’t it?”

With that, she took the tip of her blade and cut the man slowly at the chest, causing Ray to scream in pain again. Stefan remained tense at the scene, finding it disturbing that Elizabeth had this evil twist to her.

Ray continued to scream and as she was torturing him, a girl joined Klaus at the bar, causing Stefan to turn around and listen as the girl said,

“Hello Mr. Klaus. I have some information for you. He told me to tell you that he saw that guy’s brother Damon at the farmhouse.”

Stefan felt blood drain from his face as Klaus responded with,

“Well, thank you, Claudine. You just tell your friends to keep up the good work with the neighborhood watch, huh?”

Claudine nodded and left, causing Stefan to ask, “My brother’s still on our trail?”

Klaus huffed in slight irritation while observing Atalanta’s handy work on Ray as he responded,

“He’s getting closer. I’m going to have to deal with that.”

Stefan shook his head and said, “No, no, no. Let me handle it.”

Klaus asked dubiously, “Why should I let you leave?”

Stefan responded with, “ ‘cause you know I’ll come back.”

Klaus asked, still watching Atalanta cutting up Ray, “Do I?”

Stefan said, “You saved my brother’s life. I’m in your service.”

Klaus finally turned around to face the man and said, “Oh, that almost sounds so tedious and indentured. Aren’t you having the least bit of fun?”

Stefan ignored the question as he said, “I’ll make sure that my brother doesn’t bother us anymore.”

With that, Klaus was thinking deeply and then let Stefan leave. Later on, Atalanta finally got bored and walked over to Klaus, blood all over her face and hands. Klaus studied her and shook his head, talking out a handkerchief and cleaned her face.

Atalanta watched him as he cleaned the blood off her face for her, seeing how close Klaus was. She raised an eyebrow at that and waited for him to finish. As he was wiping it off her cheek gently, Atalanta told him the location of where the pack is. Once he was done, Klaus smirked and kissed her cheek before walking over to Ray and pulling out the darts holding the werewolf to the wall.

Klaus whistled as he said, “You did quite a number on this wolf, love.”

Atalanta shrugged and took a big gulp from her drink. Klaus put Ray on the pool table and told the man,

“Ok, it’s a three step process, right? This is step one. I want you to drink from my wrist.”

Ray glared at the hybrid as he said through the pain, “I already told you where to find the pack. What more do you want from me?”

Klaus smirked and said, “Have you been listening to what I’ve been saying, Ray? I have great plans for you.”

Klaus then cut his wrist and forced Ray to drink his blood. Atalanta watched Ray struggle with it as the Original said,

“You’ll thank me for it later, heh.”

Stefan arrived and sat next to Atalanta, who ignored him while watching Klaus as Ray asked,

“What are you going to do now?”

Klaus looked over to Atalanta, who didn’t show any emotion as Klaus said,

“It’s time for step two, Ray.”

Without pause, Klaus snapped Ray’s neck. Afterwards, Klaus looked at Stefan with decent surprise and said, “You’re back.”

Stefan looked at the hybrid and said, “Did you doubt me?”

Klaus looked over at Atalanta again, who seemed to signify that she knew the younger Salvatore would return and said,

“Not for a second. I knew you’d pass the test. You still care for your brother, for your old life.”

Stefan coldly responded, “I don’t care about anything anymore.”

Klaus didn’t seem to believe it as he said, “You put on a good show, Stefan. I almost believe you. Let’s hope, for your brother’s sake, he does. You never stop caring about family, do you? But every time you feed. The blood makes it easier to let go.”

Stefan tensed slightly, which did not go unnoticed by both Atalanta and Klaus. Sighing with disappointment, Atalanta stood up and headed to the bathroom to clean her hands from the blood. It was becoming annoying to have the blood dry on her hands. After cleaning up, she went to the car, ignoring Stefan who held a phone to his ear, letting him do his thing.

Sitting down in the car, Atalanta sighed, feeling tired from the day’s events. Klaus noticed the dark circles forming under her eyes and said,

“You should sleep, love. I wouldn’t want my brother to find you so sleep-deprived when he returns.”

Atalanta glared at him and told him sternly, “I want you to wake me up when we arrive at their camp, alright? I’m not letting you have all the fun.”

Klaus smirked and nodded as he said, “Of course, love.”

Atalanta then closed her eyes and wrapped her jacket around her tightly to get some warmth. Klaus sighed and then took his own jacket off to give to her. There was something endearing about Atalanta. He could see how deadly she was, but also kind depending on the situations.

Atalanta soon fell asleep without much trouble and had a dream. She was walking around in a forest clearing with a white dress on. As she was doing so, she walked to find a building that reminded her of an ancient Korean building. As she got closer and closer to it, she heard a cry of a baby before a sudden, burning sensation overwhelmed her body. Pain erupted, and uncontrollable amount of anger enveloped her. Elizabeth struggled deeply against the fire, wanting to reach out to the crying baby. But that soon ended when she felt someone call out to her to wake up.

Once Klaus parked the car, he turned towards Atalanta to wake her up. Stefan stepped out with Ray in tow. Klaus instantly frowned when he saw Atalanta have sweat on her brows and groan from time to time, as if she was stuck in a nightmare. Klaus gently shook her, trying to wake her.

“Atalanta? Atalanta!”

But, the girl remained unresponsive until he called out, “Elizabeth! Love, wake up!”

With that, the woman’s eyes opened wide. She looked panicked and started to take deep breaths in her fear. Klaus immediately hugged her gently, trying to calm her down. A few minutes managed to pass as she calmed down, her heartbeat getting slower as she managed to grasp her surroundings.

Once she was ready, Elizabeth let go and closed her eyes, leaning back into the seat, while the Original studied her warily as he asked,

“Are you alright, love?”

Elizabeth nodded with a sigh. Klaus studied her and said, “Maybe you should sit this out. Clearly, being Atalanta for an extended amount of time is affecting you.”

At that, Atalanta made an appearance as the woman glared at him and shoved him back, huffing in frustration as she said,

“As much as I appreciate you waking me up from my nightmare, I’m perfectly fine.”

Klaus watched her walk out the car and looked genuinely worried for the human before he quickly masked and walked out, starting to walk through the Smoky Mountains. They eventually caught up to Stefan Salvatore, who was holding onto the unconscious Ray on his shoulders.

They hiked for a long time when Stefan seemed to slow down a little, causing Klaus to teasingly ask,

“You ok? Is Ray getting heavy?”

Stefan glared as he responded with, “I’m fine.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow and looked over to Atalanta, who did not look exhausted at all despite being human and asked at the younger vampire,

“You sure about that? You know, we’ve been walking for quite some time now. If you need some water or a little sit-down…”

Atalanta looked over at Stefan, noticing a slight discomfort on his face. The huntress felt fine, she was used to this much strenuous amount of activities. Stefan looked really irritated as he continued answering Klaus with,

“You know, I get that we’re, uh… we’re stuck together, but if we could maybe just skip the chitchat, it’d be great.”

Klaus put a mocking offended look at Atalanta, as if he was actually offended by the comment as he said,

“So much brooding. You’re self-loathing is suffocating you, my friend.”

Stefan rolled his eyes as he said, “Maybe it’s ‘cause I’m a little tired of hunting werewolves. We’ve been at it all summer.”

Klaus smirked and put an arm around Atalanta, who was not paying attention to the conversation as he said, “I don’t see our dear huntress complaining. Also, thanks to our pal Ray, we found ourselves a pack. There.”

With that, they stopped and found a pack. Stefan trudged over to the camp, causing all the inhabitants to look at him. Stefan dropped Ray onto the ground harshly. Atalanta saw a woman rush over to the unconscious man and scream out,

“Ray! Oh, my God! What’s going on? Who are you?”

That was when Klaus and Atalanta joined the young vampire, as the hybrid said,

“The important question is who am I. Please forgive the intrusion. My name is Klaus.”

The woman’s eyes widened in recognition and fear as she whispered out, “You’re the hybrid.”

Klaus smiled with joy at that as he said, “You’ve heard of me. Fantastic.”

With that, Atalanta sighed, not seeing any reason for her to remain standing there. She grabbed a chair and plopped herself onto it, looking bored. Klaus sat next to her, grabbing another chair as Stefan remained standing, almost like a guard to two royalties. Klaus looked at the people who had gathered and studied the trio warily.

Klaus smirked and grasped Atalanta’s hand as he said,

“It’s fascinating, actually… A werewolf who isn’t beholden to the moon, a vampire who doesn’t burn in the sun. A true hybrid.”

Atalanta’s attention came back when she noticed Ray’s body twitch a little. She sat up a little straighter, a gleam of interest coming into her eyes. Klaus smirked even more at that as he commented,

“Excellent timing, Ray. Very dramatic.”

Ray looked fearful and confused at the same time as he asked. “What’s happening to me?”

Stefan went up to the man who had just woken up while Klaus asked, “Stefan?”

Stefan then looked around and asked, “Are any of you human? Your friend here needs human blood to complete his transition to vampire. If he doesn’t get it, he will die.”

When silence ensued, Atalanta sighed and grabbed her knife and started to bring it towards her palm when Klaus quickly grabbed onto her wrist that held the knife, stopping her from doing it.

Atalanta looked up towards the hybrid, who shook his head subtly. Atalanta wanted to ask why he didn’t want her to just get this over with, but Klaus’ eyes bore into hers, making it final that he didn’t want her blood to get taken.

With a sigh, Atalanta began to play with her knife as she watched on while Klaus said,

“Doesn’t take much, just a sample. Anyone? A boyfriend, a girlfriend, along for the ride?”

That was when Klaus looked over at a man and rushed over to him as he said, “You.”

The hybrid quickly bit on the man’s forearm and threw him over to Stefan. Stefan caught the man and shoved him towards Ray. The woman who had called out to Ray earlier began to protest, but Atalanta walked over to her and shoved her to the ground, bringing her arms to the ground so that she couldn’t fight back.

Stefan knelt down next to Ray as he said,

“If you don’t drink it, Ray, I will. Problem is, I don’t know how to stop.”

Klaus looked at the girl Atalanta was holding onto and said with a satisfied tone,

“It’s the new order, sweetheart. You join us, or you die.”

The woman ground out with hatred, “I’d rather die than be a vampire.”

Klaus then motioned for Atalanta to bring her over. Once the woman was forced to stand, Klaus rushed over and started to forcefully feed her his blood. Ray saw that and despairingly started to drink the blood from the man.

Klaus looked over at Stefan, who looked irritated at this entire scenario as he said nonchalantly,

“She’ll thank for that later. Heh.”

With that, Atalanta snapped the woman’s neck in one harsh motion. Klaus looked impressed at that while Atalanta walked over next to him as the hybrid asked the crowd,

“Ok, who’s next?”

Eventually, the trio started turning as many people as they could start their transition to become hybrids. Klaus was compelling the last human by saying,

“There. Good as new. Now you relax, ok mate? We’re gonna need you when the rest of them wake up.”

Ray, who had finished drinking the blood, muttered in fear, “They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

Klaus smirked at that as he said, “Ah, he’s through his transition. He should be feeling better soon.”

Stefan looked over at the hybrid with disgust as he asked, “So this is your master plan? Build an army for hybrid slaves?”

Klaus immediately turned angry at that assumption and said, “No, not slaves. Soldiers, comrades.”

At that, Atalanta chuckled, causing the two older men to look at her strangely, as if she had gone insane. Atalanta waved at them to just ignore her while Stefan frowned a little more as he said,

“For what war, might I ask?”

Klaus studied the Salvatore as he responded with, “Oh, you don’t arm yourself after war has been declared, Stefan. You build your army so big that no one ever dares pick the fight.”

Stefan looked confused and asked, “What makes you so sure that they’ll be loyal?”

Klaus shrugged and said, “Well, it’s not difficult to be loyal when you’re on the winning team. That’s something you’ll learn once you shake that horribly depressive chip off your shoulder.”

Stefan laughed in disbelief as he responded,

“That’s why you’re uh… you’re keeping me around? To witness my attitude adjustment?”

Atalanta looked up at him while Klaus motioned towards her as he said,

“You’ll know why I’m keeping you around when I’ve decided that I want you to know. Also, I don’t see Atalanta struggling with being a ripper hunter.”

That was when the hybrid and everybody saw Ray’s eyes start to bleed. Klaus immediately went up to the transitioning hybrid and muttered, “Something’s wrong.”

Stefan whispered to them, “That shouldn’t be happening, should it?”

Atalanta rolled her eyes, saying, “Obviously.”

Klaus looked up to her in anger and distress to only find an apathetic look come from her. Disbelief filled his entire body at her attitude. She was so calm at this situation, as if it couldn’t have turned out any other way for her. Either they had become his hybrids or have died. She couldn’t care less.

She had been hunting this pack for a while, and there must have been a reason for her to have told him about this one in particular. Ray finally started to shake terribly, blood still flowing from his eyes.

Ray looked terrified as he managed to say,

“You said it was gonna feel better. Why doesn’t it feel better?”

Before Stefan could make a sarcastic remark, Atalanta smiled evilly as she said,

“Because you’re missing the one thing to keep you going.”

Another woman woke up, distracting Klaus. This caused Ray to snarl and bolt from the location. Atalanta sighed and went to chase after him, but Klaus stopped her as he said,

“You need to stay here with me and explain what else you know, love. Stefan, go get him.”

Stefan went after Ray. Klaus turned to look at Atalanta questioningly, indicating for her to explain what she knew. Atalanta weighed the options. On one hand, she could just tell him that he needed Elena’s blood. But that would indicate that he would not wake Rebekah from her daggered state. The other would be to point him to the right direction so that he found the witch he needed immediately.

Thinking on that, she took a minute before turning to look at the hybrid, who started to look impatient. Atalanta smirked and asked,

“I will tell you, but what’s in it for me?”

Klaus immediately growled and went up to her as he said, “Your life. I may favor you over others, love, but I’m still the monster that other monsters have nightmares about.”

Atalanta looked at him without showing any fear or other emotion. Her heartbeat didn’t even change from it’s calm pace. This irritated and astonished Klaus to no end as he just backed off for her and waited.

Atalanta had a smug look on her face as she told him, “I only know that you’re missing a key ingredient. I don’t know what it really is. I know a witch who can give you that information or at least point you in the right direction.”

“Who?” Klaus asked.

Atalanta told him, “Gloria, the witch in Chicago. You should know her from the ‘20s.”

Klaus smiled widely at that and said, “Well, why didn’t you say so sooner, love?”

Atalanta smirked as she walked up to him and whispered in his ear, “Because they were not meant to be the hybrids you create.”

Klaus looked confused at that until a realization settled over him. “You wanted them dead.”

Atalanta didn’t react to that and merely walked over to the chair she had been sitting at, watching the other werewolves start to wake and cry in pain as blood flowed from their eyes.

Klaus grimaced and felt a shiver go down his spine at how peaceful Atalanta looked at all the pain and terror going through this one camp site. He was known to be a monster but seeing Atalanta enjoy the scene around her with no remorse made him slightly sick.

When some started to go rabid and run around, Klaus couldn’t do much as he watched at how Atalanta brutally started to murder them all as rumored by those who had seen her handy work. It was truly terrifying to watch her enjoy the hunt, as if she had been waiting her entire life for this moment. The moment all the wolves were dead, Atalanta went to her chair, decently covered in blood again as she proceeded to take out a handkerchief and wipe the blood off her knife.

That was when Stefan sauntered over to the camp site again by the time the entire pack was dead. Klaus remained frozen in the position he had been watching Atalanta until he noticed the younger Salvatore join him as he said,

“They went rabid. Some of them… killed. The others just… bled out. In the end… they’re all dead.”

He remained quiet, still shocked at Atalanta’s hunt as he muttered,

“I did everything I was told! I should be able to turn them. I broke the curse. I killed a werewolf. I killed a vampire. I killed the doppleganger.”

Atalanta started humming a tune that sounded like something that would come out in a horror movie when Klaus eyed Stefan, who became pale and said,

“You look like hell.”

Stefan groaned out, “Last I checked, I’m dying… and you don’t want to heal me. I had to take him out. I didn’t have a choice. I failed you. I’m sorry. Do what you have to do.”

Klaus sighed as he said, “We have to go to Chicago to see a witch. Atalanta said that she would know what ingredient I needed for this to work.”

Stefan’s eyes widened at that when Klaus grabbed a bottle of beer that had been thrown away on the ground. With that, he bit his wrist and put the blood into the bottle. Once he got a decent amount, he handed it to Stefan while saying,

“Bottoms up. We’re leaving. It appears you two are the only comrades I have left.”

With that, Stefan drank the blood, which immediately started to take out the werewolf venom out of his system and cure him. Atalanta watched before standing up and walking over to walk back down to the car. She had become tired after venting out most of her dark emotions out on the werewolf camp she had been hunting for a while. Klaus watched her retreating figure with trepidation.

What had his brother gotten himself into?

Chapter Text

“No matter how much suffering you went through,

you never wanted to let go of those memories.” -Haruki Murakami

After a long drive, the trio had finally arrived in Chicago. As they were exiting the vehicle, Klaus said,

“Welcome back to Chicago, Stefan.”

Stefan glared at the hybrid as he asked, “What are we doing here?”

Klaus smiled and put an arm over Atalanta’s shoulders as he cheerfully responded with, “I know how much you loved it here. Bringing back memories of the good old ripper days.”

Atalanta sighed as she shoved his arm away but remained quiet. She remembered this discussion from the show, but it wasn’t for her to intrude on. Stefan seemed to be irritated at the mention of his ripper self again as he said,

“Blacked out most of them. A lot of blood, a lot of partying. The details are all a blur.”

Klaus sighed, but Atalanta did not miss the knowing gleam in his eyes as the hybrid commented, “Well, that is a crying shame. The details are what makes it legend.”

And it seemed as if the hybrid was reminiscing about something and Atalanta raised an eyebrow as he said, “Chicago was magical.”

Atalanta rolled her eyes. Even if he said so, she knew that Klaus preferred New Orleans over this bustling city. Stefan didn’t notice her annoyance as he said,

“Yeah, well, I’ll take your word for it. Like I said, I don’t remember most of it.”

Klaus smirked then and said, “Ready to get down to business, then?”

Atalanta nodded and said, “I’ve been ready for hours. I need to do something before I end up killing one of you two.”

Klaus chuckled at that while Stefan warily eyed her and said, “Why am I still with you two? We had our fun, and Klaus, your hybrids failed. I mean, don’t you want to move on/”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the younger vampire as he said, “We’re going to see my favorite witch. If anyone can help us with our hybrid problem, it’s her. And it seems that Atalanta knows where the witch is currently, so, love, lead the way.”

Atalanta sighed as she said, “Follow me.”

With that, she started walking through the city. When she finally arrived at the bar, she held the door open for the two men and said, “Go in.”

Klaus raised an eyebrow at that and said, “Not too enthusiastic to see her again, I assume?”

Atalanta glared at him and said, “Well, let’s say that last time I saw her, she didn’t exactly give me the most welcoming information I needed.”

Klaus seemed to want to ask her more questions but stopped at the dangerous look in her eyes and proceeded to walk into the bar. Atalanta sighed as she remembered when she came here recently in the middle of the night in secret. In one of Elizabeth’s myriad of journals, she had found note left for her.

It had shocked her to the core, but it had said,

If you’re reading this, Elizabeth, then this means that you are in my body. How do I know this? Well, because I’m the one who brought you here. Essentially, you and I are the same person, but I could feel it… my mind is going, and soon enough, so will my memories. When the time comes, I had a witch, Gloria, cast a spell to bring you to this world. Visit her for my memories. Then, she will lead you to a place, where you will learn more about me, all I’ve done, and who I am. I’m sorry about bringing you into this messy world of the supernatural, but this is the only way I could deal with the continuation of a legacy you will come to carry on.

~~Atalanta.

With that, Elizabeth had gone on a search for the memories and information, coming to Chicago to meet with Gloria. But the memories she had gained were shocking and Elizabeth had wished that she had never learned them. Then Gloria had sent her on a hunt for the rest of the information and training. That was why Elizabeth wasn’t always present or available after her arrival during the night.

She shivered a little, still at the door, and then entered the bar. Despite her own trip down memory lane, Atalanta heard Gloria say, “Stop. You may be invincible, but that doesn’t make you funny.”

Gloria noticed Atalanta enter the bar and narrowed her eyes, before looking over at Stefan and saying, “I remember you.”

Stefan grimaced and said, “Yeah. You’re Gloria. Shouldn’t you be…”

Gloria chuckled darkly and said, “Old and dead? Now if I die, who’s going to run this place, huh?”

Klaus smiled and eyed Atalanta, who took a seat far away from the two vampires, seeing her fingers twitch every now and then, almost as if she was tempted to hurt any of them. But he went back to talk to Stefan as he said,

“Gloria’s a very powerful witch.”

Gloria nodded and said, “I can slow the aging down with some herbs and spells. But don’t worry. It’ll catch up to me one day.”

Atalanta muttered something under breath, causing Gloria to scowl and say to the woman, “Now, I don’t know why you came back here Atalanta, but I don’t want you spilling blood in here like last time.”

Atalanta made a noncommittal noise and waved her hand as she reached for the drink Gloria had made for her. Klaus eyed their interaction with interest before facing Stefan again and said,

“Stefan, why don’t you go and fix us up a little something from behind the bar?’

Atalanta looked over as Gloria glared at Klaus while he said, “You look ravishing, by the way.”

Gloria snorted as she said, “Don’t. I know why you’re here. A hybrid out to make more hybrids? That kind of news travels. And young lady, your handiwork has also spread like wildfire. Congratulations and getting rid of those criminals.”

Atalanta sipped her drink before saying, “I only did what I felt like doing. I don’t need congrats or thank-you’s.”

Gloria shook her head as she said, “Ah, the infamous Atalanta has taken over, has she?”

Atalanta glared at the woman before turning away, not needing to be part of the conversation. By the end of the information hunt she had gone on in the past, Atalanta had made her appearance and it honestly irritated Atalanta whenever someone seemed to indicate that Atalanta and Elizabeth were two different individuals, when they were just one person.

It was just that she preferred to go by one name whenever she felt murderous and started hunting things. Elizabeth was the person she had strived to be as a decent human. Before everything fell apart for her.

Klaus sighed as he felt the temperature drop from Atalanta’s displeasure upon Gloria’s comment and quickly distracted the witch with the main reason of why they were here in the first place.

“So what am I doing wrong? According to my dear, Atalanta, I am missing something.”

Gloria shook her head, feeling exhausted as she said, “Obviously you did something wrong. Look, every spell has a loophole, but a curse that old… We’d have to contact the witch who created it.”

Atalanta saw Klaus tense immediately upon that statement and she knew why. Esther was not someone who should come back from the dead. It was good that she remained the way she was: dead.

Klaus glowered at Gloria as he bit out, “Well, that would be the original witch. She’s very dead.”

Gloria looked at him as if he had called her stupid and said, “I know. And for me to contact her, I’ll need help. Bring me Rebekah.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the witch as he instantly grew suspicious of the witch in front of him as he said, “Rebekah is a bit preoccupied.”

Gloria retorted back, “She has what I need. Bring her to me.”

Klaus looked over to Atalanta, who took another sip of her drink as she said, “I wouldn’t question her. She knows what she’s doing, you don’t need me to tell you this Klaus.”

The hybrid glowered, but didn’t say anything as irritation was slowly start to boil within him. But before he could say something, Stefan pointed to a picture on the wall and asked,

“What is this?”

Klaus looked over and smirked as he grew amused at the vampire’s confusion, answering,

“Well, I told you, Stefan. Chicago’s a magical place.”

Stefan looked even more confused, causing Atalanta to sigh and pay more attention to her thoughts again as they continued to talk about the memories from the 1920s. But then she spotted Klaus and Stefan exiting the building. With a sigh of boredom, Atalanta finished off her drink in one go and followed them out.

As they traveled towards a location, Atalanta heard Stefan state,

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why don’t I remember you?”

Klaus smirked again as he answered, “You said it yourself, that time had a lot of dark holes.”

Stefan shook his head adamantly, as he argued, “No, if you knew me, then why haven’t you said anything.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at the man and growled out, “I’m a little busy right now. Memory Lane will have to wait.”

Stefan opened his mouth again, and Atalanta was so close to just kick him or maybe even better, cut out his tongue so that he could stop being so annoying. But she held back as Klaus gently put a hand on her shoulder, calming her down instantaneously. The hybrid knew that she was getting itchy with her hands to do something. Despite her relieving that through the massacre of the failed hybrids, it didn’t stop her from being irritated quickly with Stefan’s mopey attitude and annoyingly persistent questions.

Both individuals heard the vampire ask again, “What the hell is going on? Answer me.”

Atalanta huffed out an irritated sigh while Klaus rolled his eyes and finally answered, “Let’s just say we didn’t get off to a brilliant start. To be honest, I hated you.”

Once again, the hybrid told the Salvatore of what had happened. Stefan groaned out,

“Your sister. So I knew another Original vampire.”

Atalanta rolled her eyes, biting her lower lip to prevent herself from insulting the vampire. Klaus must have been feeling something similar as her as he said,

“If you can’t handle it, then don’t ask.”

With that, they had finally arrived at a storage location that held the coffins. Atalanta instantly tensed, feeling a pull towards one coffin. She eyed it warily, not sure it was such a strong pull. Klaus studied her, expecting her to just walk over to it. He could hear her heartbeat speed up, but Atalanta remained where she was before she turned away and distanced herself from all the coffins.

He saw her clench her hands into a fist, turning her knuckles white, but it seemed she did not notice herself doing this. With a sigh, he walked over to one of them and opened the lid to reveal a desiccated Rebekah. Atalanta saw his eyes soften as he smiled ever so slightly and touched her face.

Despite her siblings’ lack of knowledge of his brotherly love for his siblings, she saw it. Stefan, however, was too busy looking at the girl, trying to remember her in any form or another as he muttered,

“I don’t recognize her.”

Klaus immediately scowled at that revelation and said, “Well, don’t tell her that. Rebekah’s temper is worse than mine.”

Atalanta scoffed at that, but remained silent. She would let Klaus have his moment. The two companions watched Klaus slowly take out the dagger from the vampire’s chest. With that, he whispered to her,

“Time to wake up, little sister. Any day now, Rebekah.”

Atalanta held in her chuckle as Klaus merely rolled his eyes and said, “She’s being dramatic.”

Stefan glared at him as he growled out, “Look, why don’t you just tell me what the hell is going on? I mean, you obviously want me and Atalanta here for a reason, right?”

Klaus shrugged and said, “Well, Atalanta volunteered herself while you… well, you have many useful talents.”

Stefan looked incredulous at that statement as he asked, “Do I?”

Klaus smirked again as he confessed, “In fact, I learned some of my favorite tricks from you.”

Stefan’s eyes widened at that revelation and Atalanta’s faced remained blank like it had pretty much has been for the past few minutes. Klaus said in an almost joking manner,

“I was your number one fan.”

Stefan narrowed his eyes as he asked, “Why should I believe any of this?”

Atalanta’s eyes narrowed at that when Klaus ignored the vampire. Her eyes followed Klaus as he began to compel one of the guys who were responsible for handling the transport of the coffins. Atalanta felt a twitch in her finger, but she held herself back as Klaus said,

“When she wakes up, tell her to meet us at Gloria’s bar. Then volunteer your carotid artery and let her feed until you die.”

With that Klaus sauntered towards the exit, putting an arm around Atalanta’s shoulder dragging her with him. Stefan quickly walked to catch up with them as he asked,

“Where are you two going?”

Klaus sighed, as if Stefan couldn’t be any more stupid, and said, “You think I’m lying, Stefan. You and I knew each other. You trusted me with one of your secrets and now I’m going to prove it to you.”

Stefan asked, “How?”

Atalanta’s fingers twitched severely this time. Klaus dropped his arm and held her ever-twitching hand to stop her from killing Stefan instantaneously. Atalanta swore that if he asked another stupid question, she would actually gut him alive. Unable to bear his presence, Atalanta ground out,

“Klaus, I’m heading to the bar.”

Klaus studied her before letting her go alone. He didn’t want to have Stefan get killed before he could actually end up using the younger vampire. He watched her go while Stefan asked,

“You trust her to go alone?”

Klaus growled lowly, causing Stefan’s eyes to widen as the hybrid angrily said,

“She has never broken her word for me. When she volunteered to come in your place, she meant that she would stay for the full extent of this journey, however long it took. She is the most honorable person I have met, more so than my own siblings, if you could believe it. So if you doubt her word, ever, I will rip your heart out without hesitation, got that?”

Stefan studied the hybrid before nodding. Clearly, the hybrid cared deeply for Atalanta more then he let on.

~~…..~~

Atalanta felt her irritation ebb away instantly as she no longer had a Salvatore ask her stupid questions. But the moment did not last too long, as it came back like a tsunami the moment she spotted Damon Salvatore at the bar.

Great. Another Salvatore. She heard him ask Gloria, “You’ve seen them?”

Gloria had seen her but ignored her entrance as she waved over to her while answering, “With Klaus. Bad combo.”

Damon’s eyes followed to where her hand had indicated and froze. There was Elizabeth at the door. He quickly sped over to her and asked, “Are you alright?”

Atalanta sighed and walked past him, causing the vampire to frown. Gloria raised an eyebrow at that and Atalanta rolled her eyes as she just walked to the back of the bar and grabbed a bottle of whiskey this time and started pouring herself some.

Damon’s eyes almost bulged at that cold attitude of hers and he grabbed her shoulder. Atalanta finally snapped and quickly turned around and broke his hand with built-up amount of hunter strength she had.

Damon cried out in shock. Atalanta ground out, “Don’t mess with me. I’ve got a migraine because of your stupid brother. I don’t have the patience to deal with you at the moment. You want to talk? Wait until I’ve vented a bit.”

With that, she pushed him away from her and started drinking. Damon opened his mouth when Gloria interrupted as she shook her head and said,

“I would listen to that one. Atalanta has been itching for something to murder and it can easily be you given your track record, young man.”

Damon sighed and eyed her as he asked Gloria, “You know where Klaus and Stefan went?”

 Gloria studied the fuming Atalanta and answered, “Given her returning, and Klaus’ questions for me, they’ll be back here later tonight. They’re out running a little errand for me.”

Damon was about to ask her but Atalanta bit out, “Don’t bother asking. You ask a question, I might actually enjoy cutting out your tongue. I’ve been picturing doing that to Stefan all day.”

Damon tensed immediately, and he scoffed and said, “Since when have you been violent?”

Atalanta slammed her glass down, immediately shattering it. Her hand started bleeding as she yelled out,

“Since I was a hunter, goddammit! Do people want to get murdered today?!”

Gloria narrowed her eyes and she threatened the huntress, “You spill blood in here and I won’t be so nice to you Atalanta.”

Damon shook his head and said, “I don’t know why witch lady here is calling you Atalanta, Elizabeth, but clearly Klaus has screwed with your mind. The Elizabeth I know isn’t like this.”

Atalanta sighed as her fingers twitched again. She glared at the man and said, “I am always like this. You just never gotten to see me like this. I may not remember a lot of things since the accident, Damon, but I’ve been like this all the time. That, I know. And Atalanta is the name when I go hunting. I told Klaus that I would come with him in place of Stefan, but it didn’t work out exactly as planned. That doesn’t mean I won’t break my word of being the ripper hunter that I said I would be. And when I’m like this, it’s wise to not piss me off Damon.”

Damon felt something akin to dread fill his heart at that. He didn’t recognize this person in front of him. He stepped forward but Atalanta shook her head and said to him,

“Don’t you have a human to go take care of Damon?”

The vampire’s eyes widened at that. He couldn’t believe that he had forgotten all about Elena in his shock over Elizabeth’s… no Atalanta’s appearance at the bar. He ground out in frustration as he said,

“You might not be Elizabeth, but mark my words, I’m going to help you from this situation. I promise.”

Atalanta studied the man in front of her before jerking her head to the door in silence. Damon took that as an ok sign before running out of the bar. Gloria chuckled a little and said,

“That young lad seems infatuated with you.”

Atalanta rolled her eyes at the witch and said, “He’s not. And even if he was, it won’t end well for him.”

Gloria shook her head at that and said, “You are still so young.”

Atalanta shrugged and paid her attention back to a drink Gloria poured her again.

After what seemed like two hours, Klaus and Stefan returned while Atalanta had fallen asleep at the bar. Gloria didn’t bother moving her from her seat and let her be. She could see the dark circles on the huntress’ face. Clearly, she wasn’t sleeping well as she was trying to fool the hybrid.

