[Episode 30 - Rose - 1]

The sisters run hand-in-hand, gasping and running, stumbling over rocks and thorns as shouts follow them.

Letta slips over a raised rock, feet bleeding "Ah!"

"Letta! Come on! Please!" Katerina pulls her up, only to have the weakened Guardian gasp and cry out in pain "Rina... Go. I'll lead him away"

"L-"

"Go!" she weakly pushes her sister just as shouts sound at the far edge of the clearing.

"Rina run!"

Rina run! Rina run! Rina run! Rina run! Rina run!

Kat gasps awake in the swaying arms of a man, she pushes hard with her palms, making him drop her down. She hits a wood floor with a thud and a groan.

"Easy doppelicious" the man's veins go black under his as he eyes the Guardian with predatory hunger.

"Good trick grandpa, I'm here, I saw your horrible show, now take me back home" she demands, getting up.

In answer, the vampire digresses his red eyes over to a couch in the middle of the large room, where another similar figure lies gagged and tied.

"Elena!" Kat rushes to her sister, unconscious and bloody. Her wounds have healed, but she looks weak. She unties the bindings on the other twin's hands and legs, waiting for her to regain consciousness when she looks around.

"Who're you? And what the fuck do you want?" she pins him to the nearest wall.

He snarls and throws her off, spoiling her once-green dress even more. He stalks to her as if she'd be scared enough to cower "Just a taste" he licks his lips shamelessly.

"You're dead" the Guardian snarls, her bad mood taking over and eyes flashing amber. She had a shitty night before this, had her injuries ripped open, had her dress bleed red, and almost killed her soul-sister. She wasn't going let some bloodsucking baboon make her his prey.

Trevor was the usually one of the risk-taking vampires, surviving from an Original for almost all of his life. But inside, he was a coward ready to run.

Golden eyes shining through Kat pupils makes him take a step back, evaluating whether he needs to kill the girl in front of him.

A whoosh sounds beside him, pulling him "Trevor!"

"Rose!"

As if on cue, the younger Gilbert stirs awake, earning the attention of the rest of the creatures in the room. "Elena? Are you okay?" Kat gently thumps both her cheeks.

"Head hurting?" she goes into doctor-mom mode. Elena nods.

"Eyes up, okay, down, alright... Does anyone know that we're missing?"

"Shut up!" Trevor and Pixie both shout in panicky sync.

"You words imply that I should care" she raises her eyebrows, sitting on the couch, a comforting hand around her sister's shoulder.

"What do you want with me?" Elena asks only for herself, making Kat sigh in frustration, she's also sitting here kidnapped by two vamps.

"Oh my god, you look just like them" Rose steps forward in what some may call awe, but in their world, where necks snap, it is called morbid curiosity.

"But we're not them. Please, whatever you-"

"Be quiet!"

"But I'm not Katherine. We're Elena an-"

"I know who you are, I said be quiet"

"What do you want?" Kat asks.

Rose rushes forward, hand whistling inches before the irritating girl's bloody cheek. But before she can slap her, Kat holds the vampire's wrist with a sneer "I'd be extra nice to me"

When Pixie sees the orange flash in her angry eyes, all expressions fall as shock takes monopoly "Letta?"

"This, has got to stop" Kat murmurs, getting up "You knew Violetta Petrova?"

Rose steps away with a diverting face "Sit and stop talking". The girl is too much like Letty. Before, she could side a blind eye to the doppelgangers to get their freedom. But now, seeing the same face, the same angry selfless eyes of her friend, she has to take several deep breaths to compose herself.

She goes upstairs with Trevor.

"So, you called him?"

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

"Did you or did you not get the message to Elijah?" Trevor asks again, not bothering to lower his voice. 

Downstairs, the Petrova doppelganger's lips stretch to the right side "Who's this Elijah? Did I know him?" she demands loudly.

Pixie suppresses her snort, her knowing him would be the understatement of her life, which is a pretty long one.

"We just have to wait" she ignores the girls downstairs as she assures her friend.

"Look, it's not too late. We can leave them here. We don't have to go through with this!" Trevor insists, holding her hands in plea.

"I'm sick of running Trevor!" she rushes down the stairs.

The Gilbert sisters frown. The way the two vampires are speaking, it was difficult to believe whether they were siblings or lovers.

"Yeah? Well, running keeps us from dying" they come into the room, Trevor glaring at the sisters, Rose avoiding looking at them, and Kat cringing in pain as she pulls thousand and one pins from her knotted updo.

"Elijah's old school. If he accepts our deal, we're free" Pixie paces behind Trevor.

"Who's Elijah?" Elena asks.

Rose looks from her to Kat, providing the shortest description of the vampire's role in the Guardian's previous life "He's your worst nightmare"

Surprisingly, the girl laughs, earning glares and weird looks from the ones around her "Darling, you'd on the floor if you ever had my nightmares. Now, come to the point, why are we here?"

"You keep asking me these questions like I'm gonna answer them" she motions Trevor to go out.

"Why won't you?" Elena grows a backbone.

"That's another one"

"You got us, okay? It's not like I can go anywhere. The least you can do is tell me what you want with us"

"I personally want nothing; I'm just a delivery service"

"To this Elijah?" Kat asks, running her fingers through her scalp. Somehow, whenever she hears or says that name, a tingle clenches her chest, pushing her towards something, her past life(s).

"Two points to the eavesdropper"

"Who is he? Is he a vampire?"

"He's one of the vampires, the originals" Rose whispers the last word as if expecting a monster-Santa to come plug her eyes out.

"What do you mean the originals?"

"Again with the questions. Haven't the Salvatores been teaching you your vampire history?"

"So you know our hotties huh?" the Guardian raises an eyebrow, crossing her right leg over her left one, trying to hide the knives still left in the shin straps Alaric gave her. She loosens the strap of her Guardian charm, fingering it - the only nervous tick she developed since childhood.

"I know of them. A hundred years back, a friend of mine tried to set me up with Stefan" Kat frowns with burning anger "She said he was one of the good ones. I'm more of a sucker for the bad boys though but I digress"

"Yes you do" the Guardian blandly states, "Who are these originals, are they part of an ancient cult or something?"

"Trevor and I have been running for 500 years. We're tired, we want it over. We're using you to negotiate ourselves out of an old mess"

"You didn't answer my question"

"You didn't ask the right one" Rose glares but drops her gaze to the other sister, who's frowning "But why us?"

"Because you're a Petrova Twins. And you're doppelgangers..."

"So you're saying we're the next Jesus?" Rose scoffs. The girl won't be sassing around when she gets to know she's off to her death.

"You're the key to breaking the curse"

"The curse? The sun and the moon curse?" Elena blurts out. Kat presses her teeth, closing her eyes in exasperation. 

"Oh, you do know your history"

"What do you mean I'm the key? The moonstone is what breaks the curse"

"No, the moonstone is what binds the curse. The sacrifice is what breaks it"

"The sacrifice?" 

"The blood of the doppelganger and