Klaus walked over to her and then looked over at Gloria, who sighed and said,

“She clearly wasn’t sleeping well. The alcohol must have helped.”

Klaus had a second of guilt flash through his eyes before it was gone. Gloria had missed it when she realized Rebekah wasn’t there. The witch asked,

“Where’s Rebekah?”

Klaus responded with, “She’ll be here. I can’t just conjure her on demand.”

Then the hybrid turned back to Stefan and saw him look almost depressed. Klaus frowned at that and asked,

“What’s with you? I thought Chicago was your playground.”

Stefan glared at the man and said, “So this is why you asked me to be your wingman? Because you liked the way that I tortured innocent people?”

Klaus shrugged as he said, “Well, that’s certainly half of it?”

Stefan sighed as he asked again, “What’s the other half?”

Klaus saw a twitch in Atalanta, almost as if the vampire asking questions was still affecting her in her sleep. He held back a laugh as he answered,

“The other half, Stefan, is that you used to want to be my wingman.”

With that, a few more moments were shared between the hybrid and the vampire. By the time Klaus finished with the sharing of memories between them so that he could clear Stefan’s questions, the vampire had surprise in his face as he whispered out,

“You compelled me to forget.”

Klaus eyed Atalanta, seeing that she was still sleeping soundly. He quickly looked back at the vampire and said, “It was time for Rebekah and I to move on. Better to have a clean slate.”

Stefan shook his head, not sure why as he asked, “But why? You shouldn’t have to cover your tracks…”

But that was when a look of realization hit him as he said, “Unless you’re running from someone.”

Klaus tensed and quickly said, “Storytime’s over.”

Klaus then walked over to the huntress, gently shaking her shoulder as he whispered,

“Love, you should wake up now. It’s almost time.”

The woman tensed before shifting a little. Atalanta groaned a little as she sat up, her neck feeling stiff from the position she had been sleeping in. With a groan, Atalanta said,

“Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?’

Klaus shrugged and responded with, “You needed it. You haven’t been sleeping well lately.”

Atalanta remained silent at that, not having any response to the statement. She had lacked sleep from nightmares she couldn’t remember. All she knew was that she felt uncontrollable despair and anger all at once every time she had one. But both individuals were disturbed from their conversation when the door to the bar opened and Damon Salvatore entered.

Atalanta groaned while Klaus retorted,

“I see they’ve opened the doors to the riff raff now.”

Damon put on his casual smirk as he said, “Oh, honey, I’ve been called worse.”

Klaus took a sip of his drink in his hand as he said, “You don’t give up, do you?”

Damon glared at the hybrid and said, “Give me my brother back… You’ll never have to see me again.”

Klaus seemed to deliberate it and smiled coldly as he said,

“Well, I am torn. You see, I promised Stefan I wouldn’t let you die, but how many freebies did I really sign up for? And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn’t be here, so…”

Damon shrugged as he glanced once at Elizabeth, who looked utterly bored with the situation. He carefully said,

“What can I say? I’m a thrill seeker.”

Klaus rolled his eyes at that and quickly grabbed the younger vampire’s throat, effectively strangling him. Atalanta looked over and saw the resigned look in Damon’s eyes. She frowned at that and felt a little tug within her.

However, she remained silent, watching cautiously as Klaus began to stab him with a toothpick. Klaus seemed to be enjoying himself as he said,

“Oh, dear, what was that? I’m a little boozey, so you’ll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries.”

With that, Klaus continued to stab Damon with the tiny piece of wood. Atalanta’s fingers twitched at the sight, tempted to stop the hybrid from harming the man. But she held herself back as Klaus chuckled and said,

“Ohhh… Almost.”

Damon groaned out, “You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I’m so much more fun.”

Atalanta lifted an eyebrow at the man, who saw it and groaned while Klaus nonchalantly said,

“You won’t be any fun after you’re dead.”

The hybrid finally pushed Damon onto the ground, making him groan in pain. Atalanta watched the Original move to stab the vampire with a stake, but before that could happen, the stake went up in flames. Atalanta glanced at Gloria, who looked irritated with having so many supernatural creatures in her bar in one day. Klaus turned around and angrily growled,

“Really?”

Gloria pointed a finger at the hybrid, saying, “Not in my bar. You take it outside.”

Klaus turned to Atalanta, who shrugged and resumed to studying something. He never knew what she was doing, as she was secretive to the point that she would most likely kill him if he tried to figure out what she was studying.

The Mikaelson sighed and frustratedly said to the vampire, “You don’t have to negotiate your brother’s freedom. When I’m done with him, he won’t want to go back.”

With that, Damon ran outside of the bar as quickly as he could. Klaus checked his watch and groaned. Atalanta raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question at why the hybrid looked annoyed. Klaus muttered, “I have to go pick up my sister.”

Atalanta shuffled out of her seat and started to straighten her clothes. Klaus quickly grabbed her wrists as gently as he could to stop her. Atalanta looked up at him, as the hybrid said,

“No. You stay here.”

A look of disbelief came across her features as she asked tersely, “Why?”

Klaus chuckled as he could feel the irritation radiate off of her. “Well, I think we should not agitate my sister, love, as she can be quite temperamental after she has been undaggered. Rather, I might as well contact you the location we will be heading after making sure she’s had her fill of blood.”

Atalanta sighed and waved him away. With that, the hybrid sped out to enter the room that contained the coffins holding his family members. She sat down and was thinking of what she was going to do now.

Being alone and knowing she had some time to herself, her mind wandered back to thinking about everything that happened around her. She had somehow fallen into this universe, interacted with the major characters of a supposed show that was now a reality, and whenever possible, scrambled to become the Elizabeth/Atalanta of this universe.

Throughout her time here, she still felt the fear in the little corner of her heart that she had hidden away from herself. She had already changed things by falling for Elijah Mikaelson, building a friendship with Klaus, and deciding, years in advance, to do everything for the future-Mikaelson, Hope.

As she was thinking hard on this, Gloria came up to her and said, “After that accident, you aren’t the same. And I would know that you wouldn’t get into an accident, so what’s the situation here?”

Atalanta glared at the witch and grumbled, “I don’t want to be here. I’m not one-”

Gloria interrupted her with, “One to involve yourself? Young lady, how long did you think you could avoid something like this in your line of work?”

The huntress didn’t respond at that. Gloria shook her head as she stopped wiping the counter, telling her,

“One day, you’re going to get yourself killed for good. And the only thing I hope for you when that happens, is that it’s quick and painless.”

Atalanta nodded quietly, but the girl deep within her felt terrified. She hadn’t wanted any of this. As she sat there in silence, she received a text message from Klaus, which was a name of a shop and an address.

Atalanta took out money for her drinks and said, “Gloria, I hope we don’t see each other again after this is all over.”

The witch nodded warily and eyed the huntress exit the bar. Once Atalanta had arrived at the shop, the woman noticed the vampire and hybrid drinking champagne. Klaus smiled widely at her while Stefan tensed slightly. Atalanta studied him, not liking his attitude when a girl’s voice, with an accent, said from the dressing room,

“There has to be more to this dress.”

Atalanta raised an eyebrow, amusement filling her eyes since she knew who this was, while Klaus rolled his eyes and said, “There’s not.”

With that, the three individuals saw Rebekah come out of the dressing room wearing a dress. Rebekah immediately noticed the woman, asking, “Who’s this? Doesn’t seem like your typical whores, brother.”

Atalanta twitched and Klaus smirked at that as he put an arm around her shoulders. He responded with,

“Rebekah! This is Atalanta, a famous supernatural huntress. She’s a good friend of mine and has been on this excursion to help me.”

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at Atalanta, who pushed the hybrid away and said, “I’m a huntress, yes, but not really his friend as of now. Also, my real name is Elizabeth Kim. Nice to meet you.”

Rebekah then saw Atalanta offer her a hand to shake. Rebekah studied the woman, feeling a strong aura come off of her. The vampire hesitantly shook her hand, having an inkling that the woman was not to be trifled with. Afterwards, Atalanta studied the dress that Rebekah was wearing and said,

“Nice dress.”

Rebekah smiled a little, finally having gotten some type of genuine compliment after how many years of having been daggered. She commented,

“Thank you. But it seems that women in the 21^st century dress mostly like prostitutes. You know, I got dirty looks for wearing trousers.”

Atalanta snorted, clearly amused. Rebekah saw the amusement and a flash of softness I nthe woman’s eyes. Klaus groaned out,

“You wore trousers so women today could wear nothing.”

Rebekah glared at her brother and complained once more, “And what is this music? It sounds like a cable car accident.”

Stefan spoke up this time, “It’s dance music.”

Rebekah instantly grimaced with disgust as she questioned, “People dance to this?”

Atalanta laughed and answered, “Unfortunately, yes.”

Klaus studied the huntress, surprised a little bit. She hadn’t seemed this soft towards him or Stefan for the past few days, and here she was, comfortably interacting with his younger sister. He wasn’t sure what to think of that, but it seemed that Rebekah appreciated her presence. Not one to show his thoughts, Klaus quickly asked,

“Are we done?”

Rebekah frowned and asked him, “And why are you so grumpy?”

Klaus sighed, frustrated and feeling his impatience settle in again as he said,

“I needed one thing from you for my witch to find out why my hybrids are dying, one thing. Your necklace. And you lost it.”

Rebekah rolled her eyes in response and a groan escaped her lips as she answered, “I didn’t lose it. It’s just been missing for 90 years.”

With that, she looked over at Stefan. Atalanta smirked a little in amusement as she saw the look in Rebekah’s eyes as the girl asked the vampire,

“So what do you think?”

Stefan answered a little glumly, “I like it.”

Rebekah frowned and turned around, causing Stefan to ask, “What? I said I liked it.”

The female Original responded coldly, “I can always tell when you’re lying, Stefan.”

With that, she headed towards over to the fitting room when something must have caught her eyes. She walked over to one of the racks of clothing nearby and then picked an outfit, more of a dress, really and walked back over to hand Atalanta the outfit.

The huntress’ eyes widened at the outfit that was given to her. She grabbed it, but looked questioningly at the Original, causing Rebekah to smile a little, as she said,

“Try it out. It might look good on you.”

With that, Rebekah went into her own fitting room. With a sigh, Atalanta looked down at the dress. It was a long, white dress with black floral prints on it throughout. It didn’t appear bad, but Atalanta never thought that she would have been in this position. She looked up to find Klaus smirking and waving her over to another fitting room, with the statement,

“She won’t let us leave unless you go wear that, love.”

Atalanta glared over at the hybrid, but did go in. Once she changed, she hesitated a little. She wasn’t sure why she was actually doing this. But as she came out of the fitting room, she heard Klaus say,

“Nice one, good work.”

Stefan grumbled, “You’re the one that pulled the dagger out of her.”

Within her own fitting room, Rebekah stated, “I heard that.”

Klaus eyed Atalanta, finally noticing her. She saw a look flash in his eyes before he stood up straighter while Stefan visibly grew upset and said,

“Alright. I’m going to get some fresh air.”

With that, Stefan left, leaving the two people alone for a bit. That was when Rebekah came out, distracting Klaus. Rebekah’s eyes bounced back between Atalanta and Klaus, wondering what relationship that they shared before smiling and asking the huntress,

“Well?”

The outfit Rebekah was wearing was much more fitting than the last one. Atalanta shared her approval to the girl, who nodded. Klaus then looked back at Atalanta, who fidgeted a little, uncomfortable with the dress. Shaking his head, he said,

“You look ravishing love.”

Atalanta huffed out a little as she said, “I’m just going to change out of this. I can’t do anything with a dress on.”

As she was about to turn around, Klaus shook his head and grabbed her wrist, stating,

“No. Rather, keep the dress. It looks nice on you. Let me buy you that dress, I did rathe drag you around without much activity other than that last time.”

Atalanta huffed, but said nothing, knowing that she couldn’t stop the hybrid from doing what he said he would do. Rebekah eyed her brother go to the counter to pay for their clothing, asking the woman,

“Are you close to Klaus?”

Atalanta whipped her head around to face Rebekah with shock. Then, she started laughing and managed to say through her laughing,

“Oh God… no… I… I’m not in a relationship with your brother. We’re just friends, if you can call us that.”

A look of confusion was written all over her face as she asked why her brother was then bothering to drag a huntress around with him and go so far as to buy her clothing, showering her with complements, when Klaus dragged them back to Gloria’s bar.

While they were at the bar, Atalanta was sitting there, studying her phone, doing her day-job paperwork that she had just received. Klaus and Rebekah turned to face Stefan, who entered not too long after. The vampire approached the trio, causing Rebekah to comment,

“You left us.”

Stefan responded with, “Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode.”

Klaus chuckled and a look of mischief was given towards Atalanta, as he said, “Tell me about it.”

Atalanta elbowed him while still reading the email she had received when Stefan had finally noticed Gloria doing magic and quietly asked them,

“What’s she doing?”

Klaus bit out, “She’s failing.”

With a sigh, Gloria glared over at the hybrid as she retorted, “It’s hard to find something when you don’t have anything to go on.”

Rebekah, fed up with the impatience her brother had been showing for a while, said, “So use me. I only wore it for a thousand years.”

Atalanta looked up quickly before looking back at her phone while Gloria said, “See? Now this one offers a solution.”

With that, Rebekah seated herself on the table and followed Gloria’s instructions. After a few moments, Atalanta looked up upon hearing Gloria say,

“I can sense something.”

Klaus waited intently, staring at Gloria silently. That was when Atalanta looked over at Stefan, sensing his anxiety. She kept staring at him, until realizing why he seemed so worried. It was Elena. She had the necklace. She remembered that at some point, Elena had received the necklace from one of the Salvatores. She sighed at how big of a mess this was becoming and wondered if she wanted to get involved any further than this.

As she was contemplating, Gloria dropped Rebekah’s hand and said, “I found it.”

Rebekah quickly asked, “So where is it?”

Gloria sighed and answered, “It doesn’t work like that, doll. I get images. There’s a girl with her friends-”

Rebekah rolled her eyes as she interrupted with, “Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don’t get my necklace back.”

Gloria looked a little irritated as she said, “Well, I’ll have to dive back in to get details.”

But as Klaus was about to say something, Atalanta was finally fed up with the tense attitude coming from Stefan as she asked him,

“Is there a problem Stefan?”

Stefan jumped at that, which did not go unnoticed by the two Originals. Their eyes narrowed simultaneously as Stefan froze and stiffly responded with,

“Hey, you know… why don’t we just come back later. I’m hungry anyway. I’ll let you pick.”

This seemed to do the trick as Klaus shared a brief look with Rebekah before heading out with Stefan. Atalanta sighed and ran her fingers through her hair as she grew impatient again. She wanted this to end. There was only so much she could deal with. Rebekah studied the huntress and noticed the occasional twitch in the woman’s fingers. As if she had to do something. Atalanat noticed that Rebekah hadn’t left and said,

“You must need more blood… why didn’t you head out with them?”

Rebekah shrugged and said, “They’re a boor. I’d rather hang out with another woman, if I’m being honest.”

Atalanta smiled a bit at that. She turned to face Rebekah fully and said, “Would you like to get caught up in some things?”

Rebekah’s eyes widened at that, surprised that the woman would offer to be friendly with her. She nodded hesitantly and walked over. Elizabeth smiled and started to explain how phones worked with by having Rebekah try it out with her own. She seemed fascinated with the new technologies that she hadn’t seen during all those years having been daggered.

Elizabeth could tell that Rebekah was still a young girl at heart that craved for friendship and someone to lean on. Only having known brothers all her life probably did not help. As they were having fun and talking, Elizabeth sighed and said,

“You should probably join your brother. I don’t feel comfortable leaving him alone even if he’s supposed to be strong.”

Rebekah tilted her head in curiosity as she said, “Why do you stay with Klaus? He’s not exactly the image of a normal man nor a nice one.”

Elizabeth laughed a little as she said, “It’s complicated. But let’s say that Elijah was the one I met first.”

Rebekah looked decently surprised and asked, “Could you perhaps tell me the full story later?”

Elizabeth nodded and sent the vampire away. With that, she walked over to Gloria, asking,

“You’re going to hurt Stefan, aren’t you? You know that he’s hiding something.”

Gloria nodded and asked her, “Are you going to stop me?”

Atalanta made an appearance as she shook her head and said, “In this case, I’m going to help the Mikaelsons with their endeavors. However, I will be hiding to make sure that nothing bad happens with this. They might need you.”

With that, Gloria watched the woman go into the shadows and hide herself. It was scary to her, to find that Atalanta could make herself invisible in some of the most open spaces. She effortlessly became unseen to supernatural creatures, almost like a shadow. As Gloria continued to set up to prepare for the spell, Stefan entered and Gloria smiled a little as she said,

“There you are.”

Stefan responded to that with, “Thought you were resting.”

Gloria saw Stefan walk past Atalanta as she raised an eyebrow and said, “Well, now we both have a secret.”

Stefan asked warily, “What did you see?”

Gloria smirked as she answered, “It’s what I heard that’s interesting. You know, the girls with the necklace, they were talking about you.”

Stefan froze as he tersely asked, “Yet you didn’t tell Klaus. Why?”

Gloria said, “ ‘Cause I wouldn’t help that hybrid half-breed with anything. The necklace is a talisman from the original with herself. I want it.”

Stefan refused it, saying, “Well, I’m sorry. I can’t help you.”

Gloria shook her head as she responded with, “Don’t be difficult. You know, I’d hate to have to tell Klaus what a liar his sidekick is.”

That finally seemed to make Stefan break as he flashed over to her. But he didn’t get too far as she turned her head, which caused him to get an aneurism. Stefan kneeled in pain as the witch said,

“Guess I’ve got to get it out of you the hard way, huh?”

With that, Gloria did quick work and set him on the table. They were surrounded by candles as Gloria finished her preparation and grabbed a knife. Atalanta quietly studied the entire scene as Stefan asked,

“What is this? Why can’t I move?”

Gloria shushed him as she said, “Relax. It’s just a little paralysis spell. Nothing major.”

With that, the witch cut the vampire’s forearm with the knife she had retrieved from the huntress a few years ago before she had gotten into the accident. The blood poured into a bowl and Gloria watched as she said,

“Just got to get the information out of your pretty little head. You know, witches nowadays, they’re into that new age stuff, but … I’m a little more old school voodoo.”

With that, she reached for the iron hooks and put them into the wounds she had previously inflicted onto the vampire. This caused Stefan to scream in pain and Atalanta merely watched from her hiding spot. Smoke began to rise from the place where blood was being spilled into. Gloria had almost a dark smile as she said,

“You feel that? That’s your essence. Your spirit. It lets me make a connection. Herbs help too. Diviners, sage, witch hazel. But my personal favorite… vervain.”

Stefan had a pained look in his face as she put her hands onto his chest. Atalanta continued to watch as the ritual was being performed. As much as she knew the Stefan probably did not deserve this, she also knew that Gloria should not be killed despite everything. The witch had assisted her get acclimated to this new life of hers without question, and she had a debt to pay.

Atalanta was brought out of her thoughts when Gloria said,

“I’m impressed. You’ve got discipline, Stefan. It’s not going to do you much good, but…just let go, honey.”

With that, the woman put her hand onto the vampire’s chest, causing angry red marks to form as he was getting burned. Stefan began screaming again as Gloria started to get visions. And after a while, Atalanta saw Katherine flash in and say,

“This is creepy.”

But before the vampire could do anything, Atalanta shot Katherine a few times in the legs with wooden bullets before running over. Katherine turned around quickly, showing her vampire features, but before the vampire could fight, Atalanta had snapped her neck quickly. Gloria’s eyes were wide as she stared down at the vampire and then back up at the huntress.

Atalanta stood there while Stefan panted in pain and Gloria stared at her. After a few seconds, Atalanta said,

“I paid my debts. And now… as for this dilemma we have on our hands… You see, I can’t let you continue Gloria. As much as I have just saved your life, I can’t let you continue with this. So I’ll give you a choice, you stop this nonsense and leave, or…”

With that, Atalanta raised her gun and aimed at the witch, saying, “You could die. Take your pick.”

Gloria stared down at the younger woman, narrowing her eyes as anger began to fill her senses.

“Was this your motive all along?”

Atalanta shrugged as she answered in an almost nonchalant voice, “You really thought I would let you witches find something to hold over Klaus? Despite everything, I can’t let you do that.”

Gloria snorted as she asked, “So you care for the hybrid? He’s an abomination of nature!”

Atalanta smirked evilly as she said, “Oh Gloria, when will you ever learn? I don’t debate on what creature is an abomination or not. I only go for those guilty of crimes. And you? Well, you have the crime of betrayal hanging on you. So, what’s your decision? I’m allowing you to run this one time.”

Gloria bit out, “No. I won’t let those Mikaelsons terrorize this planet any longer.”

With that, the witch began to raise her hand, but Atalanta rolled her eyes and quickly shot the witch in the heart. Stefan felt the spell preventing him from moving disappear, and quickly sat up. He warily eyed Atalanta, who sighed and kicked the witch’s body. That was when she said,

“They always never learn.”

Stefan realized that Atalanta sounded disappointed at that and asked,

“Why kill her?”

Atalanta turned and said, “She was learning too much. And like I said, I’m not letting her hold something against the Mikaelsons.”

Stefan asked once more, “Elijah?”

Atalanta remained quiet at that, not wanting to respond. Her back was facing Stefan, so the younger Salvatore did not witness the sad look come across her features as she thought back to the man that she had fallen for. What would Elijah say to what she had done? Klaus was sure to not remain quiet about her murdering the entire werewolf camp along with heartlessly killing the witch.

But it seemed that her silence was confirmation enough for Stefan as he quietly whispered,

“Thank you. I’ll deal with Katherine. You should head out so that Klaus doesn’t suspect you.”

Atalanta nodded and headed to the bathroom to wash up before heading out. Once she was outside the bar, she sighed and felt a tear slide down her face as she couldn’t shake off the guilt settling in after the thought of Elijah had overwhelmed her. She hadn’t thought of the Original vampire until this moment after she had joined Klaus in the killing spree.

She knew that Elijah was aware of her huntress side and how monstrous she could be. But would he still accept her as she was? He was a kind and noble man that had hidden his dark side. Elijah Mikaelson, the brother that wished for his family to be united peacefully and find Klaus’ saving grace. But all Atalanta had done these past few days was fuel Klaus’ monstrous side just as the hybrid fueled her own.

And now, she wondered if she was walking down the correct path after having involved herself so deeply with the Mikaelsons. What was she going to do now?

Chapter Text

Atalanta entered the warehouse containing the coffins after about an hour of walking around Chicago, dealing with her shaking resolve. She couldn’t shake now, she needed to keep herself grounded in order to survive this. As she walked in, she heard Rebekah say,

“Because he would hunt me down and kill me. He’s a vindictive little bastard, my brother.”

Atalanta sighed and said, “That’s no way to treat your brother, Rebekah Mikaelson.”

The girl in question rolled her eyes at the slightly reprimanding tone of the huntress. Stefan then asked,

“But you still care about him. Why?”

Atalanta observed Stefan eyeing one of the coffins and she narrowed her eyes at the younger vampire. But she quickly put on a poker face, not wanting to give herself away. Rebekah answered the Salvatore with,

“Well, I hated him for a long time. It was exhausting.”

With that, she sat down on the mysterious coffin. Atalanta noticed how the girl studied her then. Atalanta raised an eyebrow at that and looked at her straight on. Rebekah seemed to find her answer then and focused back on Stefan, who sat down next to her and said,

“You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run.”

Atalanta then turned to another coffin. She felt a pull towards it again and walked up to it. Rebekah noticed this and studied the huntress again. The woman commanded respect from Klaus based off of her actions. She was kind and friendly to Rebekah. The female Mikaelson had miscalculated about her relationship with Klaus.

Atalanta put a hand top of the coffin, a sad, reminiscent look overcoming her features at finally being near the older Mikaelson. Rebekah observed the raw look of sadness come across the woman’s features, as if she felt deeply for Elijah. She hadn’t seen that look on a woman’s features for her brother.

There had always been curiosity, lust, and awe in many of Elijah’s lovers, but never something remotely close to what Atalanta seemed to show. But her attention was brought back to Stefan as he asked,

“Who were you running from?”

Rebekah instantly tensed and asked Stefan, “What do you mean?”

He seemed to notice how she instantly guarded herself from his question as he said,

“Last night I saw you, there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid. I just… I wouldn’t think Klaus would be afraid of anybody.”

Atalanta heard that statement and sighed. Why couldn’t things be different? Atalanta made a fist with the hand that had been on the coffin. If she had the choice, she would remove the dagger from Elijah this moment. But it wasn’t the right place or location for that.

Rebekah narrowed her eyes at Stefan, responding vaguely, “No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan. Not even Niklaus.”

Stefan persisted in asking questions, as he said, “Who was that man?”

Rebekah shook her head and responded with, “I can’t. Please.”

Atalanta noticed that Rebekah, despite acting really well, still must have had some type of feeling for the younger Salvatore. She saw the Mikaelson get off of the coffin and walk towards her. Atalanta allowed the younger Original stay by her side, leaning away from the coffin. Rebekah found some comfort in the huntress and a little flicker of confidence as she said,

“If Nik knew we were talking about this, he would-”

Stefan interrupted with, “No, no, no… I’m sorry.”

Atalanta raised an eyebrow and stepped in front of Rebekah protectively, preventing Stefan from getting any closer as she said, “Don’t. Your stupidity is not needed right now.”

Stefan glowered at her, but remained in his place while Rebekah said quietly,

“He told me about the girl you loved. The one that died. He also told me that you’re only with him because he saved your brother.”

Stefan swallowed thickly, which did not go unnoticed by the two women as Stefan responded, “It’s true.”

Rebekah stepped to stand next to Atalanta, as she said a bit in a colder tone,

“I think he secretly admires that about you. You’d sacrifice anything for family. Don’t tell him I told you that.”

With that, she stepped closer to Stefan, glancing back at Atalanta with a rapid smirk that disappeared. If Atalanta had not been watching, she would have surely missed it. But she remained observing the two interact as Stefan lean in as he said,

“Your secret… is safe with me.”

Rebekah kissed him chastely and said, “Do you think you’ll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?”

Stefan winced, thinking back to Elena, who was still alive, and said, “One day, maybe.”

Atalanta did not like the sound of that. Rebekah did not need that kind of attitude, but Rebekah quickly said,

“I can always tell when you’re lying, Stefan.”

Stefan looked instantly confused as he stuttered, “What? I’m not…”

Rebekah rolled her eyes and walked backwards, to stand next to Atalanta again as she said, “Don’t bother. Your kiss already gave you away.”

With that, Klaus entered, anger set on his features as he said, “Gloria’s gone. She’s cleared out. We need to find a new witch immediately.”

That was when Klaus noticed how tense Atalanta was while Rebekah was seemingly irritated and Stefan looking confused. He warily asked, “What’s going on?”

Rebekah answered with, “Something’s wrong. He was asking about Michael. He’s not with us, Nik. I can sense it. So can your huntress here.”

Stefan stepped up to deny it, but Atalanta walked over to him and snapped his neck before he could say anything. With a huff, she looked up angrily over at Klaus, feigning to not know about Michael and said,

“You’d better explain what’s going on before this twerp wakes up Klaus.”

Klaus and Rebekah studied the huntress before the hybrid sighed and said, “Why should we?”

Atalanta waved a hand over to Elijah’s coffin and said, “If you two were afraid of him, then so was Elijah, knowing how he seems to care about you more than he should. So, I think considering that your brother and I have had something going on, I don’t want to be caught unawares in order to be used against any of you. And who knows, we might come to make another friendly deal, Niklaus.”

The hybrid studied the woman and sighed. She was persuasive, he would give her that. He knew that she didn’t lie about deals and would truly help them considering Michael’s track record of crimes throughout the centuries. He also didn’t judge Elijah’s feelings for the woman. Rebekah’s eyes widened at how Niklaus was considering this and wondered who this woman was. No woman was able to make her stubborn and psychopathic brother consider deeply about things like this. Normally, it was always a hit and miss situation with him.

After few moments of silence, Klaus finally spoke up, saying, “What would you like to know?”

~~ ….. ~~

Atalanta was driving the car back to Mystic Falls this time. Rebekah sat in the passenger seat, and the two women discussed things not important to anything. The girl would ask questions about the modern world and what teenage girls were like in this day and age. Klaus was in a truck, dealing with Stefan. Atalanta couldn’t help but think about everything Klaus and Rebekah said about Michael. Of course she knew about their father, but she hadn’t expected the two Originals to tell her so much.

They had started out with that he was a man hunting them. And then went to tell her that he was their father and had told them of the story of how they had become vampires and why he was hunting them. They had also told her that Michael had always disliked Klaus more than the others. When Atalanta had questioned if perhaps Michael had been pursuing Klaus and not the others, the two Originals had fallen quiet for a moment. Rebekah showed her love for her brother then, saying that it didn’t matter, as she wouldn’t let their father kill Klaus without fighting for her brother’s life.

Atalanta knew that there was more but didn’t ask for more information regarding Michael after that. If they wished to tell her why he focused more on Klaus than the other siblings, it was for them to open up to her about that. She would not force them.

After a while, Rebekah asked,

“You and Elijah… what’s between you two?”

Atalanta gripped the steering wheel a little tighter at the question, smiling a little bitterly. The woman thought of a response, before saying,

“I bet you saw many women pine after your brother, but I guess that I can say that there’s something about Elijah Mikaelson that drew me to him. I can’t say I love him, but I know that I can’t stop myself from being drawn to him.”

Rebekah studied the woman before huffing and said, “Clearly, Niklaus doesn’t have a problem with you. Otherwise, he would have done something ghastly to you.”

Atalanta laughed at that and said with a smirk, “He would have done that the moment he saw me. I don’t know about what he thinks of me, but all I can say is that your brothers were the only ones so far to accept me as who I am both as a human and as a supernatural huntress.”

Rebekah’s curiosity was piqued at that and she said, “You talk as if they are two different people.”

Atalanta shrugged slightly as she answered, “That’s the easiest way to see it. Atalanta is a brutal hunter who doesn’t feel guilt of what she does. Elizabeth is more human and wants to be kind, innocent of that brutality that hides within.”

Rebekah then laughed, causing Atalanta to feel a little lost. She asked the vampire, “What?”

Rebekah shook her head and said, “Clearly, you remind me of someone we both know of. Slightly different, but clearly the same. No wonder you were drawn to each other. Although I have to say, until I see what you and my brother are like with each other, I cannot say I support your relationship.”

Atalanta chuckled and responded, “I won’t question that. You’re his sister. And I’m not exactly sure where Elijah and I stand. As of now, we know we both feel something, but it hasn’t been discussed… extensively.”

Rebekah heard the hesitance in the woman’s voice. She was scared to admit that she was feeling something intense for her brother. How interesting. The others were always so brazen to admit that they loved her brother and he had loved them back. But Atalanta was something entirely different. And in the back of her mind, Rebekah smiled a little, thinking that she might get along with this woman after all.

~~ ….. ~~

Not too long after, Atalanta parked the car at Mystic Falls High School. It was middle of the night and she saw a few of the high schoolers’ cars parked there. She knew that they were preparing for a prank, and they were going to be in for a surprise.

Rebekah had jumped out of the car and looked at the building, and Atalanta could see a look of intrigue and longing in the Original’s eyes. She was a young girl after all. Despite how protective she could look of her brothers, there was still a sweet girl hidden within that thousand-year-old vampire.

Atalanta stepped out and saw Klaus come up to them. He instructed them to stay and watch over Stefan, whose neck had been recently snapped again by the hybrid. Rebekah sighed and complained about having to babysit a child, but followed her brother’s instructions. Atalanta then took out her knife and started twirling it, getting bored. Rebekah eyed it and asked,

“What’s that? It doesn’t look like a normal knife.”

Atalanta smirked and silently handed the knife over. Rebekah grasped it and went to touch the sharp end when Atalanta spoke up,

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. There’s a reason I’m good at hunting supernatural creatures.”

Rebekah eyed her warily then, and asked, “Why are you hunting all types of the supernatural?”

Atalanta tensed at that and tersely responded with, “It’s a long story, and this isn’t the place for it.”

Rebekah sighed saying, “Does Elijah know?”

Atalanta looked over at Rebekah and her eyes softened a little as she said, “Most of it.”

Rebekah nodded, but before she could say anything else, they heard a groan come from the Salvatore and Rebekah said with sarcasm,

“Oh, he lives.”

Stefan groaned out, “What happened?”

Rebekah checked her nails as she said in a disinterested tone,

“You took a beating. My brother’s been breaking your neck all afternoon. Quite the temper.”

Stefan noticed Atalanta studying him as he asked, “Why did he bring us back to Mystic Falls?”

Atalanta stood up, as if sensing something from within the building while Rebekah answered him with,

“You can stop playing dumb now. It didn’t take him long to figure out what you’ve been hiding.”

Stefan glared at the Original in front of him as he said, “I’m not hiding anything. I’ve done everything Klaus has asked me to-”

Rebekah cut him off with, “No, you just failed to mention that the doppelganger’s still alive.”

Stefan tensed, which didn’t go unnoticed by either of the women, before he asked, fear lacing his voice,

“Where is Klaus now?”

Rebekah mumbled, “With any luck, ripping that cow’s bloody head off.”

Atalanta shook her head at that and scolded her gently with, “Rebekah, don’t be rude.”

The Original looked disbelievingly at the huntress, who raised an eyebrow, as if challenging her. Rebekah backed down as she sighed, when Stefan tried to take the opportunity of their distraction by trying to run. However, Atalanta threw the knife towards his right leg, leaving a light cut.

But because the knife was enchanted with something, the wound didn’t heal immediately. Stefan fell to the ground and Rebekah immediately grabbed the nearest thing she could. Holding a crowbar, she put it around his throat, threateningly whispering to Stefan,

“You really do love her, don’t you? Consider me jealous.”

With that, she rapidly stabbed the crowbar into the younger vampire’s stomach. Atalanta sighed and said,

“Was that entirely necessary?”

Rebekah shrugged and said, “No, but it felt nice.”

The huntress sighed and shook her head. Rebekah felt a little sheepish at her outright display of frustration, but Stefan had started to get on her nerves. Atalanta suddenly tensed and Rebekah paused to watch her. A few seconds passed and she saw Atalanta’s face turn into fury.

Atalanta immediately turned to run towards the school as she yelled towards the Mikaelson,

“Watch him! I’m going to go stop your brother from doing something stupid.”

Rebekah didn’t get the chance to complain as the woman entered the gym, and she turned to face Stefan as the vampire groaned in pain still.

“Well… looks like it’s just you and me now for a bit.” She said with annoyance.

~~ ….. ~~

Atalanta ran into the gym, finding Klaus speaking to a girl and a male student. She heard him say,

“Oh, don’t worry, I wasn’t in my right head last time we met.”

Atalanta shouted out, “Niklaus! Stop!”

The hybrid rapidly turned around with clear anger in his hybrid face. He ground out,

“You dare to interrupt me, love?”

Atalanta watched Dana and the boy run out of the gym as she walked over to the hybrid. Meanwhile, she kept his attention with,

“I think you’re forgetting our deal. We’re not going to harm or involve innocents in this.”

Klaus glared at her and said, “You’re ruining the fun, darling.”

The huntress walked right up to him and said, “Not. Them.”

Elena’s eyes were wide with shock. Elizabeth was stopping Klaus from hurting people. Up until now, she had believed that nobody would be able to control the hybrid, but it seemed as if Elizabeth was able to.

Elena was brought out of her thoughts when Klaus backed off from Atalanta with an aggravated sigh and then said,

“As you wish. But love, what is it with that knife?”

Atalanta twirled it in her finger as she smirked and said, “Well, I’m not letting you have all the fun.”

Klaus smirked back at the realization. She had stopped him from causing a scene with the locals. Anybody involved with the supernatural and him inside this town? They were game. Klaus realized that he could deal with that. No, he would love to do that.

Elena shivered at the cold look in Elizabeth’s eyes that she was seeing. She whispered to the hybrid out of rear,

“Don’t, Klaus. You don’t have to hurt anybody.”

Klaus then turned to face the doppelganger as he chuckled and responded with,

“Oh, come on, Elena. Of course I do.”

Klaus seemed to hear a ruckus going on in the hallway and then turned to Atalanta as he asked her,

“Love, could you watch over our lovely Elena Gilbert for a minute. I think I hear my sister making a fuss.”

Atalanta sighed and said, “Fine. Go.”

With that Klaus sped out of the gym momentarily. Elena ran over to Elizabeth and hugged her as she said,

“Elizabeth! I was so worried about you and Stefan! Thanks for coming to save me!”

Atalanta shifted, not entirely comfortable with Elena’s assumptions. She pushed Elena away from her gently and said,

“I’m not here to save you. But if you want a quick way out of this, you’re going to hand me that necklace Stefan had given you and a bit of your blood.”

Elena’s brows quickly formed a frown as the younger girl’s voice shook with fear as she asked,

“What do you mean? Elizabeth? What’s going on?”

Atalanta looked at her silently. She was trying to think of a way to minimize the damage. But not too long after, Elena gasped and backed off, as if something had electrocuted her. Elena stuttered,

“You-you’re helping him?! Klaus is a monster Elizabeth!”

Atalanta chuckled and said, “Elena, we’re all monsters in here.”

Elena’s eyes widened and said, “Why are you doing this?”

Atalanta didn’t get to reply because that was when Klaus came back in, walking with a very angry Bonnie Bennett.

Elena looked up and angrily asked, “Where’s Stefan? What did you do to him? And what’s wrong with Elizabeth? Why is she like this?”

Klaus looked in surprise but quickly hid it as he responded aloofly,

“Stefan’s on a time out. And with Elizabeth here… well, she’s here on her own volition I’m afraid. I haven’t done anything, she’s just being herself.”

Elena looked at her disbelievingly. Atalanta ignored her when Matt entered the gym too. Elena looked helpless and confused while Klaus turned to Bonnie, saying

“I assume you’re the reason Elena’s still walking around alive?”

Bonnie glared at him and said, “That’s right. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

Klaus chuckled with amusement. The girl had spunk, he would give her that. He responded with,

“Oh, there’s no need for blame, love. Just your witchy interference seems to have caused some undesirable side effects. And since you caused the problem, I’m going to have you find the fix.”

With that, Rebekah made her grand entrance to the Mystic Falls gang by dragging Tyler inside by the neck part of his shirt. Tyler yelled out,

“Get off of me!”

He was struggling, but his strength didn’t match Rebekah’s and she tossed him towards the gym floor, saying in a mocking tone,

“Hush now.”

Klaus had an evil glint in his eye as he made a hand motion towards Rebekah as he said,

“I’d like you all to meet my sister Rebekah. Word of warning…. She can be quite mean.”

Rebekah rolled her eyes as she retorted back with, “Don’t be an ass.”

Rebekah then nudged Tyler closer to Klaus, making Elena yell out in panic,

“Leave him alone! Elizabeth, help him!”

Atalanta continued to ignore her, and headed over to the bleachers, sitting down with a bored look on her face. She was trying to think and Elena’s insistent blubbering wasn’t helping. Klaus eyed her for a second before continuing to talk.

“I’m going to make this very simple… every time I attempt to turn a werewolf into a vampire hybrid, they die during the transition. It’s quite horrible, actually. I need you to find a way to save my hybrids, Bonnie. And for Tyler’s sake… You better hurry.”

With that, Tyler, who had been forced to drink the hybrid’s blood, got his neck snapped without hesitation from Klaus’ part. His body limply fell to the gym floor and the three high school students froze with fear and shock. Their friend just died in front of them. Klaus’ smile widened as he witnessed that fear in them grow that moment.

Bonnie quickly left the gym to find a way to help Tyler, fear being her main motivator. Elena and Matt were sitting by Tyler’s body. The boy whispered tearfully,

“He killed him.”

Elena shook her head and said, “He’s not dead. Klaus’s blood will turn him into a vampire.”

Atalanta sighed and said with irritation, “Elena, he is going to die if Bonnie doesn’t find the answer.”

She couldn’t think in here. She was getting antsy. She had managed to save that girl, Dana, and the boy that was with her, but she wasn’t sure what she could do with these children. As she was thinking on this, Rebekah snorted and said,

“So this is the latest doppelganger. The original one was much prettier.”

Klaus tensed, warily eyeing Atalanta, who didn’t seem to have heard, or was busy with her own thoughts that she had ignored the statement. He didn’t know how she would react with the original doppelganger having been involved with not only him, but also with Elijah. But what he didn’t know was that the woman who made him nervous from time to time already knew of Tatia. He warily said,

“Enough, Rebekah. Take the wolf boy elsewhere, would you?”

Rebekah frowned in confusion until she got the hint. She smirked at him a little, as if she had found a weakness of his and then dragged Tyler’s body out of the gym. With that, Klaus said to Elena,

“Just ignore her. Pretty little thing.”

Elena swallowed nervously as she tried to remain calm. Klaus turned to Atalanta as the three of them waited and said,

“I lost my bargaining chip, love, when you made me go through with that deal. Sweet, little Dana would have been perfect bait for this scenario.”

Atalanta ignored him as she heard the doors open and Stefan step into it. Elena immediately stood up and whispered, “Stefan…”

It didn’t go unnoticed to both the huntress and the hybrid that Stefan had come to bargain for Elena’s life as he stepped inside the gym.

The Salvatore walked towards them as he called out, “Klaus”

The Original smirked and asked with amusement, “Come to save your damsel, mate?”

Stefan put on a face filled with shame as he said,

“I came to ask for your forgiveness. And pledge my loyalty.”

Atalanta sighed at that while Klaus narrowed his eyes, noting,

“Well, you broke that pledge once already.”

Elena, on the other hand, looked terrified at Stefan’s statement, and looked like she wanted to jump towards her lover. But she appeared utterly heartbroken at Stefan’s next statement.

“Elena means nothing to me anymore. And whatever you ask of me… I will do.”

Klaus glanced quickly towards Atalanta, who had stood up next to him and had begun to glare at the Salvatore in front of her. She glanced back at him and slightly shook her head and he got her hint.

With that, he saw Atalanta walk towards Elena and quickly shove her onto the ground, making the younger girl kneel with her arms pinned to her back in a painful manner. Elena cried out from the shock of it, causing Stefan to attempt to save her.

Klaus rushed over and stopped him as he hissed out,

“She means nothing to you? Your lies keep piling up.”

Stefan struggled against Klaus’ grip as he yelled out desperately, “Let her go! I’ll do whatever you want, you have my word.”

Atalanta rolled her eyes as she said, “Your word doesn’t mean much Stefan. I and Klaus kept our words and we lived by your word all summer.”

Klaus continued that with, “During which time I never had to resort to this…”

With that, Klaus forced Stefan to look at him as he compelled the younger Salvatore, commanding,

“Stop fighting.”

Elena tried to get out of Atalanta’s grasp, but failed in doing so, as the huntress was stronger than her. Elena cried out,

“Elizabeth, please! Don’t let him do this!”

Atalanta replied in a slightly softer voice than before,

“I’m sorry, but Stefan has to learn that there are repercussions to his actions. And believe me, I’m doing this because this is the only way I know will get Elijah back for sure.”

Her statement didn’t go unnoticed by Klaus, who felt guilty for daggering his older brother. But he bit that down as he continued to hold onto the struggling Stefan. Tears fell down Elena’s face as she couldn’t hold back her tears. They heard Stefan grit out,

“Don’t do this, don’t do this.”

Klaus sighed and said, “I didn’t want to. All I wanted was your allegiance. Now I’m going to have to take it.”

Stefan struggled and pleaded one last time until Klaus said,

“You will do exactly as I say when I say it. You will not run, you will not hide, you will simply just obey.”

Elena cried out. “No! Stefan!”

But it was too late as the two women witnessed Stefan stop struggling and the despair in his face disappear as a cold look came across him. Atalanta warily eyed Klaus. Without Dana and Chad, she wasn’t sure what he would do. Klaus seemed to be contemplating on what to do with Stefan at that same instance. He had made a deal with Atalanta in that he wouldn’t harm any innocents. But before he could say anything,

Rebekah rushed in and took a hold of Elena before Atalanta could react. She screeched out,

“Where is it?! Where’s my necklace!”

Klaus’ eyes widened with confusion and surprise at his sister’s sudden reappearance in the gym. He asked,

“What are you talking about?”

Rebekah tossed Elena back to Atalanta, who pushed her behind her a little, noting the tense atmosphere that could get the young girl killed by accident. Rebekah pulled out the phone containing the picture as she answered her brother,

“She has my necklace. Look.”

With that, the hybrid looked at the picture within the phone and chuckled as he said,

“Well, well… more lies.”

Rebekah asked in a threatening voice, “Where… is it?”

Elena shook her head, holding onto Atalanta for protection as she responded with, “I don’t have it anymore.”

Rebekah yelled out, “You’re lying!”

Atalanta pushed Elena back even more, protecting her from the very emotional Rebekah while Klaus held her back. He warningly said,

“Knock it off!”

Rebekah stopped struggling against her brother’s grasp as she said, “Make her tell me where it is, Nik!”

Atalanta turned around and faced her, while Klaus looked up. Atalanta said,

“Elena, if you want to live tonight, it might be in your best interest to answer that.”

Elena’s eyes were wide with fear as she muttered, “I’m telling the truth. Katherine stole it.”

Klaus sighed, seeing how everything was becoming more and more complicated for him as he said,

“Katerina. Of course. Well, that’s unfortunate. If we had the necklace, it would make things a whole lot easier for your witch, but since we’re doing this the hard way, let’s put a clock on it, shall we?”

With that, Klaus made the buzzer sound and an electric clock appear. He then went over to Stefan and compelled him with,

“20 minutes. If Bonnie hasn’t found a solution by then, I want you to feed on Elena. You know you want to.”

Stefan retained his cold demeanor while Elena, who was visibly shaken, said,

“No, Klaus! Don’t do this to him! Elizabeth! Do something.”

Klaus and Rebekah eyed Atalanta, who seemed to ignore her, despite the slight wince that flashed through her features until it disappeared. If it hadn’t been in her eyes for another second longer, they could have sworn they had imagined her wince at Elena’s plead for help.

Klaus warned them with, “No one leaves. If she tries to run, fracture her spine.”

With that, he sauntered away while Rebekah followed. Atalanta remained behind with the older Gilbert sibling. As she stood there, Elena whispered to her in a bitter tone,

“Aren’t you leaving with them?”

Atalanta sighed as she said, “Look, despite all this, I’m trying to do the best I can to minimize the damage done to innocent people. I may be able to get through Klaus on some things, but do you truly believe that I would be able to control him leaving unscathed?”

Elena remained silent at that and then asked, “Then why stay?”

Atalanta responded with, “Because Stefan, is probably the biggest idiot. And believe it or not, I can’t let him do anything to you tonight.”

Elena looked like she wanted to ask her more questions, but Atalanta gave her a slow shake of her head, indicating that she would not answer any more questions. Atalanta played with her knife while waiting, but as time seemed to pass by slowly, Stefan and Elena slowly began to talk with each other.

Atalanta tried tuning most of it out, but when there were only few seconds left to the 20 minutes that Klaus set, she heard Stefan ask Elena,

“Elena, you’re going to have to run. Elizabeth, I know that you agreed to be a ripper hunter for Klaus, but please, protect her for me.”

Atalanta eyed the Salvatore before nodding silently and said, “I might kill you, you know?”

Stefan smiled sadly and said, “Well, I understand that.”

Elena shook her head as she said, “But Klaus said that if I run…”

Stefan shook his head and said, “I know what he said, but if you stay, it won’t matter. Elena, please, please, please. There’s no other way.”

But before the buzzer could ring out, Atalanta shoved Elena outside the gym and locked the door from the inside. She then heard the buzzer ring out loudly while Elena pounded on the door, screaming.

Atalanta heard Stefan try to prevent himself from going after her as he said,

“I can’t hold it.”

Not too long after, he rushed towards Atalanta, who was blocking the door. They fought for a while. Atalanta kicked him, causing the vampire to slide on the gym floor. But he quickly got back up and despite the struggle he faced, his body reacted by rushing towards Atalanta.

The huntress then proceeded to cut him with her knife on his leg, causing him to limp. He hissed out loudly, his vampire features showing. They fought for a few minutes. Stefan had been able to successfully shove Atalanta back towards the gym doors, causing them to open upon the impact. Atalanta groaned at that but quickly prevented the vampire from leaving the gym as they continued to fight.

Atalanta had been relieved that Elena was no longer in that hallway. The two people were fighting, and Atalanta had managed to weaken Stefan to a point that he flew back a bit before landing near some wood that lay nearby. She saw a look of determination flash across Stefan’s face and suddenly he was shoving a stake through his body.

But that was the moment Klaus walked in, dragging Elena with him. He saw Atalanta, who had a bite on her neck from the fight she had with Stefan. His eyes narrowed dangerously as anger rose in him. The hybrid quickly put on an amused appearance though as he said,

“Now this is fascinating. I’ve never seen this before. You seem to have bitten the wrong woman. It seems the only thing stronger than your craving for blood is your love for this one girl. Why don’t you turn it off?”

Stefan groaned out, “No!”

Klaus rolled his eyes, hoisting Stefan up as he compelled him again.

“Come on. Your humanity is killing you. All the guilt must be exhausting. Turn it off.”

Elena eyed Atalanta, who looked slightly disorientated from fending Stefan off of her. She could see that Stefan had bitten roughly into her neck. Despite Stefan and Elena’s fight to prevent Stefan from turning off his humanity, it happened and Elena looked horrified as she whispered out,

“What did you do?”

Klaus looked smug as he said, “I fixed him. But I think a test is in order, don’t you?”

With that, Klaus stood behind Elena and said,

“Ripper… Perhaps you’d like a drink. From the doppelganger’s neck this time?”

Stefan then rushed over to drink from Elena. But Atalanta stepped in again and sliced Stefan on the cheek as a warning. Klaus looked at her with surprise while the woman answered his silent question with,

“Trust me, you don’t want him to drink her blood.”

Klaus looked confused and stepped outside for a moment. Elena had hidden herself as she watched the huntress fight with Stefan. Stefan now had multiple wounds from the knife that prevented him from healing. But the vampire did not stop fighting against her.

Atalanta’s movements were slightly slowed as the blood loss was still taking place from the wound on her neck. But the fight was still intense. Klaus came back in later, and when he noticed Atalanta’s pale features, he rushed over to Stefan and quickly snapped his neck.

“Love, you need to stop.”

Atalanta glared at him and said, “You were being stupid. You didn’t need to turn his humanity off too you know.”

Klaus shrugged and said, “He hurt you. That was reason enough.”

Atalanta frowned at that, but didn’t argue, not having the energy to do so. She then heard Elena yelp in pain. She whirled around to see that Klaus had taken a bite from her wrist and putting some of her blood into a test tube. She sighed and then walked over to Elena.

“Klaus, before you go, give her your blood.”

The hybrid frowned at that but followed her instructions. Elena initially struggled, angry at this entire scenario, but was forced to drink the blood. She healed, and when Klaus offered Atalanta a drink, the woman merely glared at him.

Klaus shook his head in frustration and said, “You have to drink to heal, love.”

Atalanta glared at him and said, “No. I won’t. I don’t want vampire blood, period.”

Klaus studied her and asked, “Tell me that you will rest after this.”

Atalanta sighed and nodded, which was enough for the hybrid at the moment. With that, he rushed back outside of the gym. She then turned around to Elena and sighed as she said,

“Elena, your blood is key to creating more hybrids. I can’t control Klaus like I wish I could. But he’s going to try to get your blood in large amounts. It’s probably better for you to leave now.”

Elena looked at her and nodded, fear still coursing through her body. Atalanta debated on whether to leave Elena alone or to stay with her, but she felt faint. And not too long after, Atalanta noticed her vision becoming blurry.

With a sigh, she wobbled outside of the gym, trying to get to the car, but that was when her body had finally given up on her. She fell limp onto the pavement in the parking lot. Trying to clear her head, she evened out her breathing, but couldn’t shake off the nausea and dizziness she felt. But before she could do anything further, she heard a familiar voice call out to her.

Due to her injury, she couldn’t place the voice to a specific individual. The last thing she seemed to recall was the man telling her to stay awake. And then, the blackness enveloped her and she fell unconscious in the person’s arms.

Chapter Text

The moment Elizabeth’s senses came back to her, every part of her body hurt like hell. She felt sore all over and it felt as if she had gone drinking to the point of destroying her body to the max. She recognized this feeling, it almost always came back after she had lost herself to the huntress side of her.

But that was when she tensed and tried to think of where she was. Hadn’t she collapsed at Mystic Falls High? Based on her senses, she knew that she wasn’t at the hospital, so where was she? She cautiously opened her eyes, only to squint at the bright light that welcomed her from a nearby window. But that didn’t last long as the shock settled in.

She was at the Salvatore Residence. Again. In Damon Salvatore’s bed.

Grimacing, she tried to sit up carefully when the door opened and Damon peeked in. Elizabeth was breathing pretty heavily as she looked over at him while Damon said,

“You’re awake. How do you feel?”

Elizabeth felt sore all over, but most of all, her hand automatically went towards the bite wound that was supposed to be on her neck. When she didn’t feel anything, Damon spoke up again with,

“You were bleeding out Beth. I had to feed you blood. Otherwise, you would have just went six feet under right away.”

Elizabeth sighed as she remembered refusing Klaus’ blood and yet here she was, mostly healed up thanks ot Damon. She looked up at him cautiously and said,

“Thank you. You didn’t need to do that.”

Damon smirked a little as he realized something. This agitated Elizabeth and she snapped, “What’s so amusing Damon?”

He chuckled a little as he gave her a sidelong glance while shifting through his closet,

“You’re back. The normal you at least. Not the whole, dark, queen of the night and murderess that you seemed to be for the trip you were on with the big bad wolf.”

Elizabeth sighed and said nothing, while he stood back up with shirt and sweatpants. He chucked them over to her as she reflexively caught them. She gave him a curious glance, to which he responded with,

“You need to change. There’s blood all over you and with the ripper down there that has no humanity, I wouldn’t risk walking out like that.”

Elizabeth glanced down to sure enough, find herself still in her old clothes that were covered in her blood. She grimaced and suddenly had a strong urge to take a shower. Damon noticed and shoved her into his bathroom and said,

“Take as long as you need. But you’re heading outside with me, regardless of what Klaus seems to have ordered Stefan to do.”

Elizabeth quietly entered the shower and washed herself cleanly, thinking back to the events during the trip. What would Klaus say now that she was no longer Atalanta? She could always come back, but not for so long as she had. That was one of the longest moments she could recall staying just as the huntress and nobody else.

Once she was done and had headed down the stairs with Damon, she came upon a sight of two dead girls on the floor. The huntress immediately tried to break free, but she reigned it in as they came upon Stefan with a few girls covered in blood. Playing twister of all things. Elizabeth immediately frowned while Stefan ignored their appearance, stating,

“Uh-oh. Alexandra, left hand, please”

Damon put his arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders, leaning her into him a little as his grip was protective, stating, “Hey, the two brunettes on the staircase owe me a Persian rug.”

Stefan rolled his eyes as he finally acknowledged his brother by saying,

“You mean, they owe us a Persian rug? It’s my house, too, brother. Ooh! Elizabeth, you’re up! Would you like a spin?”

Elizabeth immediately glared at the vampire while Damon shook his head with disappointment, asking,

“So this is what Klaus had in mind when he compelled you to protect Elena?”

Stefan shrugged and said, “These ladies are helping me be all that I can be.”

Elizabeth sighed and turned around, while Damon followed, making sure that Stefan was going to run over and take a bit out of his friend. While he was escorting her to the door, they both heard a knock. Confused, Damon opened it to find Rebekah Mikaelson waiting on the other side. Rebekah entered with shopping bags in tow as she turned Elizabeth around as well.

Rebekah immediately grimaced at the sight of Elizabeth in Damon Salvatore’s clothing, but just nonchalantly asked, “Where’s Stefan?”

Damon looked lost as he asked, “Who the hell are you?”

Elizabeth sighed and answered instead, knowing that Rebekah wouldn’t answer him directly. “Damon Salvatore, meet Rebekah Mikaelson, Klaus’ younger sister.”

Damon’s eyes widened at that while Rebekah pouted and looked at Elizabeth, “He left me here. My brother actually left me here.”

Stefan appeared just at that moment as he said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Your tone implieds that I’m actually supposed to care.”

Rebekah and Elizabeth simultaneously glared at the younger Salvatore when Damon managed to choke out,

“You’re Klaus’ sister?”

Rebekah rolled her eyes at that, as she introduced herself in a voice that seemed to indicate that she was annoyed with the situation, “Rebekah. Pleasure, I’m sure. Which one’s my room?”

Stefan glared and responded harshly with, “You’re not staying here.”

Elizabeth remained quiet to watch Rebekah think on that before looking over at Damon. When nobody talked, Rebekah huffed and said,

“Rude. Both of you. I’ll see to it myself.” With that, she just climbed up the stairs.

Damon looked over at Elizabeth incredulously and asked, “You couldn’t ask her to stay at your place?”

Elizabeth looked over at him exasperatedly while responding with, “I’ve never invited a vampire to my house or any other locations that I know of. Why start now with a Mikaelson when I’m not close to them yet?”

Stefan snorted as he said, “Well, you looked real chummy with Klaus not so long ago.”

Elizabeth glared at him, trying to resist the urge to let Atalanta take over and just stake the vampire directly into the heart. With a heavy sigh, she walked out of the Salvatore residence. The older Salvatore worriedly eyed his younger brother, who had returned his attention to the game before sighing and went upstairs to deal with their new resident.

With that, Elizabeth had mostly a few uneventful days. She had returned to doing her own work, which had been unluckily pushed back a few days due to the events with the Originals. However, Elizabeth managed to catch up. About five days had passed when she felt a cold shiver go down her spine. Elizabeth had been wearing a white V-neck shirt, jeans, brown boots along with a grey and white patterned cardigan.

She turned around to find a note on the floor behind her scrawled with a familiar handwriting. It was Mason’s. The note read:

“I’m sorry Elizabeth.”

Frowning she picked it up, thinking hard back to what she knew. Mason had died by Damon Salvatore’s hand and as she thought harder on this, it finally clicked for her. This caused her to quickly grab her keys and bolt towards the town area of Mystic Falls.

That was when she saw Damon with Bonnie and Caroline. Elizabeth hesitated at the teenagers, but sighed and walked out, holding the slip of paper that had Mason’s note. As she stepped closer, she heard Damon say,

“Maybe because he chained me to a chair and shoved a hot poker in my chest. Let’s just say I’m having déjà vu.”

Elizabeth walked over and said, “Well, you did kill him.”

That caused the trio to look over at her and Bonnie immediately glared at the older woman. Elizabeth ignored this as she said,

“They’re back. They’re all back.”

Damon sighed and looked up at her and asked, “Do you know how to stop this?”

Elizabeth shook her head and responded with, “No. Something is causing this and all I know is that the door to the other side has been opened. If someone recently has sent away or brought someone to or from the other side, it might have been enough for anybody to-”

That was when Bonnie gasped and whispered, “I sent Vicki Donovan away… could that have?”

Elizabeth sighed and nodded solemnly. All she wanted was some peace and quiet to figure out a way to persuade Klaus to undagger his brother, but this was complicating everything. Despite knowing that this would happen, she hadn’t expected that Mason would visit her too.

Soon enough, Elizabeth ended up staying with Damon, witnessing Mason hit Damon on the head with a glass of liquor. Damon grumbled to Alaric, who awkwardly watched this entire scenario happen. Tired of this entire scenario, Elizabeth grabbed Mason’s hand and walked outside the Grill with him. The moment the slight brisk air hit them, Mason whispered,

“So you moved on…”

Elizabeth tried to let go of his hand, but he held on as he said, “I don’t know whether to be relieved at the fact that it’s not Damon Salvatore that you love or worried that it’s an Original vampire that you fell for.”

Elizabeth turned to look at him as her eyes softened. She could see how worried he appeared and said,

“I know that it’s dangerous. I know that if I continue loving him, I may well likely die… but Mason, I can’t help it.”

Mason Lockwood smiled sadly as he cupped her face with his hands, and whispered to her,

“I will always be there for you. I know that despite everything that happened, I still love you. I’m sorry for everything. I won’t harm anybody else, but let me help Tyler.”

Elizabeth sighed and stepped back as she quietly nodded and said, “Goodbye Mason.”

And with that, Mason disappeared to do as he had originally intended: help his nephew.

Damon sped out to find the ghost of Mason Lockwood no longer present there. He raised an eyebrow at that and asked Elizabeth,

“How did you get him to shoo away?”

Elizabeth eyed him quietly and shook her head. With that, she walked away, not wanting to talk about Mason’s reappearance in her life. Despite everything, it felt like there was one corner of her heart that had still loved Mason Lockwood.

And with that, a few more days passed for Elizabeth as she departed from Mystil Falls to do her work as Atalanta for a while. There didn’t seem to be any contact with those from the town when on her way back, she received a text message from Rebekah Mikaelson to hurry over to the Salvatore residence.

The tone of the text message worried Elizabeth and she sped over there, breaking the speed limit. Upon her arrival, she was met with several girls in what appeared to be homecoming dresses and a slightly distracted Rebekah.

“Rebekah? Is everything alright?” Elizabeth asked.

This brought the vampire out of her reminiscence and she warily eyed the entrance before saying,

“That doppelganger bitch has been asking around about our father. I don’t like it. I invited her here, but I’m not sure what to do.”

Elizabeth sighed as she realized what this was. She felt conflicted about her sudden decision to help Rebekah, but she responded with,

“Don’t turn your back to Elena. Be wary of her. She might have something up her sleeve. If you want, I can stay with you.”

Rebekah seemed to contemplate about this for a minute before whispering,

“What do you know about Mikael?”

Elizabeth paused, not sure how to answer that. But she hesitantly responded with,

“I know he is your father. I know he is a vampire that drinks another vampire’s blood. I also know that he hunts you guys down.”

Rebekah sighed and looked up at her and whispered, “I’m terrified. All I wanted was a normal life. I just got undaggered and now he threatens my very existence…”

Elizabeth saw the vulnerability that Rebekah rarely showed to people. This touched her dearly and she walked over to the vampire and hugged her, trying to comfort her by saying,

“I’m here. I know I can’t do much, but I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

Rebekah sniffled a little when she tensed. She looked up and quickly wiped her eyes before saying,

“She’s here.”

Elizabeth eyed Rebekah and realized that the Original wanted her nearby, but not in sight when Elena would enter the building. Nodding her head, she went to the next room to remain out of sight, but still be able to hear the conversation.

Not too long afterwards, she heard Elena say,

“You invited me over to talk.”

And with that, the two held a conversation that was more about Rebekah threatening Elena for a dress. Elizabeth saw Rebekah tower over Elena as she hissed out,

“You do not threaten me. You will learn what I allow you to learn. Is that clear?”

Elena swallowed fearfully as she could only nod to the Original vampire in front of her.

Elizabeth watched them walk upstairs and carefully followed once they were out-of-sight. She leaned close to the door where she heard Elena say to the blonde,

“Well, Elijah said that your father was a landowner in Europe. How did you guys end up here?”

Rebekah heard Elizabeth’s presence outside the room and turned around to face Elena, gauging her reactions as she responded with,

“My parents had just started a family when a plague struck their homeland. They lost a child to it. They wanted to escape and protect their future family from the same fate.”

Elena looked lost as she continued to ask, “So how did you end up here? This part of the world hadn’t even been discovered yet?”

Rebekah huffed as she once again started doing whatever she had been doing earlier, stating,

“Not by anyone in your history books. But my mother knew the with Ayana, who heard from the spirits of a mystical land where everyone was healthy… Blessed by the gifts of speed and strength. That led my family here, where we lived amongst those people.”

Elizabeth held her breath as she heard Elena whisper out, “The werewolves?”

Rebekah seemed to reminisce back into her memories as she answered,

“To us, they were just our neighbors. My family lived in peace with them for over 20 years, during which time my family had more children, including me.”

Elena’s voice turned soft as she said, “You make it sound so normal.”

Elizabeth smiled bitterly as she heard Rebekah say, “It was. Once a month, our family retreated to the caves beneath our village. The wolves would howl through the night, and by morning, we’d return home… And that was the beginning of the end of peace with our neighbors. And one of the last moments my family had together as humans.”

But both vampire and the huntress tensed when Elena’s phone rang. To hide the fact that she had tensed so much, Rebekah told the human girl,

“You better get that. That’ll be Damon checking up on you.”

Elena stepped back towards the door a little, causing Elizabeth to move away a little as she called him. With a sigh, Elizabeth shuffled closer to the door as Elena went back inside and asked tersely,

“Did you get your fill of snooping yet? Can we get on with the story?”

Elizabeth immediately tensed at that as Rebekah glared at the girl in front of her and bit out,

“Honestly, I don’t get you two as a couple.”

Elena’s brows furrowed at that as she asked, “Why would you? You don’t know anything about who he really is.”

Rebekah smirked at her ignorance as she said, “I know exactly who he is. He’s a vampire. We’re a predatory species. We don’t have time to care about humans and their silly little lives.”

Elean glared at the vampire in front of her as she said in anger, “Is that why you did that runway show earlier? Because you don’t care about the homecoming dance?”

Rebekah, surprised at the question, just silently glared at the girl in front of her. This high schooler had some nerves to attack her so. Elena sighed heavily and said,

“You know what? I’m just gonna go.”

Rebekah’s eyes widened at that, and quickly said, “You haven’t even heard half the story.”

Elena rolled her eyes as she said, “And you’re not going to tell it. You’re just bored and looking for someone to push around. Find someone else to play with. Maybe you can compel yourself a friend.”

Rebekah glared as she stood up and told the human girl, “The necklace wasn’t Stefan’s to give. It belonged to the original witch.”

Elena froze as she asked curiously, “The one who put the hybrid curse on Klaus?”

Rebekah’s eyes turned sad as she said, “Not just the hybrid curse. She’s the one who turned us into vampires.”

But Elizabeth had heard enough and knew that she had to head downstairs. When Elena had headed out momentarily, Elizabeth came out of hiding as she said,

“Why did you want me here?”

Rebekah sighed and looked up at the woman in front of her as she smiled bitterly and said, “I have a feeling that I want you to know everything about us. Knowing Elijah, he would try to hide it. Klaus would only reveal it to shake your resolve in loving Elijah out of jealousy… but who knows? He seems to like you enough to trust you being close to him.”

With that she had drank the contents of her scotch before going for another. Elizabeth heard footsteps come from the entrance and quickly hid back in the shadows, out-of-sight from whoever had come in.

It was Elena, and Elizabeth immediately tensed. She waited as she heard Elena ask,

“How do you know that Mikael killed your mother?”

Elizabeth frowned and was about to head out when Rebekah gave her a glare to prevent her from stepping out of the room. With that, she said, “Nik was there. He told me.”

Elena looked at the woman in front of her with pity as she quietly said, “He lied to you.”

Rebekah glared at the girl that continued to irk her to no end as she said, “And how do you know that?”

Elena hesitated before cautiously saying, “The cave where you carved your family’s names is covered is in symbols, the story of your family…”

She then pulled out the pictures containing the symbols on the table while stating,

“How your parents arrived, how they made peace, the spell that turned them into vampires, and this. This is the symbol for hybrid. It’s the combination of the werewolf and the vampire symbol. And this is the one for your mother.”

That was when Rebekah’s eyes widened in trepidation as she quietly muttered, “Her necklace.”

Elena tried gauge the vampire’s reaction as she said, “And this is the story of her death.”

Elizabeth stepped a little closer as she heard Elena continue to say, “The hybrid killed the original witch. Not Mikael, Klaus.”

Rebekah took a shocked breath in as she responded with, “No. No, he wouldn’t.”

Elena pressed on at this reaction as she said, “She put the curse on him, made it so that he would be the only one of his kind, and then she rejected him. With the werewolf gene comes aggression and violence. When he turned, all of that was heightened. He killed her, Rebekah, and then he made up this entire lie about your father so that he wouldn’t lose you.”

Rebekah quickly ripped up the pieces of pictures in front of her as she hissed out,

“These mean nothing. They’re just stupid drawings. Done by stupid people who had no idea who my family was!”

With that, she took the pieces and threw them into the lit fireplace. Elena furrowed her brows as she asked, “Then why are you so upset?”

Rebekah held her tears in as she asked questioningly, “Why are you doing this to me? I’ve done nothing to you.”

But in the corner of her eyes, she saw Elizabeth quietly stalk behind Elena, still far enough away to not catch the younger girl’s attention. As she looked back, Elena answered her question with,

“Klaus killed your mother. He has a hold on you, on me, on everyone. He has for a thousand years. We have to make it stop.”

Rebekah yelled and screeched out, “Shut up! Just shut up!”

Elizabeth was about to interfere when she saw Elena get shoved against the wall, held in a choke hold by the vampire as she continued to yell out,

“Don’t talk anymore! Nothing!”

That was when Elizabeth jumped out to help Rebekah, who weakly released Elena, stepping back with a sob. She looked utterly lost as she saw Elizabeth come up to her and give her a comforting hug. Elizabeth made sure to not let Rebekah’s back face towards Elena as the high schooler stared at the huntress in shock.

Elena’s mind raced as she realized that she had never been alone with the Original vampire, and if she was not careful, her plan would fail miserably.

When Rebekah’s sobbing did not seem to stop, Elena whispered an apology and ran out of the Salvatore residence. Still in Elizabeth’s arms, Rebekah cried with various emotions running through her. Elizabeth run her hand up and down Rebekah’s back, quietly comforting her. She wasn’t sure what to say, but as she did this, she longed for another Original with dark, brown eyes that easily penetrated her soul.

By the time she stopped crying, Rebekah sniffled as she whispered to Elizabeth,

“What do I do now?”

Elizabeth sighed looking into Rebekah’s eyes. Grasping her hands, she told the girl,

“Do what your heart tells you, Rebekah. But remember one thing… your brother lied to all of you because of his inherent fear caused by Mikael himself: fear of losing his family.”

Rebekah eyed the fire with anger as she quietly grit out, “Then he wouldn’t have killed mother.”

Elizabeth looked into the flames alongside her as she said, “I don’t know everything Rebekah, but knowing Klaus…. I would say that he only lives for a family. Everything he does revolves around that. He doesn’t want to be alone. I can’t say that he does it in the right way, nor did he do you all right by telling everyone, but I think that he needs you and your siblings more than ever.”

Rebekah sighed and said, “I can’t forgive him… I…”

Elizabeth hugged the girl, who snuggled her head into Elizabeth’s shoulder, depending on her as if Elizabeth was her older sister. The huntress told her,

“I told you to do what your heart tells you to. Just remember that Klaus loves you dearly and would give his life ten times over to save you.”

Rebekah wasn’t sure if she believed that considering all the daggering she experienced, but decided to leave the topic alone as she had gotten tired.

Soon Rebekah requested to be alone, letting Elizabeth to head home. When she arrived at her place, she saw a box in front of her door. Frowning, she went to pick it up, reading a note from Klaus Mikaelson, who had written,

“For a dear friend of mine.”

Elizabeth frowned even further at that, brought the parcel inside. When she opened it, she found a beautiful red dress. It was an off-the-shoulder dress that reached the floor. The bottom of the box also contained red heels for her.

This was a surprise, she only had known that Klaus would give dresses to his woman of interest, which was Caroline Forbes. So the fact that he had sent her a dress was a surprise. Also, the color was similar to the red that Elena had picked for Rebekah. Concerned, she carefully hang the dress and placed it.

Looking back on the card that he had sent, she flipped it over, to see another set of writing on it that shocked her. It read,

“And for the brother that is sorely missed.”

For the second time that day, Elijah Mikaelson popped up into her mind with a force. The kisses that they had shared, the intense eyes of his, and his soft touch. Elizabeth’s eyes turned sad as she tried to figure out a way to go around Stefan Salvatore to undagger Elijah and his siblings, but it didn’t seem like the right timing. As she was thinking this, she headed back towards her office to do the rest of her daytime work.

With that, a few more days passed when Rebekah texted Elizabeth, asking her to come over and help her with preparing for homecoming. When Elizabeth mentioned about needing to personally prepare, Rebekah excitedly asked her to come over so that they could help each other.

Smiling softly at the Original’s excitement, she drove over, worried about what she should do about Elena and the daggering. She arrived to find Rebekah in Stefan’s room, getting ready for homecoming. Rebekah hurriedly prepared Elizabeth to the best of her abilities, learning how to style hair, nails and fashion according to the times.

Elizabeth was helping Rebekah finish up her hair when Elena entered the room. She looked surprised to see Elizabeth treating Rebekah like a sister when she just stated,

“Getting a head start, huh?”

Rebekah quickly resumed a cold demeanor as she admitted, “Embarrassing truth. This is my first high school dance.”

Elena asked incredulously, “Ever? And Elizabeth, why are you dressed?”

Elizabeth quietly said, “A generous benefactor invited me over to watch over the students…. Again.”

Elizabeth’s tone caught Rebekah’s interest while Elena shook it off as thinking the school asked her to chaperone again. Rebekah realized how Elizabeth seemed uncomfortable about the topic as she responded to Elena,

“I never really had time for high school before. Nik and I were always moving around. Running. Anyway, I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. Have you heard any more from him?”

Elena shook her head as she answered, “No. But I’m sure that when he does return, he’ll do it with flair.”

Elizabeth grumbled, “Oh, I’m sure.”

Rebekah turned to look at her funnily when she sighed and asked Elizabeth to get her something. Elizabeth quickly caught onto the tone used, indicating that Rebekah wanted her out of the room but close by. Nodding she, stepped outside, still lingering at the outside of the room, as she heard Rebekah ask,

“And Damon and my father are all set with their plan?”

Elena answered quickly and surely with, “Yes.”

Rebekah sighed and turned back to face the mirror as she said, “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I just want to go to the dance and leave the rest to Mikael.”

Elena warily looked around as she said, “I know it’s really hard. So thank you for helping us get Klaus back into town.”

Rebekah’s eyes softened just ever so slightly as she said, “Just be careful. I’ve been running for 1,000 years for a reason. Mikael is not a good person. And he definitely can’t be trusted. No one in my family can.”

Elena looked at Rebekah, who seemed exhausted a little, as she asked, “Are you ok?”

Rebekah whispered back, “I’ve spent my whole life loving and hating my brother with equal measure. I never thought that I would be the one to help drive a stake through his heart. No tears. I… I don’t want to ruin my makeup. How do I look?”

Elena answered kindly, “You look amazing. But you’re missing one thing.”

With that, Elena pulled out the necklace that had rightfully belonged to Rebekah. Rebekah’s eyes widened at that, as she choked out, “My mother’s necklace.”

Elena sweetly told the Original, “You should wear it tonight. May I?”

But before Elena could do anything funny, Elizabeth quickly walked inside. As Rebekah said, “Thank you.” Elizabeth smiled and quickly said, “Rebekah, I brought what you asked for.”

With that, she set it down next to Rebekah with one hand, while the other grasped the dagger that Elena had been preparing. This stopped the girl from daggering the Original. Elena risked a quick glance of shock towards the woman, who was bleeding profusely as the blade bit into her palm. But Elizabeth did not even wince as she pretended that she was completely fine.

But Rebekah quickly smelled the blood and turned around to see Elizabeth holding the dagger down as Elena’s arm was trying to raise it. Rebekah’s eyes quickly flared with anger as she yelled out,

“You liar! How dare you!”

With that, Rebekah stepped forward to attack Elena, but before that could happen, Elizabeth stopped Rebekah as she said,

“Rebekah! I’ll handle it. Just go before anything else happens.”

Rebekah deliberated on this, but nodded as she rushed out of the Salvatore residence. As she did that, Elizabeth gave a disappointed look down to Elena, who yelled out,

“Elizabeth. I’m sorry that I have to do this, but I can’t leave anything to chance either.”

Elizabeth glared harder at the girl in front of her as she still held onto the dagger as she said menacingly,

“You think I don’t know that? But Rebekah has just come out to the world. Let her adjust to it. She’s helped you this far when she didn’t need. Leave the rest to everybody else.”

Elena angrily tried to get the dagger out of Elizabeth’s grasp when Damon rushed in and said, “What the hell’s going on? Why do I smell-”

But that was when he saw Elizabeth’s blood all over the floor between the two females in the room. He was struck quiet at that before realizing that he had to stop this quickly if Elizabeth didn’t want to faint from blood loss. With that, he rushed over and grasped the dagger and pocketed it. Elizabeth noticed this, but nodded to the vampire, who sighed and told her,

“Beth, you should get that treated if you’re not going to take my blood.”

Elizabeth looked down at her hand, making sure that it didn’t ruin her dress. With a sigh, she looked up at the Salvatore, nodding before quietly making her way out of the room. Once she arrived home, she quickly bandaged her hand knowing that she didn’t have enough time to get it medically treated given the circumstances of the events.

She then headed out when she noticed a woman at her front door, waiting for her. Elizabeth warily eyed her as she asked, “Can I help you?”

The woman in front of her said, “Klaus has generously offered his location for the homecoming. He requested that I escort you.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened at the sight of the limo in front of her house. When had that arrived? She eyed the woman again, finally sensing that she was a hybrid. With resignation, she stepped into the vehicle and was escorted to Klaus’ place. When she arrived, the party was already taking place and Klaus had rushed over to open the door for her.

“Ah! Atalanta! You’re here! Might I say, that you look ravishing in that dress.”

Elizabeth side-eyed Klaus as she stepped out and said, “What is this Klaus? Why go to such efforts to dress me up?”

Klaus smiled warmly as he put an arm around her waist and guided her to the inside of the building, saying,

“To celebrate the disappearance of Mikael of course! Now my brothers, Rebekah, and I can finally live without too much worry.”

Elizabeth looked at the genuine relief on his face and provided a small smile. But that was when Klaus went off his own, leaving Elizabeth alone. What was the point of her being here, really? She quietly thought on this when after a while, she noticed the girl that had escorted her here lead Klaus somewhere. Elizabeth quickly followed behind them, managing to stand behind Klaus as he said to Mikael,

“Or I can watch my hybrids tear you limb from limb.”

Mikael quickly saw Elizabeth and smirked as he said, “They can’t kill me.”

Klaus tensed at Mikael’s glance towards Elizabeth and grit out,

“True, but it’ll make a hell of a party game. All I have to do is rub these two fingers together and they’ll pounce.”

Mikael laughed as he stepped backwards, stating, “The big bad wolf. You haven’t changed. Still hiding behind your playthings like a coward. You only forget. They may be sired by you, but they’re still part vampire. And they can be compelled by me.”

That was when Elizabeth felt something drag her backwards before being rushed outside before Klaus could react. She then saw Katherine acting as Elena get dragged by Mindy. Mikael took hold of ‘Elena’ as he taunted his son,

“Come out and face me, Niklauce or they die.”

That was when the hybrid who had been holding her tightened his grip on her neck and started sniffing her throat. Elizabeth struggled against the hold, trying to think of a way to get away from this situation without provoking Mikael. But that was when Klaus eyed her hesitantly. Elizabeth nodded a little bit, which made Niklaus’ eyes to harden with some sort of resolve as he said,

“Go ahead. Kill them.”

‘Elena’ screamed out, “No. Klaus! He’ll do it.”

Mikael seemed taken aback by his son’s attitude as he said, “If she dies, this lot will be the last of your abominations.”

Klaus smirked to hide his fast-beating heart, stating, “I don’t need them. I just need to be rid of you.”

Mikael glared at his step-son as he said,

“To what end, Niklaus? So you can live forever with no one at your side? Nobody cares about you anymore, boy! Who do you have other than those whose loyalty you’ve forced? No one. No one.”

Elizabeth glared at Mikael as she was about to say something. But the hybrid sensed this and blocked her mouth with his hand. Klaus fought the urge to step forward, as he said,

“I’m calling your bluff, father. Kill them.”

In the back of Klaus’ mind however, he hoped that Elizabeth would find a way to free herself. She was waiting for the right moment to strike, he knew, but the longer this was dragged, there was a real situation of her getting hurt. He had already been angered earlier when he had seen her injured hand and fresh smell of blood.

Mikael growled at Klaus as he said, “Come outside and face me, you little coward. And I won’t have to.”

Klaus yelled out, anger and sadness mixed in his voice as he said,

“My whole life you’ve underestimated me. If you kill her, you lose your leverage. So go ahead. Go on. Kill them. Come on, old man. Kill them. Kill them!”

Mikael laughed at Klaus’ outburst as he said to the hybrid,

“Your impulse, Niklaus. IT has and will forever be the one thing that keeps you from truly being great.”

With that, Mikael stabbed ‘Elena’ while the hybrid finally bit into Elizabeth’s throat. Elena held back a scream of pain when Klaus cried out in shock. Damon rushed over to Klaus, trying to stab him with the stake. But that provided the perfect opportunity for Elizabeth to reach for the hidden knife of hers, and reach to stab the hybrid with it. The hybrid howled in pain and let her go, giving her the opportunity to snap his neck.

Afterwards, she saw Katherine drop her façade and Mikael say, “Katherine…”

But before Stefan had arrived to stop Damon, Elizabeth rushed over to Mikael, who, in his distraction, did not react quickly enough to stop the knife going through his heart. Mikael gasped in shock as a searing, burning pain wracked his heart. That was when Mikael lurched forward weakly, as blood spouted from his lips. Atalanta took over as she twisted the knife deeper, causing Mikael to keel over. The knife of hers might not be able to kill the Original, but it was enough to get it close enough.

She heard Damon yell out, “What are you doing?”

Atalanta looked up and applied enough force to keep Mikael down as Klaus grasped the stake that landed next to him. Atalanta nodded at him, managing to pull out the knife, causing the Original in front of her to yell out in pain before another one joined it as Klaus embedded the stake into the front of Mikael’s chest. Mikael began to turn grey before burning away.

Klaus let out a breath of relief, before noticing, Atalanta stand up shakily, grasping her neck. Klaus quickly stood up and held her to support her. He tried to staunch the blood flow as he quietly said,

“You were reckless.”

Atalanta chuckled at that and said, “I had to pay back for the dress.”

Klaus smiled before glaring at Damon Salvatore, who yelled out Stefan and Elizabeth,

“What the hell did you guys do?!”

Klaus stated, “He’s earned his freedom, and Elizabeth has earned my absolute trust.”

Damon looked hurt at that proclamation while Stefan looked over at the Original hybrid, who said,

“Thank you, my friend.”

Klaus looked deeply into Stefan’s eyes and said,

“You no longer have to do as I say. You’re free.”

Elizabeth could see the compulsion disappear from the younger Salvatore. But before she could say goodbye, Klaus dragged her inside his home and took her to a room. He set her down on a chair as he quickly bit into his wrist and put it next to her mouth.

Elizabeth glared at him, but Klaus growled at her and said,

“Drink. I’m not going to explain to Elijah about you having various bite scars on your throat. This is quite reckless of you Atalanta.”

Elizabeth huffed but stood up and said, “I feel better standing… strangely.”

Klaus huffed in frustration, but turned her around so that her back was against his chest to prevent her from falling. With that, he bit into his wrist again, as it had started to close. He then provided it to Elizabeth. The huntress hesitantly grabbed his arm before starting to drink it.

Klaus pressed a kiss against her head as he whispered to her, “Thank you for what you did. For Rebekah… for me… for all of us.”

Elizabeth pulled the arm away after she felt her wound close. She then looked up at the Original hybrid and sighed, cleaning her mouth with a handkerchief she had brought. When she was done, she said to him,

“Despite everything, I know that you weren’t in the wrong regarding Mikael. I trust you.”

Klaus smiled sadly at her and said, “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Elizabeth smiled and hugged Klaus, causing his eyes to widen, before he wrapped an arm around her, as she told him,

“You deserve the love that you missed out on. There will be days when I may try to stop you, but understand that it’s for your own future, not that I don’t care about you.”

Klaus let out a tear that had come to his eyes. It was the first time someone had genuinely given him their full trust to him like this. He closed his eyes as his heart found a place it could lean on.  With that, he whispered completely truthful words,

“Thank you.”

Chapter Text

For the next several days and week, Elizabeth avoided running into any supernatural of the Mystic Falls community. She was tired of the conflict going between the high schoolers and the Mikaelsons. Rebekah had moved back to her brother’s mansion, deciding that it wasn’t the best plan to remain at the Salvatore house since she heard about her brother’s return.

Of course, she kept calling and talking to Elizabeth, but the female Mikaelson understood Elizabeth’s need for space from all the drama that had taken place. After all, she had gone through a lot by being placed in a difficult position of knowing and caring for both sides. Klaus had texted her from time to time to make sure that she was alright.

Although the hybrid didn’t outwardly show it to anyone, he was worried about Elizabeth. After all, he had been the reason she had gotten so deeply involved in this mess in the first place. If he hadn’t done all he had done with Elijah, she might have been having a happy time with his older brother.

But one night, Elizabeth felt a pull towards the old, abandoned building that she knew held the coffins of the remaining Mikaelson siblings and the Original witch. She especially felt a pull to one of the coffins. She let her fingers touch the coffin that she felt the pull from.

Even though there was no way to tell the coffins apart, some part in Elizabeth knew that it was Elijah that was within it. Elizabeth smiled sadly and had her fingertips slightly slide along the length of the closed coffin, as she whispered to the Original,

“Until we meet again.”

With that, she silently went back home, unable to contain the heavy feeling that something was about to happen soon. However, it wasn’t long when a few days later, Klaus called her to tell her that he had something important to share with her. Upon ending the phone call, Elizabeth sighed, not sure what to expect.

She quickly dressed into jeans and a sweater, for the weather outside, and drove over to the Mikaelson mansion. As she strutted inside, she asked in frustration,

“Klaus? What is it this…”

But before she could finish her sentence, she saw a set of black business shoes in front of her own. Her eyes widened and her heart beat faster as she slowly looked up to find Elijah Mikaelson standing in front of her.

She could not help but stare at him in shock as she stood there. A million thoughts ran across her mind as she saw him awake and cleaned up in front of her. Elijah smiled lightly at that as he whispered,

“Hello Elizabeth.”

How many scenarios had she imagined for their reunion? And yet, it was difficult for her to formulate a sentence as he stood in front of her. The only thing she could weakly manage was,

“Elijah?”

The Original’s eyes sparkled, clearly happy to hear her voice, as he stepped a little closer and whispered to her,

“I missed you.”

Elizabeth shivered a little at the intensity and the raw emotion in the one sentence. But before anyting else could be said, a voice interrupted them with,

“Well! Looks like we got the reunion done!”

Irritation crossed Elijah’s and Elizabeth’s eyes for a second, though both the huntress and vampire perfectly masked their emotions otherwise. The two people separated a little as Klaus walked in, rubbing his hands as he continued with,

“Now! We need to come up with a plan to bring down Stefan.”

Rebekah walked in, rolling her eyes as she told them, “He’s been going on about this for hours! Elizabeth, help me.”

Elizabeth cringed a little and looked sideways at Elijah, who smirked a little in amusement, still glad to find that his two siblings were acting like they always used to.

Not too long after, Elijah and Klaus had managed to agree on a dinner party to discuss the return of the last coffin from the Salvatore brothers while Rebekah had dragged Elizabeth to help her with clothes. When Rebekah had finished helping Elizabeth, she had put hair extension in for the woman, making her hair look longer than before, loose pink business pants and a white blouse. The makeup had a light touch to it that brightened up her face, along with providing nude heels for her.

Rebekah checked the huntress’s hair before smirking and telling her,

“I think that would have my brother speechless for tonight.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened and she started to blush as she started to stutter from the shock.

Rebekah laughed at that and shook her head as she said, “From earlier, I think I know what was going on.”

Elizabeth’s faced turned redder as she felt the embarrassment take over. Seeing the flustered look, she had on, Rebekah just smirked and walked out of the room to get ready for a separate meeting she had set with a friend of hers from the high school.

Sighing, Elizabeth pat down her face with the back of her hands to cool down as she thought back to her meeting Elijah again. What should she say to him? How should she tell him all that she had done while with Klaus in his hunt for werewolves?

As she sat there, staring at herself in the mirror contemplating this, a knock sounded at the door. Elizabeth quickly turned her head to say,

“Come in!”

With that, the door opened and Klaus peeked his head in before stepping inside. He said,

“Are you ready? Our guests are just arriving.”

Elizabeth gave a small smile and nodded, getting up. She took a small glance in the mirror before heading out once more. She cautiously walked down the steps, hearing Elijah’s voice say at the front door,

“Niklaus, our guests have arrived.”

Klaus looked over and extended his hand to Elizabeth. She eyed him with curiosity, but when he didn’t relent, she smiled a little and grabbed his hand. Over the period of time that she had come to know him personally as Atalanta and as Elizabeth, she had come to care for the Original hybrid.

They walked down together to greet the Salvatore brothers. Elijah looked up to only be surprised at the closeness of his brother and Elizabeth, a strange stirring in his heart taking place while Klaus said,

“Damon. Stefan. Elijah tells me, you seek an audience. Very bold. Let’s discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?”

Elijah was still staring at Elizabeth, now having realized that her hair was longer than before, most likely Rebekah’s doing, but it suited her. The light makeup and the formal wear that she wore brought out a more businesslike look that couldn’t help but make him look her appreciatively. Klaus noticed his brother openly and hungrily eyeing his friend and couldn’t be more pleased with Rebekah’s handiwork. Despite all this, the huntress remained oblivious of Elijah’s stare as she cleared her throat, causing all the vampires and the hybrid to look over at her. The Salvatore brothers immediately tensed upon seeing her. They hadn’t expected to see her there and the older of the siblings immediately ground out,

“And what is Elizabeth doing here?”

Klaus smirked at the irritated look Damon had in his eyes. The very same irritation that caused Elijah wonder if Damon had hidden feelings for the woman he had come to have feelings for. Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she said,

“She, is here because Klaus told her to. It was due time for me to meet Elijah.”

Damon looked down a little, having sobered from the comment, but Elijah just said, looking at the Salvatore brothers smugly,

“It’s better to indulge him.”

Stefan merely glared at Elizabeth once before facing Klaus as he said,

“I didn’t come here to eat, Klaus. In fact, I didn’t want to come here at all. But I was told, I had to cause you would hear us out.”

Klaus smirked and let Elizabeth go, even going far as to nudge her slightly towards his older brother. This surprised Elizabeth as she stumbled towards him, having been caught unawares. Before she could trip and fall, Elijah quickly grabbed her by wrapping an arm around her waist. Elizabeth blushed a little at the electric jolt she felt from the contact. She shyly looked up at him from the position while the hybrid told the Salvatore brothers,

“Well, we can sit and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides. The choice is yours.”

That brought the older Original and the huntress out of their daze, both sighing at Klaus’ theatrics.

Not long after, they were all sitting down at the table. Elizabeth was sitting between Klaus and Elijah, both brothers on either side of her. Damon occasionally glanced at her, worry slightly leaking through the cold demeanor he was trying to set. Stefan remained just cold. Elizabeth quietly ate as she listened in on the discussion between the two pairs of brothers.

Damon looked at the compelled woman who was serving them when she finished helping Damon out. As she walked away, he told her,

“Thank you, love.”

Elizabeth sighed, not enjoying the heavy tension within the room. Elijah turned to her and quietly put his left hand on her leg as a comforting gesture. A shiver went down Elizabeth at the contact as she struggled to hide the emotions whirring inside her at how attentive he was being towards her.

Klaus looked towards Stefan, who seemed to glower down at his plate, causing the hybrid to smirk and state,

“You lost your appetite.”

Damon glared at his brother a little as he added, “Eat. I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home.”

Klaus smirked and looked over at the older Salvatore again as he said,

“That’s the spirit. Isn’t it nice? Four of us dining together? Such a treat. Is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger from my brother?”

Damon grimaced as he looked over at Elijah, who was clearly more interested in Elizabeth at the moment as responded with,

“Well, I know how he felt about you, and more about how he feels about Beth here, so I figured the more, the merrier.”

Klaus’ eyes held amusement as he answered with, “Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the century. But we always make it through.”

Elizabeth then slid her hand down to grab onto Elijah’s noticing where the conversation was going. Elijah felt warmth rush through his veins at the small gesture the woman aside him provided him with. He couldn’t help but smile just a little at it. Nobody noticed this as Stefan said,

“Kind of like you and Rebekah, right? Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her.”

Klaus chuckled and responded with, “If you’re referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I’ve already come clean to Elijah.”

Elijah’s eyes turned a little cold at that, making Elizabeth worry a little. Did Rebekah’s appointment with someone have something to do with this? But before she could voice her concern, Damon quickly interjected with,

“Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad? Might want to dial down the judgment until dessert.”

At that comment, Elizabeth immediately released her hold on Elijah’s hand, feeling a sense of dread wash through her as she eyed Klaus with worry. Her eyes narrowed as she hissed out,

“Whatever you have planned for ‘dessert’, you’d better be honest about it now.”

Damon’s eyes didn’t reveal the surprise he felt as he looked over at her, trying to smirk confidently whilst saying,

“Planned? Who said I have something planned?”

Elijah noticed the cold feeling she seemed to immediately emanate towards everyone but Klaus within the room as her attitude change to what he had previously witnessed from Atalanta, as she coldly responded with,

“Who are you kidding Damon? As far as I know, Klaus and I would never be told what you are planning. You wouldn’t have come here without hoping to achieve something.”

Stefan grit out at that,

“We’re here to make a deal, Elizabeth. Doesn’t mean we need to kiss both of your asses for seven courses.”

Elijah immediately tensed at that, but also worriedly looked towards the woman he was falling for. Did she catch wind of his plan that he had made with the Salvatores?

To distract the group from the current topic, Elijah immediately asked,

“Stefan. Where is the lovely Elena tonight?”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at his older brother, not having missed Atalanta’s appearance in place of Elizabeth’s from Damon Salvatore’s comment about dessert. Stefan glared back at the suit-wearing Original as he answered curtly with,

“I don’t now. Ask Damon.”

Elijah’s eyes widened a little in surprise at the new revelation, especially as Klaus openly laughed while saying, “I’m sorry, you’ve missed so much. Uh… trouble in paradise.”

Stefan glared over at the other side of the table as he bitterly said,

“One more word about Elena and this dinner’s over.”

Klaus looked like he was about to add something when Elizabeth shook her head, effectively stopping him from making the scenario worse. Damon sighed while awkwardly adding,

“You know what, probably best just to keep Elena in the do not discuss pile.”

Klaus grimaced at the strong look Elizabeth gave him as he said, “You’re probably right.”

Damon cleared his throat as he quietly added, “Yeah.”

After that, nobody seemed to touch the food in front of them as the discussion went further and Klaus started with,

“It’s just the allure of the Petrova doppelganger, still so strong. What do you say, brother? Should we tell them about Tatia?”

Elijah worriedly glanced over at Elizabeth, who seemed to have fallen silent for most of the dinner, and had just tensed a little. He glared at his brother, understanding his motives as he tried to change to a different topic by saying,

“Now why should we discuss matters long since resolved?”

Klaus could see Elijah’s discomfort about the topic as he continued to glance towards the huntress sitting next to him. Elizabeth looked up at Klaus with an eyebrow raised, seeming to know what he was trying to do. She merely rolled her eyes as he said,

“Well, given their shared affectiong for both Elena and Katerina, I think our guests might be curious to learn aobut the originator of the Petrova line.”

The older Salvatore, also hadn’t missed Elijah’s internal squirming as he smirked over at Elizabeth, who didn’t seem shaken by the story. He wanted to make Elijah uncomfortable as much as he could by saying,

“Well, we’re not going anywhere Elijah. Please, do tell.”

With that, Damon and Elijah seemed to measure each other’s willpower until Elijah relented as he said,

“When our family first settled here, there was a girl named Tatia. She was a beauty. Every boy of age desired to be her suitor, even though she’d had a child by another man. And none loved her more than Niklaus.”

Klaus instantaneously understood what his brother attempted to do by stating his name. Elizabeth realized also as she sighed but heard the story as Klaus retorted back with,

“I’d say there was one who loved her at least as much.”

Stefan’s eyes widened with revelation as he asked, “Wait a minute, so you both loved the same girl?”

Both Salvatores eyed Elizabeth warily, wondering if that was what was going on now with her this time. They hadn’t seen Klaus take a woman other than Rebekah into his warmth and care, but Elizabeth seemed to be the exception, and all they could come up with was that somehow, Klaus cared for her more than he was letting on.

Elijah clearly grew upset at Stefan’s question as he answered,

“Our mother was a very powerful witch. She sought to end our feud over Tatia and so she took her. Klaus and I would later learn that it was Tatia’s blood that we consumed in the wine on the night where our mother performed the spell which turned us into vampires. Tatia wouldn’t make a decision between the two of us, so for a time Niklaus and I… grew estranged. Harsh words were traded, we even came to blows, didn’t we brother?”

Nobody had noticed Elizabeth’s eyes dim a little at her own secret knowledge of what Elijah had done to Tatia. Elijah didn’t know what had actually happened. How he had drained Tatia of her blood in his inability to control his thirst for blood. She also swished her wine absentmindedly as she tried to think of a way to prevent Esther from linking all of her children together. Then there was also the question of Finn.

As she silently brooded over this, Klaus continued on from Elijah’s story as he added,

“But in the end we realized the sacred bond of family.”

Elijah sighed and added, “Family above all.”

Both males raised their glasses as Klaus repeated hesitantly, “Family above all.”

A few moments later, Elijah grew impatient with how slow things seemed to move along and seeing the tired look come into Elizabeth’s eyes as he asked,

“So, why don’t we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?”

Damon answered with, “That’s very simple. Klaus gets his coffin back, in exchange, he and the Original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever. Me, Stefan, Elizabeth, and Elena live happily ever after. No grudges.”

Elizabeth quickly looked at Damon, wondering why he had added her. Elijah tensed and once again, looked over at the beautiful woman at his side, not sure if she truly felt what the Salvatore did. But he begrudgingly stated,

“The deal sounds fair, brother.”

Elizabeth looked up at Elijah, hurt coming into her features at Elijah’s statement. Had she lost his care for her in the time he had been daggered? Were the kisses she had thought meant more no longer hold meaning for him?

Klaus grit his teeth, noticing this. What was his brother thinking? But as he didn’t want to drag the attention towards his friend, he stood up and answered with,

“I don’t think you understand, Elena’s doppelganger blood insures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me. I will never leave her behind.”

“Let’s say I do leave he here, under your protection, what then? How long before one of you turns either her or Elizabeth into a vampire? Or worse, how long before she or Atalanta dies caught between your feuding or your fights with other supernatural beings? You see, each one of you truly believes that you’re the one that can protect Elena, and that is simply a delusion. Gentlemen, the worst thing for Elena Gilbert and Atalanta is… the two of you.”

Damon angrily got up and stomped outside as he said, “I’m gonna get some air.”

Elijah looked towards Elizabeth, who was looking at his pacing brother, making his heart freeze. Did something happen while he was daggered? Sighing from the confusion he was feeling from the scenario, he said,

“Let me deal with this.”

Klaus mumbled, “All this talk has made me thirsty.”

Elizabeth then turned to watch Elijah step away, having a slight idea of what he was doing with Damon. She then faced Stefan, but before she could say anything, Klaus said,

“What do you say Stefan, can I interest you in a little after dinner drink?”

Elizabeth watched in disgust as Klaus bit the poor girl’s neck and started drinking from her. But before he could drain her, Elizabeth gripped the girl and pulled her towards herself. She quickly grabbed a handkerchief and pressed onto the bite wound. Klaus frowned instantly, but sighed as he just bit his wrist and offered it to the human.

The girl drank, healing the bite wound. Elizabeth shook her head disappointedly, but sent the girl on her way. Stefan watched their interaction with interest as he said,

“Well, I guess the only reason you agreed to this evening, Klaus, is to drive a wedge between me and my brother.”

Klaus smirked at the accusation as he said, “Oh no, you’re doing that well enough on your own. Because of Elena, you’re gonna lose your brother and you’ll only have yourself to blame.”

That was when both Damon and Elijah entered the area again, causing Elizabeth to frown. Damon sauntered in as he asked,

“What do you say, Klaus? It’s time for you to put something on the table. We’ve made our offer, now you counter.”

Klaus pondered for a moment, looking towards Elizabeth. She nodded a little at him, letting him say,

“Okay. I offer Elena’s future happiness. You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot. And to fall in love with a human, maybe that nice football player, you know the blonde one? I’ll not touch her after maybe a few vials of her blood. Not enough for her to die, but just a handful.”

Damon grimaced as he asked, “Matt Donovan? Really?”

Klaus shrugged as he responded with, “Yeah, why not? They’ll marry, live a long and fruitful life, and pop out a perfect family.”

As the discussion was happening, Elizabeth suddenly felt a slight buzz of stronger supernatural activity. She tensed and looked immediately towards Elijah, who had been staring at her for a while. Her eyes narrowed and her hands folded into fists as she shook slightly from Atalanta’s anger and hurt. Betrayal seemed to pulse through her entire being as Elizabeth tried to understand that Elijah did this in his own opinion to benefit his family.

Her concentration broke when Klaus broke Stefan’s arm, causing the Salvatore to yell out in pain. She quickly stood up and Atalanta took over, paying more attention to Klaus, who had now put Stefan’s arm into the fire.

Damon yelled out, “Stop!”

Klaus growled out, “Now, bring me my coffin before I burn him alive.”

Damon struggled against Elijah’s grip as he wheezed out, “I’ll get it.”

Klaus glared at him while growling out, “Go with him, brother, you keep him honest. And when you return, I will make good on my promise to you and I will hand over our family.”

Atalanta coldly regarded the whole situation as Stefan bit out,

“Go ahead and kill me, I know you’ll do it when he brings the coffin.”

Klaus sighed upon seeing the cold gleam in Atalanta’s eyes as she studied him. He pulled Stefan out and retorted,

“You really have given up, haven’t you? Where’s the fight? Where’s the ripper?”

With disappointment, he pushed Stefan, but before a fight could break out, Atalanta let out a low growl that Klaus was surprised to hear upon Elijah and Damon’s arrival. Klaus looked confused at the entire scenario, what had his brother done to irk her so? He warily asked Elijah,

“Elijah… why haven’t you left?”

Elijah looked over at Atalanta and then to Klaus as he said smoothly,

“Where are your manners, brother? We forgot dessert.”

With that, Elijah took the cover off a plate a different woman had been carrying. The trio by the table looked at the two silver daggers lying on a plate. Atalanta’s cold eyes had growing fury in them as she neared Klaus.

The Original hybrid pushed her slightly away from him, not wanting her to get hurt as he asked,

“What have you done?”

Elijah’s smooth attitude disappeared and one of disappointment covered his features as he responded with,

“What have you done? You see, I’ve learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus. We’re doing this on my terms now.”

Atalanta immediately took out her knife from her leg that she had been hiding as Kol appeared in the room. Klaus’ eyes widened with hurt and uncertainty as he whispered out his younger brother’s name.

Kol gave a smirk and said, “Long time, brother.”

Klaus grabbed Atalanta’s hand and backed them away. Elijah noticed this and his hard eyes softened a little, worried. But when he saw the knife in her hands, he wondered if he had done something wrong. Finn then appeared and grabbed a dagger.

But before Finn could drive the dagger into Klaus’ hands, Atalanta acted immediately by cutting the oldest Original on the arm, aiming accurately to make him drop the dagger. Angered by the interference, Finn turned towards Elizabeth, causing both Klaus and Elijah to call out,

“Finn, don’t!”

Finn hesitated, when Rebekah appeared. But she froze upon seeing Atalanta and her knife. If Atalanta was protecting Klaus, something was not right. But everything seemed to fall apart for Klaus as Kol suddenly restrained Klaus, pushing Atalanta away. Finn studied the woman who protected his vile brother.

Something about her had drawn Elijah to care for her as he remembered the deal he had made with him about not hurting her. She seemed to be able to take care of herself, but she seemed to be a normal human that wasn’t there for sheer entertainment for his brothers. It made him curious about this woman.

Elijah looked over at the Salvatore brothers as he said, “You’re free to go. This is family business.”

They immediately left the house. Atalanta made to leave, sighing in disappointment and fear of future events. When Elijah stopped her by grabbing her wrist gently as he said,

“You don’t need to leave.”

Atalanta urgently shook her wrist free from his hold as she whispered to him, looking straight ahead,

“I would listen to Klaus. He might not make the right decisions most of the time, but he needs you to listen to him. That’s all he wants. And besides, I need to go home.”

Elijah felt the coldness and hurt hit him as she walked away from him. Not even a few hours ago had he felt happy to see her again. But this had distanced them once again. But this wasn’t Klaus’ fault this time around. It was his own doing. He had made her cold. All he could do was watch her leave the mansion.

Elizabeth entered her house after the ordeal. She leaned back on her door as she brushed her fingers through her hair with her shaky hands. Inside herself, Atalanta cried out in anguish and anger from Elijah’s behavior towards the friend she had made. The friend that understood Atalanta inside out. And yet, Elizabeth couldn’t help but despair at her inability to feel something for Elijah Mikaelson.

It hurt her and frustrated her to no end that this was happening. All she could do was undo the makeover Rebekah had done for her, removing the hair extensions, erasing the makeup, and getting into comfortable clothes.

She spent the night trying to think of ways to prevent the linking from happening. To prevent Esther from escaping.

Not long after, a knock sounded at her door. Elizabeth warily stood up from her bed, and opened her front door, to find Elijah Mikaelson there.

Both people remained quiet, unable to think of something to say to each other. What could one say to the other when they had been separated as such? Elijah was the first one to ask Elizabeth,

“Are you alright?”

Elizabeth sighed as she thought back to the dinner party and said,

“I’m fine. But I can’t say that I’m happy about this.”

Elijah grimaced and shamefully looked at the ground, not sure how to feel about this. In his anger, he had lashed out at Klaus with the only thing he could think of. Her bitter tone in her answer to his question answered one thing he had worried about: she was disappointed in him.

Elizabeth looked at him, studying him as her heart ached. She wanted to reach out to him, to hug him, to kiss him. But she was unable to as her own feelings with Atalanta warred with each other. All she could say to him was,

“What happens now?”

Elijah took in a shaky breath as he studied her eyes, that drew him in. He raised one hand to cup her face, feeling how she took in a small breath upon the feel of his palm against her cheek. His voice shook a little as he honestly answered her with,

“I don’t know.”

He watched as she closed her eyes and heard her breathing get slower, as if she was willing herself to calm down. But this look, resembled one of inner torment and it hurt him that he had positioned her in such a place with his own hasty actions. All he wished right now was to kiss her, to let her know that he…

That he cared for her deeply.

Despite that great want in both of them. Despite the need they felt, something stopped them from doing so, a great gap from their separation preventing them to share their feelings. Elizabeth then slowly pulled away from Elijah as she opened her eyes and she said while turning to go back inside her home,

“I think… I’ll head back inside if you have nothing to-”

Elijah cut her off then as he couldn’t hold back any longer and grabbed her shoulder to turn her around and kissed her. Elizabeth’s eyes widened at such a non-Elijah like decision that she remained frozen, unable to respond. As quickly as he had kissed her, he pulled away, disappointed that she had not returned the kiss.

With that, Elijah used his vampire speed to leave. Elizabeth shivered at the intensity of his kiss and felt her heart want to break and beat faster all at once. What was this she was feeling? How could he drive her emotions to overdrive like this despite her attempts to keep a level head?

Who was he to drive her insane with his own actions?

As she pondered this slightly for a few minutes, she did not notice another pair of eyes watching from afar with a curious glint.

~~ ….. ~~

The next day, Elizabeth decided to clear her head once more and decided to go to the nearby lake. As she sat there, wearing a black dress with black leggings, and a grey woman’s overcoat for the brisk air, she couldn’t help think back to the emotions that had filled Elijah’s eyes last night in front of her house.

But before she could contemplate more about it, someone sat next to her and Elizabeth cursed for her own ignorance when she froze in surprise at who sat next to her.

It was Finn Mikaelson.

Chapter Text

“It’s not often real that you encounter the real person behind a good-natured mask, the darkest part of someone. It’s not comfortable what you do.”

-Veronica Roth

Previously…

The next day, Elizabeth decided to clear her head once more and decided to go to the nearby lake. As she sat there, wearing a black dress with black leggings, and a grey woman’s overcoat for the brisk air, she couldn’t help think back to the emotions that had filled Elijah’s eyes last night in front of her house.

But before she could contemplate more about it, someone sat next to her and Elizabeth cursed for her own ignorance when she froze in surprise at who sat next to her.

It was Finn Mikaelson.

~~…..~~

Elizabeth looked at the man, eyes wide, as she wasn’t able to discern why the Original would find her other than for harmful reasons. She immediately tensed and looked at the man warily, when he sighed, and said,

“I am Finn Mikaelson. I apologize if I had startled you.”

Elizabeth gave him a small smile as she reached her hand out and introduced herself.

“Elizabeth.”

She continued to eye the man in front of her warily, not sure what to really think about what was going on. Finn sighed as he looked towards lake, as he stated,

“I heard a lot about you from the family. Mostly Rebekah.”

Elizabeth’s eyes grew wide, not sure where he was going with this. As she listened to him talk more and more, it was about how Elijah seems upset about her departure from their last encounter. With a curious glint, Finn Mikaelson looked down at the woman next to him, asking,

“A normal person would not be able to handle Elijah Mikaelson alone, and yet, you managed to tame both Klaus and Rebekah Mikaelson to your side. How did you manage to draw in the classic trio of my family?”

Elizabeth stiffened a little, before chuckling to herself, sighing at the end from the sudden sadness she felt. She smiled sadly, as she answered with,

“I didn’t really do anything. I just let them do what they wanted, just without causing as much mayhem, nor did I ignore the needs of anyone. The only person I could not handle and probably will never be able to figure out is your younger brother Elijah.”

Finn noticed the slightly exhausted look in Elizabeth’s eyes as he said,

“You feel something for him. And yet… you don’t look that happy.”

Elizabeth gave him a sideways glance as she said,

“I’m not sure what you are here for Mr. Mikaelson, but I know the outcome of being around your family. It will ultimately lead to my death someday. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, maybe in 20 or 50 years. But it will happen. I guess, that is the one thing I dread because of my feelings for your brother… or perhaps relying on.”

Finn tensed at that as he looked at the woman more cautiously, finding something he wasn’t expecting from his task to learn more about Atalanta as his mother asked.

“Why are you telling me this?”

Elizabeth sniffed a little from the brisk air, as she looked at Finn, responding with,

“I’m getting a sense that you are here to learn more about me for a different reason than to befriend me, Mr. Mikaelson. But you should know something…. I’m not a nice person, nor deserving of a good life.”

At that, Finn noticed emotions such as regret and guilt through Elizabeth’s eyes, as she continued on with,

“And I know that your siblings did not do right by you when they daggered you and never brought you back. That’s why, I want to give you the benefit of the doubt.”

Finn tensed at that, not having expected such a response to his question as he waited for her to finish. Elizabeth then surprised him even further as she grasped both of his hands with her smaller ones, looking at him sadly as she said,

“Your former lover, Sage. She’s still alive.”

Finn took a breath in from the shock, feeling a force so strongly hit him. “What?” He managed to choke out. Elizabeth let go, and studied the man, who seemed to immediately express the internal conflict he was going through upon the news she had just dropped on him.

With that, Elizabeth stood up, brushing off the dust that got on her coat, as she sighed. Finn stood up as well, seeing the breeze make her hair flow to the back a little. He wasn’t sure what about this woman was letting herself trust him with this news, and he stood there, staring at her.

Elizabeth then turned and said something that changed Finn Mikaelson’s life, that he would never forget for the rest of his existence.

~~ ….. ~~

Finn Mikaelson walked into the place that he currently called home. Why had his mother lied to him, stating that Sage had passed on long ago? He was wondering this, and could not shake off the look Elizabeth had given him earlier that day. But he was shaken out of his reverie when Esther, his mother, dragged him away for information.

He shared most things with her but hid away the fact that Elizabeth had told him about Sage, and her last words to him before they departed.

The eldest Mikaelson then entered the room, where his siblings were getting ready for the ball. He saw Elijah by a mirror, looking at himself, with a look of anxiety in his eyes. Finn hesitated telling him about Elizabeth, ultimately quickly hiding his own features of conflict, deciding that it was probably best for Elizabeth to tell Elijah directly. But he could not shirk the feeling of dread that sat in his chest, not sure why Elizabeth had told him what she had said.

~~ …… ~~

By the time Elizabeth arrived home, she noticed a box in front of her door, and a familiar invitation envelope. She picked the invitation up, and read the words on the back of the card,

“I sincerely hope to see you at the ball.”

-Elijah Mikaelson

She picked up the box and took it inside, dropping it onto her dining table. Elizabeth hesitated opening the box, knowing that it might be a dress inside. After a minute of deliberation, she opened the box, finding a blue dress.

With a sigh, she looked at the time, finding that she had enough time to prepare for the ball. As much as she wanted to not see Elijah Mikaelson ever again, her heart cried out for the man at the same time. She had fallen too deep.

Deciding that it was sufficient for her to start preparing now, she decided to do her hair first. With that, she slightly curled her hair and then did her makeup. Afterwards, she tied her hair into one to lie low on her back.

Soon enough, she was fully ready for the ball, and left. At the Mikaelson Mansion, Elizabeth found herself at awe of the grandiose theme and the sheer amount of people present at the event. But before she was fully able to admire the scene, she witnessed the two Salvatore brothers alongside Elena.

Of course, she should have remembered that this wasn’t just about her own issues with the Mikaelsons. Whenever was it just that?

As she stepped inside, she came to find Klaus speaking to a woman. He looked at her momentarily with surprise, and then smiled warmly at her before he started walking towards her. He had excused herself as he approached Elizabeth. Once he got there, Elizabeth awkwardly ran her hands down the dress, saying,

“I guess I’m here…”

Klaus chuckled at how awkward and uncomfortable the woman in front of her looked. He looked around and saw Elijah busy talking to another civilian, and then looked back at Elizabeth, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He asked,

“Elijah?”

Elizabeth nodded, when Klaus immediately spotted Caroline walk into the building. This did not go unnoticed by Elizabeth, who nudged him towards the girl. She smiled a little at the sight of Klaus blushing a little, as he tried to maintain a colder look. With a sigh, she just nudged him to go towards the girl, as Klaus gave her a playful glare before giving into her demands.

With that, she started to head towards the bar to get a drink when she heard Elijah’s voice ring out, not too long after as he said,

“Uh, if everyone could gather, please.”

Elizabeth looked up at him, noticing how dashing he looked, when his eyes roamed the room to land on hers, as he waited for his siblings to join him on the stairs. Their eyes stayed on each others, before Elijah had to gather his thoughts to continue stating,

“Welcome. Thank you for joining us. You know, whenever my mother brings our family together like this, it’s tradition for us to commence the evening with a dance. Tonight’s pick is a centuries-old waltz, so if all of you could please find yourselves a partner, please join us in the ballroom.”

As the music started to play, Elizabeth looked around and started to head towards the side when a hand landed on her wrist, making her to pause. She turned around to find Elijah Mikaelson, who looked at her nervously.

With that, he offered his hand for the dance, and Elizabeth blushed a little as she rested hers on top of his, letting him lead her towards the dance floor. With that, she waltzed with him, noticing how his hand was on her lower back rather than above. It seemed to burn and send a shock to her own body as she held in a shiver. They looked into each other’s eyes, as both individuals noticed the closeness. Elizabeth noticed Elijah’s eyes flicker down towards her lips, and her own heartbeat go faster, as she tightened her grip on his hand a tad more.

But their moment was broken when she was traded off to Finn Mikaelson. Elijah looked over to see a slight look of surprise on Elizabeth’s face upon seeing who her new dance partner was. He kept looking over at her while maintaining a polite conversation with his own partner.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth nervously smiled at Finn as she said, “We meet again.”

Finn looked at her and asked,

“Any interesting occurrences since the last time we’ve met?”

Elizabeth looked at him with a curious glance as she responded with the shake of her head. But soon enough, they had fallen into a comfortable silence, during which, Finn Mikaelson took the time to study her. He found her beautiful to his own eyes and there was this underlying sadness that he found himself wishing to either share, or take away. Elizabeth did not notice this as she studied Elena from where she was dancing with the elder Mikaelson.

Eventually, Elizabeth excused herself from the dance, leaving Finn behind, as she found herself not willing to dance any longer. As she went towards the bar to get a drink, she found herself hearing Elijah’s voice as he said,

“Well, her ability to forgive my brother after everything he’s done to destroy this family strikes me as a little strange to say the least.”

She paused in her movements as she listened in on the conversation, hearing Elena respond with,

“Do you think that it’s an act?’

Elijah calmly retorted back with, “It has me asking questions I never thought I’d ask. Can I depend on you to tell me what she says?”

Elena nodded and answered him with, “Of course. I’ll find you later, ok?”

With that, Elizabeth hid herself a little from Elena’s view as the girl walked away from the Original vampire. But it was not long as Elijah’s voice rang out as he said,

“I would say it is rude to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation, but in this case, I would say it is rather welcome.”

Elizabeth sighed a little as she guiltily looked at him from her hiding spot, stating,

“I was going to go to the bar, but I guess it just caught my interest.”

Elijah smiled as he held back from the urge to hug her, as he continued to look at her, feeling a sense of longing as he continued to think on as to whether it would be wise to pursue what he felt. During their dance, they had not spoken to one another, letting their bodies move along with the beat of the music. But now, that was not the case.

Elizabeth smiled slightly as she said, “Elijah” the same time he called out her name.

Being the gentleman he is, Elijah let her go first, allowing her to state,

“Elijah… that night, I know I walked away from you. But that… that doesn’t quite change the way I feel about you.”

Elijah thought his heart could possibly not beat any faster upon hearing those words. He waited in silence as he let her continue,

“I dread where our paths lead. I can’t help but think that we shouldn’t go that way, but you keep popping into my thoughts when I’m alone. Your smile, your mannerisms… I… I-”

But before she could continue further, Elijah hugged her tightly to him. The Original vampire felt relief flow through him as he whispered to her,

“I feel the same way.”

Elizabeth’s hand slowly rose from her sides as they were about to land on his back to return the hug, but despite her words and her own feelings for the man, she hesitated, leaving her hands in the air as they shook from the little sense of dread that would not disappear. Could she really do this? Though this body was from this world, the real Elizabeth was not. She had knowledge that could change so many things.

With that thought, she slowly lowered her hands, which had turned to fists as she felt a sadness develop through her as she thought how she had to lie to all the Mikaelsons she had come to care for.

When Elijah put his hands on her shoulder, he smiled down at her, causing her to return a small one back. Elijah wondered why she still looked so sad, an unfathomable depth of pain in her eyes reflecting back at him.

And at that moment, he swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to get rid of the pain she stored, the one making her keep a distance between them away. To find a way for Elizabeth to smile without worry and pain one day.

Not too long after they had confessed to each other, Elena had stepped back to them. Elena quickly took note of the closeness Elijah kept towards Elizabeth, as he asked Elena,

“So how was my mother?”

Elena let out a breath as she stated, “Intense.”

Elijah furrowed his brows, as he asked,

“And for what reason did she need to speak with you in private?”

Elizabeth then spotted the waiter that approached them. Elijah took two glasses and handed Elizabeth one whilst taking hold of his. Elizabeth bit her lower lip in worry before chugging hers before grabbing Elijah’s.

Elijah smirked, but the waiter had already moved by them. He just shook his head and put a hand on Elizabeth’s lower back, making a shiver run down Elizabeth. She internally apologized at him as she gave him a mischievous smile. Elena noticed a apologetic gleam in Elizabeth’s eyes and started to panic when Esther stated,

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Waiters are coming round with champagne. I invite you all to join me in raising a glass. It provides me with no greater joy than to see my family back together as one. I’d like to thank you all for being part of this spectacular evening. Cheers.”

Elijah just chuckled as Elizabeth eagerly took a second drunk. Elizabeth quickly wiped any drop of champagne that could have stuck to her lips just in case. With that Elena walked away, not sure what to think about Elizabeth’s strange actions.

During that time, Elizabeth set the glass down and then said,

“Sorry. I really needed that.”

Elijah just shook his head as he silently said, “Would you like to step out for a moment?”

Elizabeth nodded, a blush covering her face as she felt a slight twinge. Fresh air would help immensely. As the two stepped out, Elizabeth felt the brisk air hit her, giving her relief from the stuffiness of the building.

Elijah studied Elizabeth as she seemed to gather herself and then stare at the night sky, as she said out loud,

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The stars. I always wished as a kid to reach them one day.”

Elijah noticed the longing look in Elizabeth’s eyes, seeing something vulnerable from Elizabeth for the first moment other than that time she had admitted as to what led her to become Atalanta.

His smile died down as he quietly said, to her,

“It is beautiful.”

Something in Elijah’s tone caused Elizabeth to turn to him. But the intense look in his eyes caused Elizabeth to freeze as she couldn’t help but feel her heart race.

“Elijah?” she whispered.

His left hand took hold of one of her hands as he said,

“Give me the opportunity to open your heart. Whatever pain and hurt has left you so cold and distant. Let me help you with that. Whatever future ailments you get, let me share that with you.”

Elizabeth took in a breath as he looked at her, putting his other hand to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch as she wanted to do just that.

But could she truly be vulnerable? Could she truly let go of her worries? Just maybe, could she share who she was with him? After all, hadn’t she wanted to do just that with someone. Someone to take her out of the darkness and drowning sensation she had felt for ages. That special someone to make her want to see the sun and stars all over again. To be able to trust someone.

Elijah sensed the inner turmoil the woman in front of him seemed to going through as he couldn’t help but look towards her lips. Elizabeth sensed him leaning in towards her, and reciprocated until their lips touched.

The kiss they shared was gentle, filled with the longing from both individuals to just have that one person they could let in. Neither having done that for a very long time in their respective lives.

Chapter Text

A/N: Hello everyone! I am back with this story too! It’s been a while due to finishing up undergrad, but I am finally here! Just as a warning, there is talk of suicide in this story, so I will mark that part for those who do not wish to see the explicit parts about that!

I apologize for the much shorter chapter, but here is a chapter nonetheless!

Thank you everyone for your support and love, and please continue to leave comments and follow this story!

Chapter 13: Repercussions and Confessions

“every night her thoughts weighed

heavily on her soul but every morning

she would get up to fight another day,

every night she survived.”

-r.h. sin

“Confession is always weakness.

The grave soul keeps its own secrets,

and takes its own punishment in silence.”

-Dorothy Dix

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes when Elijah sighed. Not too long after, they separated as a commotion sounded from within the building. Elizabeth looked up at him as she asked him,

“What’s wrong?”

Elijah tiredly responded with, “It’s my brother, Kol. He’s causing trouble again. He never could resist.”

Elizabeth chuckled at that as she said, “Sounds a lot like someone I know.”

Elijah could only shake his head in amusement. It did prompt them to move closer to the source and witness all the events that followed. Not too long after, Elizabeth bode Elijah a good night and headed back to her place. Elijah reluctantly let her go, but was feeling lighthearted despite everything.

As he walked back in, he heard his mother come up to him and exasperatedly admit,

“No violence. That was all I asked. Rebekah and Kol disgraced our family tonigt!”

Elijah’s brows furrowed a little at the bitterness to his mother’s tone, but thought nothing of it as he said,

“It won’t happen again, mother. I’ll deal with them.”

Esther smiled warily as she put her hand on her son’s cheek, looking grateful as she said to him,

“Thank you. Elijah. I wish the others were more like you.”

With that, she let Elijah go. The man did not notice the guilty look of his older brother, who had been hiding in the shadows and watching the interaction with their mother. But he quickly hid it as he appeared where Elijah used to be as he asked,

“Are we alright to speak freely?”

Esther sighed as she answered him with,

“Yes. The sage still burns.”

Finn closed the door behind him as he asked, “Are you having second thoughts?”

Esther looked at her eldest son with a curious glint in her eyes as she said,

“Of course not. It’s just Elijah… He’s so moral.”

Finn became quiet, feeling conflict in his heart as he told his mother,

“You’re doing the right thing, mother.”

The curiosity in his mother’s eyes seemed to disappear as she smiled warmly at him and said,

“You understand what this means, don’t you? This spell I’m casting tonight will bind you all together as one.”

Finn swallowed thickly as he responded with, “I understand. When it is time, I will be ready to die.”

Esther walked up to him as she grabbed his hand, stating, “Then we must complete the link.”

With that, she took the knife in her hand and cut his palm. The blood fell onto paper with the names of her children. What Esther did not know, however, was that the blood of Elijah, though it did creep towards his name, never fully reached it, as Finn distracted his mother just enough to ensure that she was not looking at it carefully.

As this was happening, Elizabeth felt a sense of dread wash over her. Her body shivered from the sensation, but she wasn’t sure where that had come from. When this had happened, Elizabeth had been drawing for her day job, and it took her a second before realizing what it could have been. It must have been something to do with the link. Feeling hesitant, she looked at her phone, unsure if she should call Finn Mikaelson. Earlier, he had given her his phone number, but she never thought that she would want to call him.

But she sighed and decided against it, thinking that she might be overreacting to the sensation. After all, the night was chilly.

~~ ….. ~~

The next day, Elizabeth was walking around town as she was trying to buy more paint for herself when she gets a text from Elijah regarding burnt sage. She sighed at the worry he was indicating. Although she did manage to take the champagne from Elijah the night of the dance, she wasn’t sure if Esther did something in-between. She responded that she could see him soon if he gave her the time and place, but it didn’t take long for the Original to find her.

As Elizabeth stepped out of the shop, Elijah walked up to her and quickly took her things for her as he started to say,

“I’m sorry to interrupt your work, but there is something about my mother’s behavior and Ms. Gilbert’s response from last night that does not settle well with me.”

Elizabeth sighed as she said, “I personally don’t know your mother Elijah, so I cannot say much. But if you think they did something, how about confronting Elena first?”

Elijah seemed to hesitate for a moment as he said, “I’m afraid that it would require some… unsavory behavior on my part if I do so.”

Elizabeth took her things again as they approached her car, as she answered him with,

“Honestly, I don’t think I would do any better. I have fallen out of her grace a long time before this. If anyone is going to be civil with her, it’s you.”

Elijah did not seem to ecstatic about this, but hid his emotions well as he told her,

“Well, it that is going to be the plan, might I request that you look after my brothers Klaus and Kol for me? They headed to the Grill and I would like an extra pair of eyes to look after them.”

Elizabeth chuckled as she asked him, “What are they, five?”

Elijah’s grim facial features finally lightened slightly, as amusement showed in his eyes and the slight lift of the corner of his mouth as he responded,

“It certainly feels like it.”

Elizabeth put her things into her vehicle before stepping back from Elijah, as she said,

“Will do. You owe me for that though.”

Elijah nodded. As Elizabeth started to turn around to walk towards the Grill, he quickly caught her wrist and said,

“If there is anything troubling you, you will tell me, right?”

Elizabeth tensed at that, which did not go unnoticed by Elijah. All he saw was a sad smile come across her features as she whispered to him,

“One day, I will. Or at least… that’s what I hope.”

Elijah did not know how to respond, as she briskly walked away, acting as if nothing was wrong. Something about her words bothered him, but he had a different task to handle.

When Elizabeth arrived and entered the Grill, she heard Kol state,

“And why would I do that? I like pretty little things with sharp tongues.”

Upon hearing that comment, Elizabeth frowned, not sure if she really liked what he said, but Alaric distracted her as she saw him angrily state,

“Pretty sure she told you to get lost.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she recognized what was unfolding as she rushed forward, but she was too late as she watched the dagger go through Kol’s heart. Elizabeth witnessed Kol collapse when a searing pain entered her heart. She grunted as a flash of annoyance went through her eyes.

She did not lose consciousness, but the pain led to a rush of adrenaline as she witnessed Kol get dragged away. Still in pain, Atalanta slowly followed them, not caring at the worried looks people gave her.

Atalanta was sweating and had a pale complexion once she arrived to hear Damon state,

“Tell the sexy doctor good work.”

Atalanta huffed as she said, “Oh, really? Is this what this is?”

Damon whirled around in shock, calling out to her. “Beth? What’s wrong?”

But before she could respond, Klaus arrived, taking the dagger from Kol as the crew was distracted. This spurred Atalanta to shove Alaric against the wall and fending off Stefan Salvatore.

But Stefan was able to overpower her and throw her to the opposite wall. Her head hit the wall pretty hard and she was recovering from the impact when Klaus threw Stefan off of her. That was when he rushed to Damon and said,

“I should have killed you months ago.”

Damon took a worried glance at Atalanta as he sarcastically said,

“Do it. That’s not gonna stop Esther from killing you.”

Klaus froze as he asked in horror, “What did you say about my mother?”

Damon rolled his eyes as he said,

“You didn’t know I was friends with your mummy? Yeah, we have a lot in common. She hates you as much as I do.”

Enraged, Klaus was about to murder Damon when Elijah rushed in and held Atalanta to him as he caressed her hair and yelled out to his brother,

“Leave him! We still need him, Niklaus.”

Klaus turned around and finally spotted Atalanta, who was a lot better, but still leaning against Elijah or support. Klaus could barely contain his rage as he emotionally asked,

“What did mother do? What did she do, Elijah?”

Elijah then took out his phone and said to Damon,

“You tell me where the witches are, or I’ll have my sister kill Elena right now.”

Atalanta finally stood upright, feeling her chest still feel sore as Damon responded with,

“You told me we had until after 9:00.”

Atalanta huffed as she responded with, “I’m sure Rebekah’d be more than happy to start her work early, given her dislike for Elena.”

Damon tensed at that response and gave up. The Salvatore brothers and Alaric walked away quickly, and Atalanta sighed as the pain completely went away. But something seemed to linger, and she felt like she had no energy to do anything for the rest of the day.

 She touched the back of her head, feeling relief that there was no blood. She looked over at Klaus, who appeared to be on the brink of tears, but also fuming in anger. Elizabeth sighed as she put a hand on his shoulder and said,

“You should help Kol. He’s not going to be that happy this took place.”

Klaus took in a few breaths before nodding as he started to help his brother up whilst asking,

“Are you alright?”

Elizabeth shrugged and said, “Nothing I haven’t gone through before. I’ll be fine.”

Elijah and Klaus’ eyes met, showing concern, but both did not voice it. Elijah then hugged Elizabeth as he said,

“It would make me immensely happy if you would go home and rest. I’m worried about you having a concussion.”

Elizabeth chuckled as she responded with, “That’s solid. Maybe I will take a nap. I am feeling tired. But Elijah, if you need any help, call me.”

Elijah cupped Elizabeth’s cheek and said warmly, “Always.”

Satisfied, Elizabeth went home and as she had told the Mikaelson brothers, decided to take a nap.

Soon, it became darker, and night was upon everyone. Elizabeth rose from her bed, feeling a sense of dread and depression that she felt unlike ever before. Standing up, the white night dress that she had worn for the night flowed as she walked towards her door in bare feet.

And despite her fight for her control over her body, something shifted and everything went black as the deep sadness in her being took over.

In the abandoned witch house, Finn was waiting by Esther, sensing something was off, but tried to ignore it as he said to Esther,

“They’re coming mother.”

Esther immediately looked concerned as she looked over to Bonnie and Abby, as she said,

“No. It’s too soon. The moon is not high enough. Go quickly.”

Bonnie and Abby rushed into the house just as Klaus, Elijah, and Kol arrived.

Esther smiled warmly, despite the ominous setup she had prepared, as she said,

“My sons, come forward.”

Finn remained quiet, sensing something was still off about his mother’s behavior. He wanted to believe nothing was wrong, but something seemed to continuously throw him off. But Esther took his conflicted facial expression as one of worry, as she said to him,

“It’s ok. They can’t enter.”

With that, Esther rested a hand on Finn’s shoulder. Kol, not having caught Finn’s facial expression like his two brothers by his side, frustratedly said,

“That’s lovely. We are stuck out here while the favorite son plays sacrificial lamb. How pathetic you are, Finn.”

Elijah put a hand on Kol’s shoulder, restraining him from rushing forward while Esther responded in kind,

“Be quiet, Kol. Your brother knows virtue you cannot even imagine.”

Elijah noted how Finn looked at him almost guiltily. Ever since Elijah had seen Finn approach Elizabeth during the dance, he felt jealousy rage through him like none other. Even with Niklaus, he did not feel that, but Finn seemed to know what he did not, and it made him that much more impatient. He wanted to check in on her, and yet, here he was due to his fractured family.

With that, he said,

“Whatever you think of us, killing your own children would be an atrocity.”

Esther smiled sadly at him as she said, “My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago.”

Klaus angrily yelled out, “Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, mother, or I’ll send you back in hell.”

Esther teared up as she answered,

“For a thousand years, I’ve been forced to watch you, felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility you’re no better. All of you… you’re a curse on this earth stretched out over generations. If you’ve to plead for your life… I’m sorry. You’ve wasted your time. And if you especially believe that your hunter will save you now, I wouldn’t trust her to come here.”

Elijah, Klaus and Finn all tensed at that. Finn whirled around to face his mother as he asked her,

“Mother? What are you? Are you talking about Atalanta?”

Klaus angrily walked as close as possible he could as he yelled out, “What have you done to her?!”

Elijah fidgeted, the fear finally settling in. Esther finally released a smile as she said,

“What she has always secretly wanted.”

Finn froze even further if that was possible. The three Mikaelsons watched him pale as he whispered,

“Mother, what have you done? She does not deserve that!”

Esther’s eyes widened as she looked at her eldest son, telling him, “Surely you have not come to care for the girl?”

Elijah frowned as he did not understand the situation, but his heart almost shattered as Finn did not deny their mother’s question with his silence.

Esther seemed exasperated about that, when Finn started to back out from the pentagram slowly.

“Finn?”

Esther called out, but Finn shook his head as he whispered out,

“Everything else, I have agreed with you, but mother, I cannot accept this one thing. She does not deserve death. I’m sorry, mother.”

With that, Finn Mikaelson rushed out of the clearing, running as fast as he could. Elijah looked towards Klaus, who nodded, indicating for him to go after Finn and find out what their mother had done.

~~ ….. ~~ Please skip if you do not like implied suicide scenes! ~~ ….. ~~

Meanwhile on the beach, as Finn and Elijah Mikaelson rushed towards her, Elizabeth’s eyes were dull as she continued walking, feet slightly bloody from the walk to the lake.

As she reached the water, she paused as Elizabeth struggled to regain control over her body and escape from all the guilt, the sadness that rushed over her as memories from the actual Elizabeth took over.

All the blood that she had spilt, the longing to see her family again. The suffering the Elizabeth from this world had gone through hit her with such a force that she began to walk into the lake. Slowly, she put one foot in front of the other as she continued to struggle. A tear slipped down her eye as she got deeper into the lake.

By the time she was waist deep into the water, Finn arrived at the lake. He paled even further at the sight of Elizabeth walking further into the lake. Elijah arrived just as Finn rushed into the water, trying to reach Elizabeth. As if sensing the Originals’ arrivals, Elizabeth rushed into the lake faster.

Elijah froze at the sight, unable to understand how this could have happened. Esther had hinted that this was what Elizabeth had secretly wanted all this time, but he never had seen it. How could she have wanted to die this whole time. This was when he was brought back to the discussion he had with her in the past,

The ride was a bit quiet until Elijah asked, “May I ask what got you into this business?”

Elizabeth frowned before answering, “I entered this business like most people.”

Elijah answered with, “The loss of a loved one.”

Elizabeth gave him a bitter smile and said, “It’s… something more on the gruesome side. The reason I don’t specialize in just vampires is because of this. I ran across some beings that… well, it required years of hunting and tracking to get them down.”

Elijah studied her as he noted the sad tone she spoke in. Whoever she lost, he realized that left the woman next to him full with holes and made her different… she became stronger. Now he wondered what kind of woman she was like beforehand.

Elizabeth, as if knowing his thoughts, tightened her grip on the steering wheel and said,

“Hunting… it changes one’s life and attitude towards the world. You have the knowledge that these things that go bump in the night exist in reality. You learn how to kill them, but you can’t sit still because you know there’s more harm in ignoring their existence, denying it. And then you realize you only continue losing more and more of those around you despite saving innocent people. It was hard coming to terms with that.”

Elijah nodded, not sure what to say to that. He was one of those creatures that she had sworn to hunt. But here she was, studying and calculating each and every one of them, never letting anyone close to her because of this.

“What were you like before you started hunting?” He asked out of the blue.

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, completely losing her cold and empty focus at that question. She thought on it and cautiously said,

“Ignorant. Naïve? I’m not sure anymore. It’s been so long.”

He felt helpless as he could only watch his older brother reach Elizabeth as he yelled out,

“Elizabeth, stop!”

But the woman started to struggle against the Original’s grip as she tried to go in further. At this point, she was neck deep into the water, submerging into it as she struggled. Finn wrapped his arms around her waist as he backed them out towards the sand. Elizabeth screamed in anguish, as the real Elizabeth’s memories brought back the never-ending pain. But for a quick second, something else ripped through her, someone else’s memories, that hurt, as she recalled the various memories of a past that she had never experience in various points in history.

Upon hearing her scream, Elijah rushed into the lake, joining his brother and helping him bring Elizabeth back to solid land. Finn looked towards his brother, who looked lost and almost angry with himself as he cradled the woman who had just lost consciousness and muttered to himself,

“I didn’t know.”

Finn remained quiet as he watched the woman intensely. The way his younger brother cradled the woman, he knew that he had no chance with her, knowing who she was from their mother, but he wished that it had been him, and not Elijah, doing the action.

Despite not knowing the woman well, something about her pulled him in. Perhaps it was the words they had shared before in this very spot earlier.

Elizabeth turned around and said,

“I know what it is like to lose loved ones. To feel the anger, the hatred, the despair. All of it, I had experienced.”

Finn looked at her, bewildered that she would share something like this with him. He quietly listened as she continued to say,

“But do you know the worst of it? I found that because of who I had become, the guilt, to hatred, really was towards myself. And soon enough, I quickly tired of hunting. My anger was spent, and what really came out of it? A monster who shed blood for revenge. How disappointed my family would be with who I turned out to be.”

Finn saw the bitter smile she wore as she looked him straight in the eyes and said,

“I grew tired of living, Finn. I hated what I had become. People, monsters, they all fear me. The way they look at me when they realize who I am, they react like those who know of Klaus. Every night, I ask myself, ‘why?’. In the mornings, I don’t want to get up. It’s a disaster really.”

With that she chuckled, and Finn felt something stir in him at the woman’s confession to him. His mother had warned him that because of who she is, Elizabeth was dangerous, but he only saw a fragile, broken woman who powered on despite everything she experienced.

But he was brought back to the present when Elizabeth smiled more warmly to him as she said,

“So Finn Mikaelson, give life a chance. Go find Sage, and live. You’re not a monster because of who you were forced to become. You deserve that. If you cannot forgive your family, then I’ll help you find a fresh start so you can manage living in the present with her.”

Finn finally broke out of his memory as Elizabeth sputtered out a bit of water, coughing. Immediately, Elijah and Finn held their breaths in anticipation as Elizabeth opened her eyes. A look of confusion and guilt was present as she looked around. Elijah immediately took his jacket off and handed it to Elizabeth, who started to shiver from the cold air. He cupped her cheek once more as he asked her,

“Are you alright?”

~~ ….. ~~ It’s good to look now! ~~…..~~

Elizabeth looked up at the Original who was looking down at her. Elijah let out a breath of relief when Elizabeth nodded slowly. They had gotten to her in time and Elijah was feeling the relief over the conflicted anger and jealousy he had earlier. Meanwhile, Finn sighed as he stood up and said,

“Elijah, you should return her to her place before she falls ill.”

Elijah looked up at his brother in surprise, only to be shocked by the look of surrender he found in Finn. It was as if something in his brother finally broke and they were now on the same page. Elijah nodded gratefully, before lifting Elizabeth and rushing out of the area.

Finn watched them disappear before finally heading back to the Mikaelson mansion. Something in him still longed for Sage, but it seemed that with the past 900 years, he had only wanted a proper closure with the woman.

When he arrived, Klaus immediately stood up as he approached his older brother, asking,

“How is she? What did mother do?”

Rebekah was also waiting there, worry etched into her features whilst Kol was just lounging without much care. He was the only one who did not come to really learn about Elizabeth, and was bored out of his mind. As he was playing with a rubber ball, Finn answered,

“We got to her just in time. Elizabeth was… she almost drowned, but Elijah got to her in time and is on his way to her house.”

Klaus nodded, relief filling his eyes and Rebekah put a hand to her chest as she let out a breath of relief. Finn looked at the difference in his siblings that he finally noticed. It was as if the woman had unified his fractured family slowly, but surely. As he was thinking this, Klaus studied his older brother with amusement. It seemed that Elizabeth had worked her magic on the boring Finn Mikaelson too.

He then asked,

“And you brother? Why did you return here when mother had abandoned us all after her failed attempt at filicide?”

Finn looked down at the ground, guilt overcoming him as he said,

“I realized, that mother may not have the best of intentions. Elizabeth had told me that.”

Klaus smiled a little as he said, “Though your sins for plotting against our family is heavy, I know that mother, despite her love, has developed a poisonous mind. I, am a monster.”

With that, Klaus provided a smirk that sent a chill down Finn’s spine, but he was surprised when Klaus put a hand on his shoulder and said,

“But brother, you are not. If Elizabeth offered you a second chance, it means that she sees something in you that we have yet to see. So welcome, and we hope that you prove her right.”

Finn’s tenseness remained as Kol stood up, irritated, as he retaliated with,

“I don’t know if this is wise, brother. After all, isn’t it him, that helped mother develop the plot to kill us all? I say we dagger him again and leave him be.”

Finn once again looked down on the ground, as he looked ashamed of his former actions, but Rebekah walked up to Finn’s side as she said,

“Hasn’t he been through enough? The fact that we had daggered him for so long led to this night. Shouldn’t we offer him a second chance?”

Kol angrily spoke up with, “What? Because some girl saw something in our brother? You’re going to believe the words of some harlot over-”

But he did not get to finish when Klaus rushed over to him and hissed out,

“You may say something to us, dear Kol, but not one word against her. She has gotten hurt, risked her life, and saved several members of this family selflessly. I think that warrants something, does that not?”

Kol shoved Klaus away from him, but grew quiet, knowing that he would be the one to get daggered if he continued on. He stomped out of the room, vowing to familiarize himself with this Elizabeth woman that his family had somehow become obsessed with.

~~ ….. ~~

Meanwhile, Elijah finally arrived at Elizabeth’s house. By this time, Elizabeth had regained her senses and was holding tightly onto Elijah. When he carefully set her down on her porch, Elizabeth hugged his jacket tighter around herself as she muttered out a ‘thank you’.

Elijah sat down next to her, knowing that she might not invite him into her house, but he patiently waited for her. Elizabeth looked down at the ground in shame as she said,

“I’m sorry this had happened.”

She could sense some type of disappointment from him as he sat next to her, and she couldn’t hold the apology back. The man, however, did not outwardly show his true feelings, like usual.

He quietly held her hand as he asked her,

“What for? This is not your fault, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth finally stopped shivering as she responded with,

“You did not need to see this Elijah. This… I don’t really know what happened, but it was as if… as if I was looking at someone else’s memories and that somehow took hold of me.”

It wasn’t necessarily a lie on Elizabeth’s part. She did, after all, come from a different universe and somehow was parading around as this world’s version of it. However, she wasn’t sure how to explain that part.

But as she tightened her grip on his hand, he said,

“We will figure this out together. You should rest. I will check in on you in the morning.”

With that, both people stood up from the porch and Elizabeth hesitated at her door. Looking back, she saw Elijah still in his suit, slightly soaked due to his efforts to save her from the fiasco earlier, but still, she could tell that he was worried about her.

With a sigh, she turned around and hugged him. Elijah tensed at the sudden hug, but quickly hugged her back, comforting her by brushing his fingers through her hair. As they stood like that for a moment, Elizabeth said,

“I… I am aware of what happened, but Elijah, I want you to know that this… this is a battle I have to win. I am ashamed that you had to find out this way, but when the time comes, I want you to know everything.”

Elijah stepped back a little to get a better look at her face. He saw Elizabeth’s vulnerable side tonight, something she did not easily show anyone, and that was enough for today. He would wait for her. Whatever it took. With that, he kissed her forehead before saying,

“I will wait for that day. But know this, you are not alone anymore. I will be there with you to fight by your side. Whatever that is.”

Elizabeth looked up at him and saw the love in his eyes. Her heart started to beat faster as she couldn’t help but fall into the depths of his eyes. As she was mesmerized, so was Elijah, who started to lean down until their lips finally met.

Unlike other kisses, Elijah was that much more gentle with her, that much more patient. But it slowly grew in passion as the understanding and love they shared continued to escalate. When they finally separated for air,

Elizabeth panted as their foreheads remained together, whispering,

“Elijah, would you like to come in?”

Elijah studied Elizabeth, to see if this offer was genuine, that it was not from her painful experience, but he did not see any ingenuity.

With that, he smiled warmly as he said,

“I would love to.”

Chapter Text

“There are some secrets which do not permit themselves to be told.”

-Edgar Allan Poe

Elizabeth woke up to find herself wrapped in Elijah’s arms in her bed. They were fully clothed, but after talking with him last night, she had invited him to stay the night. She smiled slightly at the peaceful look he had on his features, and put a gentle kiss on his forehead before slipping out quietly.

She took a quick shower and walked back out with jeans and a comfy shirt on, her hair still wet. When she came out from her bathroom, she smelled food cooking, and wandered downstairs to her kitchen, finding Elijah making eggs. Elizabeth smiled warmly at the sight before saying,

“You did not have to do this.”

Elijah smiled from where he was standing, scrambling the eggs for her as he said, “Let’s just say that I am repaying the favor from long time ago.”

Elizabeth shook her head at that and went to prepare her coffee. As her coffee was getting ready, Elijah said,

“I do need to visit my house. Despite everything,  I need to go check in on my siblings.”

Elizabeth sighed, knowing that she could not join him today, as her work was slightly behind schedule. She went up to him and responded with,

“Be careful will you? I understand if you need some time separate from this whole ordeal.”

Elijah shook his head as he responded with, “I was rather thinking if you would be willing to house me here for a few days. Yes, I do need time away from Klaus, but I do think that after everything, we deserve a little time to ourselves.”

The huntress hugged him from behind as he started to pate her breakfast. She whispered to him,

“If you can deal with my occasional hunting, then sure, I don’t have a problem with that. If Rebekah needs a place to stay, she has one here as well, as long as she doesn’t wreak havoc and bring other people inside.”

Elijah set down the frying pan in the proper place, and then grabbed her hands as he answered,

“I will tell her that. Although, you should prepare to hear a few complaints from her. Despite everything, she does rather love living a lavish lifestyle.”

Elizabeth chuckled at that and shook her head as she grabbed the plate and said,

“Thanks for the breakfast this morning and your patience yesterday. I know that I didn’t tell you everything about me, but those will be for later days.”

Elijah nodded at that and put a hand to her cheek as he said, “I will wait. As long as you need me to.”

Elizabeth leaned into his touch, before unwillingly stepping back to eat her breakfast. Elijah watched her eat for a few minutes and then headed out.

With that, a few days passed, and Elijah had moved a few of his things into Elizabeth’s house, being the first vampire to have been invited into the threshold. Rebekah had rejected the offer, stating that she had purchased a different building for herself, as she did not want to intrude. But Elizabeth had seen the smirk and wink the Original vampire offered her at the mention of how much fun Elijah and she would have together.

Elizabeth had blushed at that but denied that she was feeling flustered at that insinuation.

During their times together, Elijah had discovered that on top of working as an artist and cartoonist, Elizabeth had used to go hunting late at night, sometimes staying at cheap motels outside of town to go hunting for supernatural creatures.

He had followed her on one trip and found that Atalanta was amusing, but terrifying on one trip.

~~ ….. ~~

Elizabeth walked into her house after an exhibition, where Elijah was writing into his journal. He looked up to find her reading a note before folding it and pocketing it. Elizabeth met his curious glance and said,

“I’m afraid that I can’t get out of a hunt tonight.”

Elijah smiled and answered that with, “Well, I did not have much of a plan for us tonight anyway. If you would have me, Ms. Kim, I would be delighted to join you.”

The huntress smiled at that warmly, where the Original vampire noticed the intensity of her glance change, as the woman said,

“I would love to have you join Mr. Mikaelson.”

Hours later, Elijah was walking behind Atalanta in a forest. Apparently Atalanta had heard back from two brothers who hunted throughout the United States, reporting a potential demon activity nearby.

He had raised his suspicions about the existence of demons, but he was proven how very wrong he was when they had stopped at a nearby town and there were reports of unnatural occurrences of people disappearing and strange weather. Whatever it was, when they arrived, he had not expected to come across scenes of heinous crimes and lawlessness. Elijah saw people erupting chaos during the middle of the night and felt an overwhelming protective side show up, but was stopped when Atalanta had smirked almost evilly at the people before rushing into the crowd.

She had ignored most of the chaos in itself, somehow managing to track down the person possessed by the demon causing the whole situation. All Elijah could do was follow instructions as Atalanta had so nicely put,

“I’ll handle this creature. Watch and learn Mr. Mikaelson, of the other creatures that bump in the night.”

With that, he had made a pentagram on the ground with salt, and had prepared the holy water that Atalanta owned. Apparently it came in handy to have a hunter contact who was also a priest close to this town.

When he watched her tie down the demon and step back, Atalanta had asked what the purpose of some of the crimes the demon had caused were. But nothing was said, and when Atalanta was finally fed up, she started to chant an exorcism, which started with,

“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion infernalis…”

While she had been chanting, Elijah struggled to watch the person in front of them convulsing before a black spirit had finally been expelled and destroyed. Once she was done, Elijah could hear the pandemonium outside die down and watched as Atalanta gently untied the person before setting them down on the floor gently.

All he could think at that time was how much he did not know about the woman he had been falling in love with.

~~ ….. ~~

And yet, despite all that, what Elijah himself did not know, was that Elizabeth was hiding a huge secret that could potentially shake his own sense of reality. However, a bigger secret was kept hidden even to Elizabeth herself, as she did not know what kind of fate was awaiting her.

With that, days passed by peacefully, or at least for the couple as they took this time to get to know each other. They went on dates outside of town, making sure to ask simple questions such as, ‘what is your favorite color’ and ‘what do you like to do as a pastime’. In this time, Finn had gone off to search for his former lover Sage after having gotten adjusted to modern life. He had the help of both Elijah and Elizabeth regarding this, as he did not feel that comfortable talking to his younger siblings just yet.

Time continued to pass by, and they were able to grow closer together and felt more comfortable sharing about what each other were like as individuals. Elijah could only shake his head at Elizabeth’s love for painting, a hobby which she shared with Niklaus. And both individuals had hoped that this peacefulness could continue to go on for longer.

However, the supernatural events at Mystic Falls dragged both of them back in when Rebekah had called them back into the drama about Finn and Sage’s arrival back to Mystic Falls.

Elizabeth sighed as she walked onto the Wickery Bridge to find Damon talking to Sage, who had Finn by her side. Elizabeth smiled at Finn before hearing Sage introduce to Finn,

“Damon Salvatore. My favorite student.”

Damon smirked and winked at her, causing Finn to growl under his breath, which did not go unnoticed by Elizabeth as she approached them while Damon said,

“Sage, my hottest teacher. What are you doing here?”

Sage smiled as she said, “Well, when Finn called me and said he wanted to show me Mystic Falls, I couldn’t refuse.”

Rebekah flashed in and smiled at the huntress as she said, “Hello Elizabeth, you look beautiful as always.”

But the cheerfulness died down rather quickly when she spotted who her eldest brother was with, and groaned out,

“Look what the cat dragged in.”

Elizabeth elbowed the Original vampire slightly, causing Rebekah to roll her eyes as while Damon said,

“Easy there, Rebekah. You know, she used to beat men for sport. And Elizabeth, Rebekah is right, you are looking quite fetching today.”

The woman could only shake her head at that. Sure, she was wearing jeans, a leather jacket, and a black cap on, but she wouldn’t say that she looked beautiful. She had only come because Rebekah had asked her to. She merely responded with,

“Good to see you all. But why did you call me Rebekah?”

Rebekah shook her head, signaling that she would elaborate later before turning to Sage and asking,

“What are you doing here, Sage?”

There was less poison in the Original’s voice, and Finn smiled a little gratefully at Elizabeth for that. Elizabeth shrugged as Sage said,

“Well, I heard Finn was finally freed from that casket your rageaholic brother Klaus carted him around in. and when Finn called me, I couldn’t not come by.”

Finn tightened his hold on Sage, but Rebekah frowned at that. She was sure that she had seen Finn harbor something for Elizabeth, though she did not support that relationship at all. However, that would be better than him sticking with Sage. Rebekah sighed as she said,

“Well, enjoy yourselves. Elizabeth, I need to ask you for a favor.”

With that, Rebekah walked off, and Elizabeth followed her. Damon’s eyes trailed after Elizabeth, not sure how his friend had become so involved with his enemies.

Meanwhile, when Elizabeth was sure that they were not within hearing distance, stopped Rebekah and asked,

“What is it?”

Rebekah sighed and finally said, “I heard something about there being more White Oaks in the area. I’m trying to figure out a way to get rid of all of them. As much as I dislike Finn right now and Nik is being an arse, I don’t want them to die.”

Elizabeth nodded and said, “Be wary of Damon Salvatore, will you? As much as a charmer he is, he is still not on your side.”

Rebekah raised an eyebrow at her and asked, “Are you worried about me? You know I’m an Original.”

Elizabeth laughed a little at that and said, “I know you’re capable of protecting yourself. But be careful. I can’t help but worry about you like a sister sometimes.”

Rebekah smiled a little at that revelation before saying, “I am technically older than you, you know?”

Elizabeth smirked as she walked away as responded back with a,

“Yes, but you’re still a teenager!”

Rebekah shook her head at that comment, liking how Elizabeth treated her as a person. Warning her, but not preventing her from doing her own actions. The moment Elizabeth reached her car, however, the woman had the sense of dread settle in, as she recognized that it was close enough for Elena and her friends to murder Finn.

The woman bit her lower lip in frustration before deciding to call Elijah into it. If she was going to prevent this from happening, she had to have a good enough lie to tell everyone. Especially the Originals.

By the time she had finished calling Elijah, the Original had been infuriated at the gall Elena Gilbert had to come to such a fatal decision, and not too later, the Mikaelson siblings held an emergency family meeting including Finn and Sage as well.

The Original hybrid was the one especially infuriated and wanted to immediately head over to the Wickery Bridge and start burning things down. But Rebekah had decided to go with Sage to deal with that issue whilst the others decided to be more wary about the situation. For now, Finn had agreed to play the role of bait as Elijah and Elizabeth volunteered to watch out for him.

After the meeting, Elijah drove Elizabeth up to the Wickery Bridge, before the sun was setting. Elijah walked over with her to see her open the trunk and take out a shovel. He raised an eyebrow at her as he extended his hand out to take it.

Elizabeth looked at him momentarily before giving him the shovel and asking him,

“Would you mind digging up that sign over there?”

The Original vampire gentleman looked over at where she was pointing, only to find the Wickery Bridge sign. He glanced at her as he started to walk over towards the sign, curiously asking,

“And why is this sign of any significance, if I may ask?”

Elizabeth smirked as she saw Rebekah and Sage arriving behind them, stating,

“Because Damon Salvatore apparently made the sign out of White Oak as well.”

Elijah stopped digging momentarily, though he had just started, as he commented,

“And how did you come with this information?”

Elizabeth shrugged as she mysteriously responded with, “I have my sources.”

Elijah sighed. He had asked her where her sources were from time to time, but the woman had always shrugged it off, stating that she was sworn to not reveal her information sources’ identities for their protection.

When he finally dug enough up and pulled out the sign, Elizabeth smiled and took it from him, pushing it into the trunk. Elijah sighed as Elizabeth explained,

“I know that it might be smarter to burn this now with the bridge, but I was hoping that we would have some firewood for tonight to burn altogether.”

Elijah chuckled at that when Rebekah and Sage arrived to see the two of them starting to get ready to leave the area. Rebekah walked up to them and asked,

“So should we act as planned then? I guess I have to deal with Sage, but if it’s for Finn, I guess I can deal with her for a few more moments.”

Sage smirked and said, “Admit it, I’m more fun than Elizabeth.”

Rebekah shrugged as she said, “Well, she has her moments, but she does deserve time with Elijah after everything that took place.”

Elizabeth laughed, making Elijah smile at the sound of her voice. He had the privilege to watch her truly be happy around him, and that made his heart beat faster despite everything. Elizabeth nudged Rebekah closer to the bridge as she suggested,

“You should get your task done. We’ll see you at the mansion in a bit.”

Rebekah nodded and started to prepare for the burning of the bridge with Sage, getting ready for Damon Salvatore to appear for their plans to start.

When they all met up again at the mansion, the huntress dragged the sign in, despite Elijah’s protests that he could easily lift the sign, Elizabeth had shrugged him off, stating that she could do just this.

Elijah trailed behind her as Klaus walked out of his room and said,

“Ah, Atalanta, I see that you were busy.”

Elizabeth sighed and said, “Yes, but we agreed to burn the last of the Wickery Bridge together, and this is it.”

Klaus walked over to the sign and looked at the wood, studying it before stating,

“Damon Salvatore is surely creative. I have to give him that.”

Kol walked in as well and said, “You should let me rip out his heart. Would you like to join me, sweetheart?”

Elizabeth ignored his flirting, not noticing Elijah’s frown at his younger brother’s advances to his girlfriend. When that word crossed his thoughts, however, he tensed slightly at how he wanted that word to be true. He wasn’t one for such labels, but in this instance, it sounded nice. Elizabeth focused on removing the metal plating of the sign as she started to cut down the wood. Klaus grabbed the wood for her as she took too long and started to break it with his bare hands himself.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at his theatrics when Rebekah walked in with Sage, Finn immediately coming out at his lover’s appearance. With that, all Originals gathered as Elizabeth pulled out her knife that had the black blade and serpent handle. Elijah swallowed slightly at the sight of the blade and Elizabeth smiled warmly as she said,

“It shouldn’t hurt too badly.”

Elijah chuckled and the rest of the Mikaelsons glanced at each other as they had never seen this side of their brother since their childhood days. Regardless, they didn’t comment as each and every one of them had blood collected from them, including Elizabeth, as they prepared to get unlinked to each other.

Once that was done, Elizabeth proceeded to go clean her blade. She had sat down in one of the sofas, cleaning it and sharpening the blade again, a ritual of sorts for the huntress as she fell into deep thought. She was thinking of how she had changed the order of all the events that she knew. Sure, Alaric might still become the dangerous hunter, but she had surely hoped that she had taken away all the means of White Oak.

As she was doing so, Elijah walked over to her and noticed her almost mindlessly cleaning her blade. Worried, he put a gentle hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump a little and nick her finger on her blade slightly. Cursing, she put the finger into her mouth to alleviate the pain. Elijah immediately apologized with,

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Elizabeth smiled up at him as she said, “It’s fine, I should have been more careful of what I was doing.”

Elijah took a hold of her arm, saying, “Let me take a look at that.”

She let him look at her finger, where a slight cut was on her fingertip, almost as light as a papercut. Elijah sighed at that as he said,

“Regardless of this, I still don’t like to see you hurt.”

With that, he took his handkerchief and wrapped it around her finger. Elizabeth smiled at that, when she looked at him, only to find him gently grabbing her hand, but looking at her lips with slight desire in his eyes. Elizabeth swallowed slightly, suddenly feeling nervous. She felt hot as her eyes glanced down to his lips, her own tongue coming out to wet her lips out of nervousness. That was when Elijah pulled her closer to him, making her body come flush against his and slamming his lips to her. Elizabeth gasped at his sudden move, unable to adjust quick enough as his tongue entered her mouth, making her shiver in excitement.

Elizabeth quickly reciprocated the kiss, only able to maintain her position because Elijah was holding onto her. Elijah growled a little as he felt Elizabeth’s fingers go through his hair and he stood them up, before flashing her into his room. He slammed her into his door, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. To help her breathe, he moved onto her neck, not being able to control his passion as his hips grinded into hers. Elizabeth couldn’t help but moan at the friction and sensations that Elijah was giving her. Her hands found his face and brought him back and slammed down her own lips to his own. As they were kissing, Elijah turned them around and gently put Elizabeth on his bed, removing his suit jacket and tie in a flash before flushing his body to hers once more.

Elizabeth looked at Elijah, who looked down at her with a question in his glance. Both individuals were panting, desire running through both of them when Elizabeth finally nodded, deciding to trust Elijah with herself. Elizabeth’s hand quickly unbuttoned his shirt while Elijah helped remove hers. Elizabeth moaned when Elijah removed her bra, and cupped her breast with one hand. Elijah growled a little, not able to become patient anymore and started to pleasure her with his mouth.

Soon enough, Elizabeth pushed him back as she had enough, a need arising in her. Elijah looked at her with lust as he asked, “What is it?”

All she could do between her panting was tug on his pants. Elijah chuckled and leaned down, teasing her while sucking on her earlobe as he whispered,

“Tell me.”

Elizabeth groaned, her head falling down onto the mattress as she couldn’t help but moan. Her hips grinded against Elijah’s hardness and Elijah grunted a little, as he retaliated with,

“I can’t do anything until you tell me.”

Elizabeth managed to choke out between moans, “I need you.”

Elijah continued teasing her, as he put a hand near her core, teasing her slightly, as he asked her, “What?”

Elizabeth growled slightly, impatient as she switched their positions, straddling him and stating,

“Fuck me.”

Elijah switched their position again as he removed his pants and Elizabeth’s in a flash, leaving them both naked, as he came above her again, kissing her slowly and gently. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around him, venturing his toned back, as he cupped a hand at her core. She ground against his hand, as he huffed out,

“You have to let me know now if this is what you want. If not, I do not think I can control myself.”

Elizabeth kissed his jawline as she said, “I want this.”

That was enough for the Original as he gently entered her. He kissed her and waited for her to adjust to his size. Elizabeth whimpered a little at the initial pain, but pleasure quickly took over, and it wasn’t long before she was starting to move her hips, needing the friction. Elijah thrusted slowly, making sure to make the moment last. As much as this moment was their first, he wanted to engrain this moment into his brain.

He has had countless number of lovers in the past, but something was different with his relationship, his love for Elizabeth. He wanted to make this count. Not even Katherine, nor Tatia had made him feel this way, and he couldn’t help but fall further in love with the huntress beneath him.

Elizabeth moaned as pleasure continued to build, but when Elijah continued to go slowly, it turned quickly into frustration as she moaned out,

“Elijah! I…”

Her voice faltered a little as he suddenly snapped into her roughly once, unable to maintain the agonizingly slow pace due to his own pleasure building. Elijah growled and nipped at her neck, trying to hold back the urge to drink from his partner, and Elizabeth realized this.

She quickly extended her neck, offering it to him as she once again moaned out his name. That finally did the Original in, as his thrusts became faster and rougher, before his vampire features came out and he bit into her throat as gently as he could in the moment.

Elizabeth cried out as unimaginable amount of pleasure hit her as he sucked her blood, and she whimpered from each of his thrusts before yelling out,

“Oh God! Elijah!”

Elijah released himself from her throat, feeling a connection between them build as he panted out,

“Come for me.”

Elizabeth shook her head as she couldn’t stop the pleasure from taking over, her body stiffening as she came. The world turned white in that moment and she lost all of her senses as she was coming down from her high. Due to her tightening around him, Elijah groaned as he came with her, unable to stop himself. He needed her and he would always need to be around her. He collapsed on top of her as an overwhelming sense of content and exhaustion hit him.

Both the huntress and the Original panted before they kissed each other lazily. Elijah finally pulled out, and lay down next to her in bed, as he kissed her forehead and said,

“I love you.”

Elizabeth looked up at him in surprise before smiling and cuddling up to him and replying with,

“I love you too.”

Chapter Text

“Have you ever had a dream so heartbreakingly

beautiful that it felt like pure agony to stay awake?”

-unknown

Everything around her was dark, when, in an instant, light flooded her eyes and she had to blink, the pure array of colors blinding her for a moment. When her eyes finally adjusted, she found herself in the air, flying above a lot of green, and she realized that somehow, she was flying above a mountain, as clouds were settled lower to the forest.

She felt her wings lead her somewhere, and that was when she came across a civilization of humans. They were wearing fur clothing, hair wild, as if they had rarely been brushed. But that didn’t matter as another being came into her vision. A large, blue-ish dragon floated through the air gracefully, and she felt her heart beat faster.

The dragon floated up to her, and both the dragon and she danced around in the air, almost doing a performance in front of the humans. As they swerved and slid through the air, gliding through and getting to know each other, the exhilaration was uncontrollable.

However, to her disappointment, the performance ended, and the two beings hovered in the air, not moving. They stared at each other, not sure how to proceed when a booming voice echoed through her entire being, and she felt a jolt as she slowly floated down to the ground, feeling her body shift.

No longer did she have wings and colorful feathers that radiated light, indicating her divinity. Rather, she found herself with pale limbs. She felt her feet land gently on the ground, her legs wobbling from the foreign sensation. Without much strength in her new limbs, she fell down, and she caught herself with two other limbs, which she recognized that humans called arms.

She was luckily clothed in very comfortable clothing, that stood out from the others’ when she spotted a man in front of her. He was the most handsome being she had seen, and her heart once again fluttered in recognition. He was the dragon. He was her mate.

At that recognition, her heart soared, and she smiled, feeling a new sensation as the man walked over to her and helped her up.

Their brown eyes both peered into each other when they turned at the cheering of the humans. The humans bowed down, and almost acted in reverence as they both walked down towards them.

But that moment did not seem to last long, as everything once again went dark, and light once more crept up on her. When she had opened her eyes, she found that she was in a tent-like structure, covered in fur blankets. Pain erupted everywhere as she heard a female voice encourage her with panic in her voice.

She grit her teeth as she tried her best to follow the instructions. Her abdomen felt like it was being ripped to shreds, but she continued to push. Sweat dripped from her forehead, and covered her entire body, as men continued to yell outside. She heard the swords clashing, the yells and screams outside. But the urgency of the situation made her resent the rogue humans much more. Her husband’s smile came into her mind and she once more pushed, when her baby finally was born.

Due to her urgency, she called out to the midwife to hand her, her child. When she finally had her son in her arms, she smiled and sat up with the help of others. She looked down at her son, who whimpered. He was red, and had his eyes closed, like any other newborn, but to her, he was special. Her firstborn, and a symbol of her love with her husband. But the joy did not last long as her husband bolted into the tent with foreboding in his eyes.

They had been left on earth to be the humans’ protectors, and yet, they both knew, that in this life, they were to lose each other in order to fulfill their duties. A tear escaped her eye as she weakly stood up with help. Her husband’s hair flowed with the wind, as he led her and their child away from the civilization.

When she turned back to look, she cried in horror, as she saw people getting killed left and right in the distance. It took them days, and days, when they finally reached a cavern deep enough to hide.

Her husband let her rest, as he kept watch, when their son once again whimpered. She hurried and fed her child, making sure that she could keep him quiet. They were being chased, and they could not let someone to discover their hiding spot.

But luck was not on their side, as the husband ran up to her, pressing his soft lips to hers urgently, before grasping her shoulder and looking at her sadly. She shook her head, wishing him to not leave her alone with their child, but the man merely smiled at her sadly before running off to distract the horde of men who were pursuing them.

She picked up her courage whilst pressing down her despair as she lifted her son in her arms and ran as fast as she could. Everything seemed to move in a blur when pain pierced her back and she fell down.

Weak from lack of food and exhaustion from caring for her son, she tried to protect her baby by falling on her side. She opened her eyes in pain, when they widened in fear. She hurriedly stood up and limped, trying to escape their situation when another arrow pierced her in the back once more, closer to her heart.

That was the final straw, and she fell again, unable to get up. She panted and cried, trying to hide her baby. But it was too late as a set of feet came and hands roughly took her son from her. She screamed and cried, not willing to lose her son. As she looked up to the man, she saw a sadistic smirk on his features as he said,

“It took so long to find you, phoenix.”

The women screamed, as she saw her baby being handed over to a different man, whilst her husband was dragged over to her. He was bloodied and beaten severely, unable to fend for himself.

She cried as she begged for them to save her husband and son, but her words fell on empty ears. The man merely smirked at her and whispered something that she couldn’t recognize, but she felt pain flare up in her chest as despair wracked her entire being when one of the men stabbed her husband right in the heart.

A wail of despair and power flared through her entire being, at the sight and that was when her hatred flared through. She tried to reign it in, but it was rendered pointless when she saw her baby get killed as well. Upon seeing them throw her baby’s corpse to the ground, wind picked up and started to harshly blow around the clearing that they were in.

The men started to struggle to remain standing, and some fell, as the man in front of her realized the dire situation they were all in. He was about to strike her with his sword when her hatred was released and fire erupted from her body.

All the men were thrown back and those who had been close to her were burned severely, if not already dead. They all looked up to see the women cry and look down at them with an anger they had never felt before. But that did not last long as fire started to spread throughout the forest, almost seeming to trap them in.

The despair was overwhelming as she continued to spread her anger throughout the world. And soon, the world was wrapped in flames, before everything went black.

~~ ….. ~~

Elijah had woken early, as the sun was rising, when he heard Elizabeth whimper. He looked down at her form, her face covered in new layer of sweat. But it was not long when Elizabeth started to toss and turn, her face frowning in something akin to fear.

“Elizabeth?”

He called out to her gently, trying to wake her up. Despite his efforts, Elizabeth did not wake up, and she thrashed even harder, crying out for something or someone, as if begging for someone to stop something. She lifted a hand into the air as tears fell down her face. Elijah did not recognize the language that she was speaking, as she called out what sounded like a name in despair.

All he could do was hold the lifted hand and try to comfort her as much as he could. He hugged her as he whispered to her,

“Elizabeth. You’re fine, you’re here with me. I’m here.”

Elizabeth quieted down, tears continuing to stream down her face when her eyes opened. She looked up at him, and her she took in a shaky breath. Her breath was ragged, and it felt like her heart was being ripped into two when she looked up at a concerned Elijah.

He put a hand on her cheek, whispering to her worriedly,

“Are you alright?”

Elizabeth nodded, confused of the dream. She sat up, making sure to cover herself with the blanket, though not sure what to make of her tears, as she answered,

“I… I had a dream. It felt so real…”

Elijah frowned at that and asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Elizabeth hesitated, before relaying the details of her dream, figuring that it was something she wished for him to know. Once she was done retelling as much of her dream as she could, Elijah hugged her and said,

“Though I do not know what your dream meant, or if it truly means something, but I want you to know that I will always be there for you.”

Elizabeth smiled up at the Original gratefully as she nodded. Elijah sighed as he pecked her forehead, trying to relay the comfort to her, as he said,

“We should get ready. We have quite the day ahead of us.”

Elizabeth nodded and slid out of the bed, dropping the blanket from her body, walking towards the bathroom. She stopped right at the door, looking back towards a smirking Elijah, whose eyes wandered over her nude figure.

He looked up at her as she smiled a little mischievously, and walked in, turning on the shower. She had left the door to the bathroom open, a silent, but clear invitation, which Elijah did not ignore.

A few hours later, Elizabeth found herself in her house, painting on a canvas for a showcase. Elijah had left town for a separate business of his own, needing to handle a business deal. After all, there was a reason the Mikaelsons continued to stay rich without compulsion.

She was almost done with her painting of a dark forest when her phone rang, interrupting the jazz music that had been flowing through. Upon realizing that it was Klaus calling her, she sighed. The moment she picked up the phone, when Klaus stated,

“Do you happen to know anything about our dear hunter’s dilemma?”

Elizabeth frowned, trying to recall what he was hinting at, when she realized it must have been something with Alaric’s alter ego. She sighed and responded with,

“I’m not sure what is happening, but I have a feeling that I don’t have a choice in the matter but to join.”

Klaus chuckled as he answered back,

“Meet us in the Salvatore house.”

With that, Elizabeth heard the phone click, signaling the end of the phone call without a chance to retaliate against his orders. She sighed, as she looked at her unfinished work and stood up from her seat.

Taking off her apron, she decided to wash up before going to change into more appropriate clothing. Once that was done, she had dressed into her black jeans and a black tank top. On top, she put on her olive green jacket.

It was not much longer that she had pulled up to the Salvatore boarding house, parking in front of the doorway, not bothering about manners. She was irritated that she had been interrupted from her work once again, as she entered the building, she came across Rebekah and Alaric.

Rebekah smiled at the woman, glad to see a familiar figure, as she pointed to a worried Alaric, stating,

“I’m going to take him to the caves.”

Elizabeth glanced towards Alaric with worried eyes, glad to have brought her knife with her, as she said,

“Guess I’m coming with you.”

Rebekah smiled and stated towards Alaric,

“You’re going to go inside and fetch me the stake and if you think you can hide, you’re wrong.”

Alaric nodded solemnly, knowing that he did not want to be the cause of unnecessary murder and heartbreak. Elizabeth followed the duo out, not bothering to glance towards Klaus as he said,

“Let’s talk later, Atalanta. I believe you have something to share.”

Elizabeth grit her teeth, knowing that Klaus was surely to talk about her night with Elijah. She nodded and headed out, not in the mood for the Original hybrid’s antics.

Elizabeth drove Rebekah and Alaric to the cavern and they arrived. But knowing that Rebekah couldn’t go in, Elizabeth said,

“I’ll go in with Alaric.”

With that, Rebekah sighed, biting her lower lip, not liking this, as she whispered to her,

“Be careful.”

Elizabeth smiled at the blonde before following Alaric inside. Once in the cavern, Alaric asked,

“You alright? I know that we haven’t gotten along well, but I thought it would be silly to destroy a friendship when you have been trying to minimize the damage.”

Elizabeth shrugged as she said, “Not really. But I hope I am talking to Alaric right now, and not his alter ego.”

Alaric chuckled at that and said tiredly, “It’s me. Don’t worry about that.”

Elizabeth nodded, as Alaric dug into a bit of soil to reveal the stake. Elizabeth then took her hands out of her jacket pockets when Alaric faced Rebekah at the entrance of the cavern and asked,

“Why would I give you the one thing that requires everyone to keep me alive?”

Rebekah’s eyebrows twitched in annoyance as she ground out,

“Are we bargaining now? Fine. What’s your offer?”

Alaric smirked as he said,

“There’s only one stake out there. Which means only one original has to die. Help me. And I’ll make sure it’s not you.”

Rebekah glanced quickly over at Elizabeth, who stood behind Alaric warily, as she looked back at Alaric with a bored expression, stating,

“Tenuous, but points for effort. You see, I don’t want one original to die.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened, realizing her mistake. She cursed herself in her mind, regretting that she had somehow managed to forget that Esther had taken over Rebekah’s form due to her own worries over her dream from last night, as the woman continued with,

“I want them all to die.”

Alaric took a step back, along with Elizabeth, who warily held Alaric back, as he asked fearfully,

“How the hell did you do that?”

Rebekah smirked and almost giggled as she smugly said,

“It was easy to fool Niklaus”

And that was when Esther then turned to Elizabeth, pointing at her as she continued to talk,

“But I thought you, of all people would figure me out. I was nervous for a moment when you joined us.”

Rebekah’s body faced towards Alaric again as Esther said,

“And you, I thought, would understand. After all, my son did use your body at one point.”

Alaric swallowed thickly as he commented, “You’re not Rebekah.”

Esther smiled widely, making Alaric and Elizabeth more wary of the situation as she admitted,

“No. My name is Esther. And we have a great deal in common.”

And that was when everything went black for Elizabeth.

~~ ….. ~~

Hours later, Klaus was painting, impatiently waiting for Elizabeth when he heard, more than saw, his younger sister arrive. Not knowing that their mother  In curiosity, he asked her,

“What took you so long?”

The blonde looked down at Klaus, who was technically her son, as she posed as Rebekah, stating,

“Alaric didn’t want to hand over the stake. Luckily, I’m quite the charmer.”

With that, Esther showed her son the stake, causing Klaus to frown at the lack of the mention about the huntress as he asked her,

“That’s it?”

Rebekah’s features turned into her signature bored face as she huffed out,

“Last of the white oak stakes that can kill us. Seemed like Alaric had somehow managed to have it on him despite Elizabeth’s efforts. Do you want to do the honors, or shall I?”

Klaus smiled at her, satisfied with the results, as he tossed the stake into the fireplace. Esther couldn’t be more than happy to have seen her son fall for it as she said,

“Well, that’s that, then.”

Klaus narrowed his eyes at her, not sure why Elizabeth had not been mentioned yet, as he commented,

“Pack your bags. We’re leaving.”

Esther tensed at that, asking incredulously, “Today?”

Klaus shrugged, thinking about phoning Elijah about his suspicions as he said,

“Why not? There’s nothing keeping us here. We’ll grab the doppelganger and be off by sunset.”

Esther tried to complain like Rebekah would have as she groaned out,

“But tonight’s the decade dance.”

Klaus eyed his sister, now finding this even more suspicious, although his sister would have said those exact words, asking her,

“So?”

Esther sifted through her daughter’s memories as she quickly responded,

“So I’m head of the committee. We have to go.”

Klaus huffed out in annoyance, “I’m not going to any dance.”

And as the conversation continued, the mention of Caroline made him rethink of his schedule. But his main reason was his own worry for the woman that seemed to have disappeared after leaving the boarding house with his sister and the double-personality hunter.

Meanwhile at that moment, Alaric was freaking out as he calling Damon Salvatore, having failed to have woken Elizabeth up from whatever state she was in.

When he had woken up from having his neck snapped, he had, to his horror, found Elizabeth unconscious and a blood that had apparently flowed from her nose. He had tried to wake her up, but failed to do so. The only thing that made him relieved was that she was breathing.

He knew how much the Originals, especially Elijah, had seemed to care for the woman, and did not want the vampires and hybrid on his back for her potential death.

When Damon finally picked his phone up, Alaric heard his annoyed tone of,

“Where have you been? I’ve been calling you all day.”

Not having the patience to deal with Damon, he responded tersely,

“Yeah, sorry about that. I just needed to get my head together. Also, I have Elizabeth with me.”

Damon froze at that, his eyes widening upon the mention of his other friend he had come to care about, as he asked,

“What? I get that Rebekah got the stake, but what happened with Beth?”

Alaric carried the woman in his arms, trying to get to the vehicle they had come to the caverns with, as he answered,

“I don’t know. I woke up and found her unconscious. She’s not waking up and there’s no sign of the stake.”

Damon groaned out, as he commented, “Lovely. What now?”

Alaric groaned as he put the woman in the passenger seat as gently as he could, securing her seatbelt as he stated,

“Well, I’m going to drop her off with you, and then I think I need to get out of town. You know, somewhere secluded. I keep blacking out, which means I’m still a threat to everyone.”

Damon sighed as he tried to think straight about the situation they were in as he responded,

“I don’t know if right now is the best time for you to be going on a spirit quest, Ric.”

Alaric got into the driver’s seat and started to drive towards the boarding house, feeling a disturbing urge to hurt the woman by him, as he stated,

“Ah, it’s just for a couple of days. I’m stocked up on Bonnie’s herb, so I should be fine. I got to go.”

With that, he ended the call and looked over at Elizabeth. He had a mission to do, and it involved incapacitating Elizabeth. That had worked, so he was not too worried since she was reliving something she never should.

When he dropped Elizabeth off to Damon Salvatore, the vampire warily took the woman, as he made sure Alaric took his own car, rather than the huntress’s.

When Damon set Elizabeth onto his bed, tucking her in comfortably, he hesitated in whether to inform the Originals of this development. After all, it did not seem like Rebekah to have hurt the woman, but it would be different if she had battled them. But this did not look like the work of a vampire, but that of a witch, and it disturbed the older Salvatore greatly.

Elizabeth’s breathing was slow, but even. It wasn’t shallow, but it made her look like she was in a coma, and Damon remained worried. He sighed as he looked down at the woman, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as he whispered to her,

“Wake up Beth. I don’t know what to do.”

~~ ….. ~~

Elizabeth opened her eyes to find herself in an open clearing, where there were tall trees surrounding the grass she was on, but everything seemed dark and ominous around her. As she looked around, the calm sound of water surrounded her, and she felt lost and confused.

But as she continued to look around, she turned to her right when a sudden female voice rang out,

“Come.”

Elizabeth looked down, unsure of whether to go that way, when she finally noticed that she was wearing an all white hanbok, with a hair decoration that held her bun in place. As she struggled to understand what was going on, a tugging sensation to the right prompted her to look up to find a figure clad in black and wearing a black veil walking over there.

Elizabeth swallowed thickly, as she yelled out, “Hello? Who are you?”

But the only answer she had gotten was, “Come.”

The further the figure seemed to go into the forest, the stronger the urge to follow her was. Elizabeth bit her lower lip because of this and decided to follow her. Her bare feet stepped down on grass, feeling the cold air bite down on her bare skin, but she continued following. The air around her got colder, and colder as she continued following the woman, when a large wooden building, reminiscent of a hanok. When she had stopped, she found herself looking at the veiled woman, when the doors suddenly opened without any warning.

The woman continued to move forwards, entering the building, leading her to a wooden room where there was a calm silence. Elizabeth furrowed her brows as she entered the abode, when the woman stopped across from her and sat down. Elizabeth looked around when she decided to sit as well, not sure if she should speak, when the woman said,

“I’m sorry to have led you here, but the Other Side is a dangerous place, even for us.”

Elizabeth tensed at that statement and asked, “The Other Side? But that means…”

The other woman then removed her veil, revealing a slightly more aged woman, wearing a blood red hanbok top, with a black lower dress, with fancy hair decorations. Elizabeth’s eyes widened, feeling a sense of familiarity from the woman, as she sadly looked at Elizabeth, answering,

“No, you’re not dead. Not yet. But I brought you here to protect you from that. You should be safe here.”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened at that as she looked at the other woman, asking, “If this is the Other Side, how so? Who are you?”

The woman sadly gazed at the huntress, as if Elizabeth reminded her of olden days, as she slowly said,

“I’m afraid that I can’t answer your second question. But to your first, all I can say is that because of who you are, this is a safe haven for you.”

Elizabeth frowned at that, wondering what that meant, as she hurriedly asked,

“What do you mean because of who I am?”

The woman sighed as she said, “I cannot answer that question just yet, but please know that you can trust me.”

Elizabeth sighed, as she looked down at her outfit, playing with the string, before asking, “Then when can I wake up?”

The woman looked at her and answered, “I believe within a few hours. Please, feel free to wander around the building. I will be near if you call for me.”

With that, the woman stood up, leaving Elizabeth behind to sit there in confusion and fear.

She hesitantly stood up, looking around, walking down a hallway, when she slid opened a door, to find a room, with mirrors. She stepped into it, when stepping up onto one of the mirrors, gasping in shock at the sight as a different woman was reflected back at her, in an old Korean outfit.

Elizabeth touched her face, and saw the other woman, also Korean looking, but older, in clothing that looked like it belonged to the early 1900s, do the same. As she did this, she felt a weird sensation, as if something was pulling her out. The woman from earlier stepped in behind her and said,

“It’s time.”

Elizabeth sighed as she knew that the woman was talking about going back to the world of the living, and nodded, prepared to wake up. She closed her eyes, finding herself opening them again to come to a familiar room.

It was Damon Savlatore’s room. Elizabeth bolted up, looking at the time, where Damon had been about to walk out after asking her to wake up. Elizabeth immediately looked grave, something in her mind telling her to go look for Alaric, as she looked over at the shocked Damon, and asking,

“Where’s Alaric?”

It hadn’t taken her long to realize where the man would have gone, as Damon suddenly got a phone call from Meredith Fell. Though the vampire was reluctant to let her go alone, Elizabeth had waved him off and rushed towards the cemetery, trying to find where the Salvatore’s crypt was.

She quietly walked towards it, hiding behind a tombstone, as she heard Alaric as Esther,

“Why are we here?”

The woman stated,

“Long ago on this spot, my son tore my heart from my chest. The violence of my death marked this ground for all time.”

Elizabeth held her breath as she heard them enter the crypt, trying to think of something, before looking down at her gun and the sheathed knife on her leg, as she heard Esther demand,

“I’ll need your ring.”

Alaric asked warily,

“Now, why would I give you the one thing that protects me from death?”

Esther looked impatient as she answered,

“I will give you all the protection you need. However, the stake will burn up in the body of its first victim. If you are to kill all of my children, I will need to bind the protective magic in your ring to the stake, thus rendering the white oak indestructible.”

Elizabeth was not sure where Esther had managed to obtain another white oak stake, but she seemed to be performing her magic. Elizabeth debated with herself, trying to think of what the best plan of action was, but decided it would be better to wait for the Original witch to leave first.

She hated this plan, but she had already arrived here, and it would be difficult to leave without being detected. She instead opted for hiding herself, making sure to find a good vantage point to observe the crypt. A few hours passed, when the sky darkened, giving Elizabeth more cover, which made her decide that it might be best to see what Alaric was doing.

The man was just pacing back and forth in the area, occasionally looking around to make sure nobody was looking at him. The only thing he did not know was that Elizabeth was indeed there, watching everything suspiciously.

When Esther had arrived with Elena, the woman stated,

“You’ll forgive me for taking you from the dance this evening. That’s the burden of being the doppelganger, I’m afraid your blood is a potent binding agent for a witch’s spell.”

Elena whimpered out fearfully, “Just please don’t hurt Alaric.”

Elizabeth cursed the girl’s stupidity and sacrificing tendencies as Alaric popped out to face Elena, commenting,

“She’s not hurting me.”

Elena’s eyes widened, but that was when she glimpsed towards Elizabeth’s direction, surprised to find that whilst Esther and Alaric were looking at her, the woman had revealed herself, telling Elena to be careful and quiet.

Elena swallowed thickly as she asked,

“Ric, what’s going on? What are you doing with him?”

Esther chuckled at Elena’s anger, answering “I’m going to remake him.”

Elena couldn’t believe her ears, as her voice shook whilst asking, “Remake him?”

Esther smiled at that, calmly answering,

“Make him strong, fast. Like my children, indestructible. For one final time, I’m going to tap into the dark magic I used a thousand years ago. Like my husband Mikael before him, I will make Alaric into a true hunter, the vampire to end all vampires.”

Elena took a fearful step back, stating with disbelief,

“You can’t create another original. What if he turns out to be an even bigger monster than your children?”

Esther smugly answered, sounding almost proud of her new plan, stating,

“He won’t. Now that he’s embraced his darkest aspect, his hatred for them will become more pure and uncompromising. In death, that hatred will be magnified.”

Elena shook her head, retaliating with,

“You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about him.”

Esther sighed, not sure if the girl quite got where she was coming from, stating,

“That is where you’re wrong. Each time he died with that ring, during his brief journey into death, I was there on the Other Side. I spoke to him. I nurtured him, knowing that every death brought him closer to his true self. Vampires took everything from him. Now, he’s getting his vengeance.”

Elizabeth slowly pulled out her gun, getting ready to shoot both Esther and Alaric, fearful of how this could possibly play out.

She turned back to find Esther starting to light the candles in the crypt, whilst Elena tried to back up, get closer to Elizabeth, as she said,

“Ric, this isn’t what you want. It’s not who you are.”

Alaric chuckled darkly, stating,

“You don’t know who I am, Elena. You only know the weakest parts of me, a man who lost his way, befriending vampires instead of killing them.”

Elena let a tear fall, wanting the man who was her friend and her uncle, back, as she defied with,

“You don’t mean that.”

Alaric shook his head, stating, “They’re all monsters. The blood of their victims is on my hands. Jenna might be alive thanks to Elizabeth, but one day, she will die because of them too, if I don’t do anything about it.”

Esther then walked over to the hunter, saying,

“When you are ready.”

Elizabeth crept up a bit closer to Elena, still making sure to hide, as Elena begged Alaric to not go through with this. Elizabeth crouched down as she saw Alaric take the goblet and drank from it. When Esther finally stabbed Alaric, Elizabeth lunged out, shooting her tranquilizer dart on Esther.

However, the witch seemed to be faster, managing to swerve the dart last minute so it barely missed her. The woman tutted at her efforts, but this had caused enough of a distraction for Elizabeth to have grabbed Elena and started to run with her. Elizabeth grit her teeth as a massive pain hit her legs, causing her to scream out and fall to the ground, causing Atalanta to appear.

Elena stopped gasping out, “Elizabeth, no! Esther, please, stop!”

But Atalanta pushed Elena forward, yelling out, “Hurry and go!”

Elena hesitated before following instructions. Atalanta knew that Esther had purposely caused her pain, and she weakly stood up, hissing at the witch,

“You’ll regret that.”

Esther smirked at her, and said, “I could say the same to you.”

But what Esther did not know, was that at that moment, as she was about to cast a spell, Alaric rose up from his alter ego, fearful, and had decided to kill Esther. Alaric gasped, looking fearfully at Atalanta, asking,

“Oh god. Where’s my ring? Tell me what happened.”

Atalanta let out a breath of relief, and slight wariness, not sure how to deal with the man in front of her. She looked over at Alaric, and began telling him everything. Alaric winced as he looked at the stake, and asked her,

“Does he know about the stake?”

Atalanta shook her head, eyeing the stake in Alaric’s hand. She then sighed as she said,

“Alaric, I’m not sure what else to tell you, but I don’t think you should have that stake.”

With that, Atalanta waited for Alaric to hand it over. The hunter hesitated before handing it to her, knowing that he couldn’t fool her with a fake one. Atalanta quickly took it, before stating,

“Damon’s on his way. What are you going to do?”

Alaric sighed and said, “I’m not gonna complete the transition. My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can’t be a vampire.”

Atalanta sighed and said, “You might not have a choice.”

Alaric eyed her, and asked her, “Then let me ask this of you. Hunter to hunter, kill me if my other self comes out.”

Atalanta winced, not sure if she should tell the man this, but she thought that it would be best to tell him this, as she said,

“You know that puts Elena in danger. Esther isn’t stupid to leave you alone as is.”

Alaric winced, and said, “Is there any other way?”

Atalanta furrowed her brows, trying to think, when she said, “I could ask around. But if it comes last minute, I will still kill you if I have to.”

Alaric smiled sadly at her, stating, “I feel like I know how this will end. I might end up turning, and you will kill me.”

Atalanta smiled at that, stating, “You’re a good man stuck with bad situations. I can’t blame you for having a darker side, since I have one as well. But it just depends on how you balance it.”

Alaric chuckled darkly at that and said regretfully,

“I was unfortunate to get here. Only if I had learned about that earlier, maybe it would have been a different situation.”

Atalanta nodded solemnly, seeing Alaric back himself into the crypt, getting rather comfortable as he sat down. As they continued to talk, Damon walked over, entering the crypt. When the older Salvatore nodded to Atalanta, letting her go. As she walked away, she turned to shortly observe the emotional moment, before going back to her house.

Once there, she was walking up her porch before tensing, sensing something was wrong. As she swiped her knife up at the intruder, she was horrified to have forgotten how Alaric would come back that very night. And as she stuck the knife in the now, Original hunter, the man screamed, unable to heal back from the wound. She quickly took it back out and swiped it across his right eye, blinding him momentarily before jumping into her home.

She warily watched as the man yelled out in pain, screaming curses at her, and promising death as he said,

“Do you think you deserve to live? After falling in love with an Original vampire?”

Atalanta sneered at the man, as she said, “If I have to face judgement for that, I will, but I won’t be judged by a vampire on that manner.”

Dark-Alaric hissed at that, his vampiric features dominant, as he said,

“Your Original won’t be there to save you.”

And before Atalanta could retaliate against that, the man sped off into the night. Atalanta looked down at the stake in her jacket pocket, and sighed, as she determinedly said,

“He won’t have to.”

Chapter Text

“To sit in judgment of those things which you perceive

to be wrong or imperfect is to be one more person

who is part of judgment, evil or imperfection.”

-Wayne Dyer-

Elizabeth stood there on her porch, greatly disturbed by Alaric’s appearance. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she eventually decided on calling Elijah. As she heard the ringing of the phone, she bit the side of her mouth from anxiety, as she waited for him to pick up his phone.

It took a slight moment before he picked up with a, “Hello?”

Elizabeth took in a hesitant breath as she said, “Elijah, there is a slight problem.”

On the other side of the phone call, Elijah immediately straightened his posture, which did not go unnoticed by Finn Mikaelson, as he listened in as well, as Elijah asked seriously,

“What is it?”

Elizabeth seriously responded back with a, “Alaric is now an Original vampire and he’s out. I just saw him at my house.”

Elijah immediately stood up from the couch, telling her, “I’ll be there shortly. Do not leave your house.”

With that, he ended the phone call quickly before looking over to his brother, who looked at him with a grim look, as Elijah stated,

“I’ll be back. Warn the others.”

Finn nodded, seeing his brother running out of the Mikaelson Mansion. By the time Elijah arrived at Elizabeth’s home, she was waiting at her porch, playing with her knife, sitting down. Elijah paused to study her, noticing how she appeared to be deep in thought. He could see that by the way that Elizabeth was twirling the knife in her hands, she was nervous about Alaric’s sudden appearance.

After looking at Elizabeth for a minute, he walked over to her, as he asked her,

“Are you alright?”

Elizabeth looked up to Elijah, looking grim as she answered with,

“I’m fine, but he provided a warning.”

Elijah helped her stand up from her porch, as she retold the encounter.

Once there, she was walking up her porch before tensing, sensing something was wrong. As she swiped her knife up at the intruder, she was horrified to have forgotten how Alaric would come back that very night. And as she stuck the knife in the now, Original hunter, the man screamed, unable to heal back from the wound. She quickly took it back out and swiped it across his right eye, blinding him momentarily before jumping into her home.

She warily watched as the man yelled out in pain, screaming curses at her, and promising death as he said,

“Do you think you deserve to live? After falling in love with an Original vampire?”

Atalanta sneered at the man, as she said, “If I have to face judgement for that, I will, but I won’t be judged by a vampire on that manner.”

Dark-Alaric hissed at that, his vampiric features dominant, as he said,

“Your Original won’t be there to save you.”

And before Atalanta could retaliate against that, the man sped off into the night. Atalanta looked down at the stake in her jacket pocket, and sighed, as she determinedly said,

“He won’t have to.”

Elijah tensed at the threat the former human had made, before stating,

“It is no longer safe for you to be alone.”

Elizabeth glared at that, despite knowing that he was worried about her, as she responded back with,

“That’s not what the issue is here. Alaric is intending on hunting all of you down somehow, and it’s already to late for me whether I’m alone or not. He will eventually come for me, so that makes it even more dangerous for me to be around you.”

Elijah sighed, knowing that she was right, as he asked her, “Then what do you suggest, Elizabeth?”

The huntress chewed a bit of her bottom lip, trying to think of a solution, when she stopped at the sound of Elijah’s phone going off. The man frowned as he saw Finn’s caller I.D. pop up, before answering with,

“Did you tell them?”

However, he tensed further, upon Finn’s response that Rebekah was not there.

“What do you mean she’s at the high school?” Elijah growled.

Elizabeth clenched her knife tighter, feeling a sense of dread, as Elijah turned the call onto speaker phone, letting her hear his brother state,

“She’s apparently at a clean-up committee event. She has not been answering her phone. Kol told me what she was up to.”

Elizabeth cursed under her breath as she said, “We need to get to her now! We don’t know where Alaric is, and she might be in danger, considering that Alaric will already know about the event.”

Elijah nodded, and Elizabeth immediately prepared her dagger with her, when Rebekah zoomed in front of them, fear written all over her face, as she wheezed out in panic,

“It’s Alaric! He’s after us.”

Elijah and Elizabeth tensed at that and could only hold grim appearances at the news. They had never wanted this to happen, and now, it was finally taking place. Elizabeth walked over to Rebekah, hugging her, asking,

“Are you hurt?”

Rebekah whimpered, but managed to grip herself as she answered, “No. I’m not, but Caroline, he took her.”

Elizabeth looked over to Elijah, as Rebekah pulled away, feeling comforted by Elizabeth, who had always taken care of her like an older sister. Elijah sighed as he said,

“We should go to the mansion. It is no longer safe here.”

Rebekah vehemently shook her head as she said,

“He can still be hurt from the sunlight, so I’m guessing that he will avoid the sun as much as possible. I think we are safe for now.”

Elizabeth patted Rebekah’s back in comfort, as she commented, “But it would be safer to go to your place now. We need to discuss this with Klaus and the others.”

Rebekah finally nodded, which led to them driving over to the mansion in Elizabeth’s car. Elijah drove while Elizabeth hung in the back with Rebekah, assuring her that they would find some way to protect her. Once they arrived and entered the living room of the mansion, the trio found Klaus, Finn, and Kol waiting anxiously.

At their entrance, they stood up as Rebekah stated, “Alaric Saltzman just tried to kill me.”

Klaus grit his teeth at that as he bit out, “Alaric Saltzman is supposed to be dead.”

Kol rolled his eyes at that and added in, “Well, apparently he’s not. And he’s a vampire thanks to our mother dearest’s spell with a white oak stake.”

Rebekah quickly interrupted him with, “Which, cannot kill him. He’s strong, Nik. Too strong.”

Finn walked over, standing next to Elizabeth, which Elijah quickly noticed, but did not comment as Finn asked,

“Where is Alaric now?”

Elizabeth answered this time with, “He’s stuck at the school without a daylight ring, but as soon as night falls, it is highly likely that he’ll come after all of us. But I can help out here, you guys should leave now.”

Klaus sighed and said, “Fine. But I’m not leaving with Elena.”

Elizabeth glared at the Original Hybrid as she said, “If you really need her, you have more of her blood. Don’t think about taking her. All of your lives are at stake.”

Elijah sighed and said, “We all agree with Elizabeth. But there is one thing I do not like. Elizabeth, you should come with us as well.”

Elizabeth looked at Elijah with sad eyes as she said, “I think I may know how to stop Alaric, but that’s going to be my responsibility. If you must come back, so be it, But that will only happen after I deal with Alaric.”

Finn shook his head, not liking the idea, almost as much as Elijah, it seemed, which did not go unnoticed by Rebekah, Klaus, and Kol, as he said,

“We are not leaving you behind.”

Elizabeth started to grow irritated as she hissed out, “I’m not fragile. I may be human, but you all are clearly forgetting that I am Atalanta.”

Kol remained quiet, not sure what he felt, when Rebekah summed it up for all of them.

“We don’t like leaving you behind because you are family!”

Elizabeth tensed at that, her brown eyes widening. She had never expected to have gotten so close to the Mikaelson’s when she first arrived, but here she was now. The very private Original family had admitted that they cared for her as well. This caused her to swallow thickly, trying to hold down her own emotions, as she slowly said,

“I’m not risking you guys staying back because of me.”

When all of the siblings looked at her as if that was out of the question, Elizabeth sighed, and said,

“Well, I know where Alaric is, and we only have so much time. Remain here as long as possible, then go to my house. I’ll let you in if I have not finished by then.”

Elijah asked warily, “What are you planning to do?”

Elizabeth sadly admitted, “Whatever it takes to save you all.”

Finn saw the determination in her eyes and reluctantly sided with her, deciding that she would let them know if she needed their assistance. Elijah had continuously disagreed with Elizabeth, causing the woman to merely tighten her lips and no longer respond to Elijah out of irritation and anger. Finn understood why Elijah felt that way, but decided it was best not to approach his brother on the matter. After all, Sage had departed not too long ago. They had ended their relationship on good terms, but he did not tell Elizabeth this.

He didn’t want to upset her that he had done so because of her. And knowing Elizabeth, she would have asked for why he had ended the relationship with someone he believed to have loved for approximately thousand years.

He watched as Elizabeth finally turned to Elijah, seeming to whisper reassurances to him. Finn could clearly see the clenched jaw that signified his brother’s worry and stress. As much as the noble Mikaelson tried to hide his emotions, it did not go unnoticed by Elizabeth, who began to wrap her arms around the well-clothed man. Elijah immediately relaxed at her touch, though he did not remove his arms from his pockets as he tried to control his breathing. Elizabeth tried to comfort the man in front of her, knowing that he would not stop being worried until this was all over.

Conflict warred in her mind and heart, as she did not want to hurt Elena. But she had to try. Bonnie was the only witch strong enough to do something in such a short notice, but she could only think of one option. Putting the linked individuals into a deep sleep so that the witch could separate them later on.

With that, Elizabeth let out a sigh, smiling a little towards Elijah, before walking out of the mansion and driving to Bonnie’s house. Once she was there, she knocked on the door, finding an angry Bonnie opening it.

“What?!”  she asked angrily.

Elizabeth looked coolly at Bonnie as she said, “Alaric has Caroline.”

Bonnie immediately tensed and asked incredulously, “What?”

Elizabeth saw the utter confusion in the girl and said, “He’s come back, and now he’s an Original Vampire that cannot be killed by a white oak stake, but something else. I don’t want to hurt him, nor the person he’s linked to, but you’re going to have to help me.”

Bonnie fidgeted, before reluctantly asking, “Why should I help you? He’s going to get rid of the Originals anyway.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow at that and asked, “Did you not learn your lesson? Caroline will die.”

Bonnie then retorted, “She’s better off not being a vampire.”

Elizabeth gripped Bonnie’s shoulders tightly, causing the girl to look at her terrified, as Elizabeth said,

“All I’m asking is to save your friends’ lives. Elena has been linked to Alaric. He won’t die unless Elena dies. And she’s human! Who do you think will go after Elena if they find this out?”

Bonnie froze, finally understanding the dire situation, as she hesitantly stuttered out,

“Th—Then what do you need me to do?”

Elizabeth backed off as she looked at the girl, pinning her down with, “Put them into a linked sleep of some sort. Coma, or what, I don’t care. But it should give you enough time to cut that link so we could get rid of Hunter Alaric.”

Bonnie swallowed thickly as she nodded and said, “How much time do we have?”

Elizabeth looked at her watch and cursed, as she said, “Not long. Pushing it, we have till sunset, but it has to be sooner than later.”

Bonnie nodded and said, “I’ll figure it out before then. I’ll call Damon and Stefan about this. Can… I know you don’t like us after everything, but can you save my friends?”

Elizabeth’s eyes turned soft, as she stated, “I may not always be on your side, but remember this Bonnie: I’m a hunter. My goal is to save innocent people from what goes bump in the night.”

Bonnie sighed and merely nodded, before rushing into her house to find a way to help Elena. With that, Elizabeth rushed to the school, hoping that Elena would not show up. Once she was there, she cursed under her breath, as she pulled out her knife, steadying her breath as she looked up to see Elena arriving at the entrance of the school.

That was when Atalanta walked over to her quickly and took a grab of the younger girl’s shoulder, putting a finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet. Elena immediately jumped at the sensation of someone latching a hand to her hand, not having expected that sensation.

However, she calmed down, and watched as Atalanta whispered to her, stating,

“Stay back. I’ll go and get her.”

Elena fearfully looked at the huntress, and nodded, watching the woman enter the building. The moment Atalanta entered, she noticed the colder temperature of the building, matching the eerie sensation of the entire area, before hearing the cry of Caroline. Atalanta ran over to the classroom, banging the door open, yelling out,

“Let Caroline go, Alaric.”

The now, Original vampire hunter looked at the woman with an amused look, almost, as he stated,

“You are bold to come here alone.”

Atalanta remained quiet, not responding to his quip, causing him to raise an eyebrow at her, before sighing and then motioning his hand towards Caroline, who had tears streaming down her face, stating,

“Free her yourself.”

Atalanta kept her eyes on Alaric, though walking quickly over to the vampire teenager, and pulling out the pencils. But before she could finish, Alaric rushed over to her, pushing her away from the vampire.

Having expected him to attack her, she quickly swiped her knife at his hand, causing him to hiss and step back in surprise as she said,

“Did you really expect me to come here without preparation?”

Alaric chuckled, almost finding the whole situation funny, before his vampire features once more became prominent a quick second before rushing to her again. Atalanta side-stepped before grabbing onto the back of his neck with her huntress prowess and knocking him off his feet by tripping him.

The man immediately fell onto the floor backwards, growling in anger and hatred as Atalanta immediately pushed him down with one of her boot-clad feet, where the vampire felt a burning sensation. He quickly realized the vervain was somehow laced into the bottom of her boots that she was wearing, making sure to burn him.

Angrily, he took both of his hands and tried to push her foot off, but missed the knife coming to his throat. But he managed to move just enough to fling Atalanta off of him, sending her flying towards one of the windows of the classroom, crashing through it.

Sunlight beamed through the windows, causing Alaric to hiss and run out of the classroom, trying to find a better place to hide from the sun, knowing that he would burn if he stayed inside.

Atalanta groaned and Caroline cried harder, feeling bad about everything that was taking place. From right outside the building, Atalanta groaned, feeling winded from the crash. Luckily, nothing was broken nor was she impaled by anything. Slowly, she stood up, breathing hard from the whole flying out of the window. She looked through the window to find Alaric gone, sunlight filling the once dark classroom. Jumping back through the same window, Atalanta quickly went to Caroline, freeing her of her bounds, as she slumped down to Atalanta, stuffing her face into the woman’s shoulder, crying hard.

Atalanta froze, before gently patting her on her back in a comforting manner, before stating,

“Go out that window. I’ll make sure Alaric doesn’t get out of the school building. Elena should be waiting for you. Afterwards, go to Bonnie she might have something to help with this. If possible, call Klaus to come here.”

Caroline nodded and looked at Atalanta, stating, “Thank you so much. Stay safe, please.”

Atalanta gave her a wry look of amusement before watching the vampire leave the building. Taking in a shaky breath and letting out, Atalanta felt conflicted. Her huntress side wanted to kill Alaric regardless of consequences, whilst Elizabeth was holding her back. With that, Atalanta stepped out into the hallway, yelling out loudly,

“Alaric!”

Her voice echoed slightly in the empty hallway, causing the vampire hunter to step out as well, glaring at her.

“You really don’t know how to quit, do you?” He asked.

Atalanta twirled her knife, as she smirked and stated, “Neither do you. But do you know this? There is always loopholes in Esther’s plans.”

Alaric’s cold look faltered for a quick second, before Atalanta continued with, “Now, Jenna is alive, isn’t she? I wonder what she would think of you doing this and threatening her niece and nephew?”

Alaric’s anger reared up quickly, giving Atalanta what she was aiming for. Make him emotional to the point that he becomes clumsy. With that, the man sped towards her, but that was what she wanted, and she quickly took out a powder from one of her pockets, spraying it at Alaric’s face.

Quickly, Alaric coughed, panic settling in him, as he choked out, “What is this?”

Atalanta, smirked and answered with, “A little something that I managed to collect to deal with people like you.”

Alaric looked up at her, as she said, “You have sins, don’t you, Alaric?”

The man looked at her, stating, “But if that’s what I think it is, would it not hurt you too?”

Atalanta twirled her knife, waiting for the spell from Bonnie to kick in, as she said, “Well, this should hold you down for the spell to take effect and break the link you have with Elena.”

Alaric continued to cough, blood coming out of his mouth, as Atalanta noticed the black veins forming in Alaric’s neck. Taking this signal, Atalanta rushed towards Alaric and stated,

“I’m sorry Alaric. But now, you’re gonna have to go.”

With that, Atalanta plunged her knife into his heart, seeing him desiccate immediately not able to heal himself and his eyes roll backwards. Atalanta got up, coughing a little, when Klaus rushed in quickly, panic in his eyes, when Elijah and Finn joined in as well right after him.

Atalanta raised an eyebrow at the trio, commenting, “I thought I told Caroline to call only Klaus?”

Elijah looked at her disapprovingly, noticing some scrapes on her face, as he said, “How could you think that I would not come here, when you clearly walked into danger by yourself whilst I stayed back?”

Atalanta moved her eyes away from Elijah, then looking down at an unconscious, desiccated Alaric, before kicking his corpse a little, and telling the Mikaelsons,

“Take him and put him in a coffin. Don’t take out the knife. That’s the only thing that is keeping him down for now. Bonnie Bennett has successfully unlinked Elena and him, so keeping him this way should not be a problem right now.”

Klaus sighed and then grabbed the body, speeding out of the building, making sure to get this whole business taken care of. Atalanta looked over at Finn and Elijah, who walked over to her.

Looking at Elijah’s brown eyes filled with worry, she sighed and calmed him down with,

“I’m fine. It’s nothing I haven’t experienced before.”

Elijah sighed and took hold of her face, looking her over and stating, “Don’t do this ever again.”

Finn watched them before quietly following after Niklaus, leaving the couple to have some time for themselves. Elizabeth’s eyes softened, indicating her return, as she forlornly responded,

“I can’t promise you that. All I can promise is that I will do my best to keep you safe so I can be by your side.”

Elijah’s eyes held mixed emotions, before he hugged her tightly to him, burying her face into his chest in a way that almost seemed to show how worried he was about her. Elizabeth hugged him back, making sure to comfort him, before stating,

“Let’s go to your house.”

And quickly, Elizabeth found herself inside the mansion with the other brothers, seeing the hybrids wheel out the coffin with Alaric inside. Once he was rolled out, Klaus turned to Elizabeth, stating,

“Now, Elizabeth, what do you say about a little celebration?”

Elizabeth shook her head at that, when Rebekah strolled inside as well, stating, “As much as I would like to celebrate, there is something amiss in our household, Nik.”

Klaus looked towards his younger sister with an annoyed look, when spotted Kol with her as well, prompting him to ask,

“And, pray, sister, is that?”

Kol answered their hybrid brother for Rebekah, joining into the conversation with,

“Your hybrids are plotting something Nik. And the council, they have been hiding something as well.”

Klaus growled lowly, not liking how as they finished one task, other problems seemed to arise. Elizabeth sighed, seeming apprehensive as well, biting her lower lip. Elijah noticed this and stated,

“We all must remain together. We should investigate further into this. Kol and Rebekah, look into the council, the rest of us will further investigate the hybrids. However, we are to act as if nothing is wrong, understood?”

Everyone but Elizabeth nodded a she suggested, “The numbers aren’t even. I’ll go with Kol and Rebekah. You guys will at least need a human around to investigate them closely.”

Finn noticed the dark, possessive look come across Elijah, but the second-eldest Original brother seemed to calm down quickly, hiding his dislike as he let Elizabeth head out of the mansion without him. Finn walked over to his brother, putting a hand on his shoulder, reassuring him with,

“She’ll come back, brother. Do not worry. She is brave and strong.”

Nik chuckled at how Elijah nodded, a first display of absolute trust coming from his normally distrustful and possessive brother. Not even Elijah’s former lovers had Elijah wrapped around their finger as Elizabeth had. That woman was clearly worthy to be considered part of their family.

Chapter Text

“She wasn’t looking for a knight

she was looking for a sword.”

-atticus

Atalanta was leading both Kol and Rebekah with her towards Pastor Young’s residence, as Kol had managed to find a way to track Caroline Forbes.

Turns out, regardless of her endeavors, Caroline had still managed to get herself kidnapped by Pastor Young and the Council members. The moment they saw a truck, Atalanta looked at Kol, causing the vampire to groan before rushing over and flipping the truck and helping out the vampire.

Caroline looked bewildered by everything, especially with the fact that a Mikaelson had just saved her, when she spotted Atalanta. She sagged in slight relief, before stating,

“Oh my God, thank you. But… what happened?”

Rebekah rolled her eyes and stated, “As much as we would like to explain everything, we do not have time for this, sweetheart. Now… run.”

Caroline did just that, not wanting to terrify the Original Vampires. Kol chuckled at his sister’s feisty attitude, when he saw Atalanta gesture for them to keep on going.

Once they arrived by the barn, they heard Elena fearfully yell for Stefan, and Stefan try to reassure his girlfriend. Atalanta looked around, and satisfied with the lack of too many guards, she stealthily took one out while Kol decided to take this chance to feed.

Rebekah sighed at her brother’s antics, but entered the barn and quickly dragged both Stefan and Elena out. Stefan looked confused with everything when he saw Atalanta take out another deputy with finesse.

Just as Damon pulled over with Matt, Pastor Young finally showed himself but remained inside his home.

Pastor Young warily eyed Matt and Atalanta, not knowing her huntress identity, before yelling out,

“Let the two humans go. They’re innocent.”

Kol laughed disbelievingly at that, but then pulled out Stefan and Elena from behind him, as he responded with,

“I don’t think you’re in the right condition to bargain with us.”

The Pastor remained silent, before whipping out his gun and yelling out again,

“Go away! You are not invited in! And I’m not coming out.”

With that, he raised his gun to aim, but that allowed Atalanta to rush forward and knock him down with a tackle. Elena yelped in fear and asked Stefan to save the Pastor, but Kol immediately rushed over and held Stefan back, preventing him from moving. Rebekah did the same with Elena, holding her back while Damon and Matt watched the huntress fight.

She was graceful in the way she attacked the man. Of course, the Pastor landed a punch to Atalanta’s stomach, but that did not do much, as the huntress quickly kicked him in the shin and knocked him to his knees. The man grit his teeth, but before anybody could say anything, Atalanta pulled out her signature knife and slit the man’s throat deeply.

Without turning back, she walked away from the house, but Damon sighed and stated,

“You’re not finishing the job.”

With that, Atalanta looked at him before holding his forearm. The next thing they all saw was the house start going into flames. Damon raised an eyebrow at his friend, before swallowing thickly as he saw a glint in his friend’s eye.

It was a dangerous look that stated that she had thought and prepared everything beforehand.

Elena could only watch in horror at how brutal the huntress was. Once again, she realized that Elizabeth was not a person to mess with.

A few moments later, the group dispersed, and Kol carried Elizabeth back towards the Mikaelson manor, where Klaus, Finn, and Elijah had been waiting. When they arrived, they had seen that the number of hybrids around the mansion had been dispersed.

Most had left, since Klaus had practically forced them into becoming hybrids, but still, a number had remained, deciding that they would rather stay and help Klaus, even if they were no longer sired. They knew that they had put themselves at risk of getting killed by the Original hybrid and his family, but they couldn’t think of a better life where they got to do their job while getting paid.

Now they had a better livelihood where they didn’t need to hide who they were. Wasn’t that better than hiding like they had used to while barely surviving?

As Elizabeth walked over to Elijah, the vampire rushed over, hugging her tightly, before stating,

“Never do that again.”

Elizabeth chuckled a little and answered with,

“I can’t promise that to you, Elijah, and you know why.”

The second eldest Mikaelson sighed at that, but smiled, keeping an arm wrapped around her waist at all times as the family gathered to plan for their potential encounter with more danger.

Klaus paced the living room as he said,

“I know Tyler is trying to go against me. I know it. But because Elizabeth here asked me not to, I haven’t yet slaughtered the lot of them. Hybrids left, our numbers lost, but those remaining keep our family stronger.”

Kol rolled his own eyes this time in annoyance and impatience as he retaliated with,

“Why not get rid of Tyler for eternity? He seems to be the root of the problem here. The rest would fall apart.”

Elizabeth shook her head and said, “The problem arose with us forcing the hybrids to be created. We needed them to give a choice. Tyler left, but we don’t know if he will stop or not. And anyway, something tells me another hunter is on his way here.”

Finn looked concerned about this and asked, “Is there a particular concern regarding this hunter?”

Elizabeth nodded and said, “Connor Jordan. He’s one of the Five.”

Every Mikaelson tensed at that news except for Finn, who had no idea what that meant. But Rebekah incredulously asked,

“One of the Five? We can’t kill him. We know what happens if a vampire does.”

Elizabeth shrugged and nonchalantly said, “I guess then it either comes to me or Jeremy Gilbert.”

Klaus looked at Elizabeth curiously, stopping his pacing, as he asked,

“Why the younger Gilbert, if I may ask?”

Elizabeth quickly answered with, “Based on my research, Connor has been trailing after other members of the Five. And apparently, young Jeremy Gilbert could be one. He just hasn’t activated that part of him yet.”

Elijah then fixed his suit jacket, stating in concern,

“That means we have to take down Connor before he reaches us here. He will try to eradicate Mystic Falls of all vampires and hybrids alike.”

Elizabeth nodded and said, “That’s why we kill him before he starts spreading weird rumors and whatnot. He will spread panic and greed all over if we can’t stop him.”

Kol raised an eyebrow and asked, “Greed?”

Elizabeth looked warily at the Mikaelsons, before whispering, “Silas.”

Kol immediately tensed at the name and stood up, pointing a finger at Elizabeth and angrily questioned her with,

“How do you know that name?!”

Elijah rushed over to stand in front of Elizabeth protectively, as he glared at his younger brother. Elizabeth sighed and said,

“I’ve known about him through research, but I know that someone has been intentionally become involved in that research and moving towards Mystic Falls recently since the incident with you all moving in. I’m assuming that this has some connection to Connor, but I’m not completely sure. All I know is that Silas cannot be awakened. He needs to be destroyed or left alone and never discovered.”

Niklaus smirked and said, “Silas is just a fantastical tale created to scare us. He’s not real.”

Kol shook his head and adamantly replied,

“It is not a story, brother. Silas is very real and you should have a good reason to fear him.”

Klaus looked towards Elizabeth, who nodded and he sighed as he unwillingly responded with,

“If you both believe in it, I believe that some research work is indeed needed. And what of this gentleman named, Connor? How do we find him and get the information out of him?”

Elijah fell into deep thought when Kol chuckled hopelessly and said, “Run.”

Finn shook his head at that information, as he said, “We’ve finished running. Look where it led all of us. I’ve hated my daggered fate, Klaus more spiteful, Elijah on a path of redemption, Kol murderous, and Rebekah into grief of the loss of her humanity. We cannot run anymore. We need to find a way to fight back and never allow this Silas to rise.”

Elizabeth pulled out from Elijah’s grasp, as she looked towards Kol and said,

“If Connor comes here, he will most likely try to reach out to the council. The most likely location for that would be the Grill. I can stake out there since he wouldn’t suspect me. Besides, I’m not sure he is aware that I am on your side.”

Elijah shook his head, not liking his woman to go into danger alone, despite knowing her capabilities, as he vehemently rejected the idea. But Kol merely nodded, as he said,

“She knows what she is doing, Elijah. Let her do it. She knows what to do if everything goes south. Besides, none of us can actually kill this Connor folk without falling into the hallucinations and tortures that come with killing one of the Five.”

Elijah sighed as Elizabeth gave him a slight peck on the cheek, with a mischievous smirk that reflected Atalanta’s danger, as she tried to comfort him with a,

“I’ll come back. Trust me.”

The noble Original vampire could only look at her with a chagrined look that Klaus would have loved to laugh at, had the situation allowed for it.

With that, a few days passed, and the day arrived when Elizabeth finally spotted the man of interest. He was definitely intimidating as he was a lot taller than her. And as he walked towards the bar, she quickly walked over to Connor, before quickly pulling out her knife, making sure to keep it hidden, but apply enough pressure to his back for him to tense and stop.

She quickly hissed, “We should talk. Outside.”

Connor complied, not saying anything. Of course, Elizabeth knew that Damon had noticed that she had been staking out in the Grill and had been curious. But when he saw her drag out Conner from the Grill, he felt conflicted.

Should he follow her and question her actions, or leave her be? But then, Damon decided to ignore the warning bell in his mind to just let her do her own thing, and followed them from a distance. Being a vampire, he just used his heightened hearing to listen in on the conversation.

But all he managed to hear was a man’s grunt and the sound of a body getting dragged. And when he rounded the corner that Elizabeth had led the man to, he didn’t see anything and cursed himself.

Whatever business Elizabeth had gotten herself dragged to, he knew that he would never learn of it now.

With that, another few days passed, and Caroline’s mother had come across a body of a man who had been found at the town’s borders. She thought she had seen him at the Grill once, but could not place exactly what had happened. There was no DNA evidence. The exact cause of death was not certain and nobody could definitely state if they had seen anything.

Meanwhile at the Mikaelson residence, Elijah was reading, and Elizabeth was in another corner of the living room, lounging on a cushioned chair. But she had fallen asleep after attempting to read a book, and her head was resting on her shoulder. Klaus had been drawing in a sketchpad when he saw that. And at that moment, he decided to bring out a canvas, and started to trace the rough outlines of Elizabeth resting. Finn saw what his younger brother was doing, and looked over as well, smiling a little at that and enjoying the almost normal and serene family atmosphere.

How long had it been since they had lived like this? Kol, on the other hand, had apparently stepped out and enjoying whatever mischief he was pulling while Rebekah was doing homework on the side with a bored look on her face.

Two hours later, Klaus had managed to finish some decent job of sketching the sleeping figure of Elizabeth, when Elijah quietly asked him,

“Can I take her to our room now, dear brother?”

Klaus hummed in agreement, before lifting the canvas and taking it to his art room. He wanted to keep it a secret for Elizabeth to gift it to her later for everything that she had done. After all, he felt that she was more than just a friend, but now a sister to him.

And like that, the Mikaelsons enjoyed the next few months of peace. And in between those months, Elizabeth had managed to finish her series of online cartoons and garner more money and a stable job.

Elizabeth and Elijah had even managed to hold a more stable relationship, where they had gone away from Mystic Falls from time to time to enjoy a time for themselves (especially with Rebekah’s encouragement). In this time, they had managed to grow stronger together and Elijah had even asked Elizabeth to move into the Mikaelson residence for good. Elizabeth wished with everything she had that she could but explained that she still had a lot of business to do before she could. Elijah understood, being the wiser one of the Mikaelsons, and actually strived to achieve to help her with whatever she needed. It involved him to go to silly galas and gatherings like he had used to do with the Strix in the past, for her “day work”.

And even then, the Mikaelsons did go travel throughout the world from time to time with Elizabeth in tow, stating that she needed to experience the luxuries of the world. Of course, Elizabeth thought that it was silly of them to think that she should, but she happily went with them. They went to Europe, Asia, and all over, enjoying their peaceful times. Finn especially got to learn more about the modern world and its histories through the various exhibitions and museums he visited with Elizabeth. He treasured these moments with his family too, wishing that it would last. Kol merely escaped from time to time, not wanting to stick around the romance and weird atmosphere that laid around everywhere in his family now.

Of course, Atalanta did make appearances from time to time as she went on hunts and even dragged Kol along with her. But amongst that peaceful time, something stirred in the darkness, and nature had a funny way of retaliating when Jeremy started to show signs of being a hunter, and suddenly, Damon, Stefan Salvatore, Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy, and Caroline had mysteriously disappeared.

And to Elizabeth and the Mikaelson’s horror, Silas had made his appearance, with the loss of Jeremy Gilbert’s life. But there was something that had slipped through Elizabeth’s mind in her days of happiness with Elijah Mikaelson. Hayley had come through town.

And the maelstrom really hit, when Elizabeth scrambled around to help get rid of Silas. He was a menace, but he was also that much stronger. However, she didn’t want to directly face him and tried various underhanded ways to destroy him through her connections. But a lot of the people she had talked to returned a negative in their research on this historical figure. Elizabeth hated that at this point of the show in her original realm, she had not really paid attention to the show, as she found the plotline not as interesting as that of the Original’s.

And finally, Klaus received the note that would change his life forever: the call to New Orleans. When he had divulged the information to his family and Elizabeth, the huntress froze and asked,

“You’re leaving then?”

Klaus looked over to his friend and responded,

“I would like it if you could come with us.”

Elizabeth sighed, and said, “I would have to pack everything and go. But because you seem to have everything ready to go, I will follow you not too long. Give me a few weeks.”

She paused, looking over to Elijah, a weird sense of dread coming through her, as she whispered,

“You should go with him. He might need your support.”

Elijah wanted to argue, but looked at Klaus, who was staring back at him. He knew the look in Niklaus’s eyes. It was fear of the unknown. He sighed and pressed his lips gently to Elizabeth’s forehead, and said,

“Very well. But know that I will wait for you.”

Elizabeth smiled back and nodded. But for some reason, she couldn’t help but be unable to shake the dread in the pit of her stomach. Two days later, the Mikaelsons had gone to New Orleans altogether, where Elijah had called Elizabeth who had been packing.

Boxes were strewn everywhere as Elizabeth was trying to pack all her belongings in them, while she said,

“Everything is fine here for now. I’m keeping the house under my name though, just in case. I am thinking of keeping my furniture here though, since we don’t know if we will come back.”

She said this now, but Elizabeth knew for a fact that she would not be able to return. On the other side of the line, Elijah looked at Hayley, who looked a little wary of her surroundings, still holding her stomach, as he said to Elizabeth,

“I miss you.”

Elizabeth smiled widely, as she answered, “I love you too.”

Both the huntress and vampire could not help the sense of happiness that flowed through the both of them at each other’s proclamation of love for each other. And with that, they spent each day that passed calling each other for at least a short moment, to make sure that they remained updated of the news.

But, of course, when Elijah had stopped receiving her calls, Elizabeth knew exactly what had happened and called Rebekah, only to realize that not only had Elijah been daggered, but Finn and Kol had been as well.

This alarmed Elizabeth more than she liked to admit, but she could not help but decide to wait to actually leave for New Orleans.

And fate had a terrible way of playing with Elizabeth and Elijah, as not too long after Elijah had been daggered, Elizabeth opened her door when there was a knock, to find someone who looked like Stefan Salvatore.

That was when Elizabeth made a fatal mistake and stepped outside of her door, thinking that the vampire in front of her was indeed Stefan, and not Silas himself.

~~ End of Book 1: To Love a Phoenix ~~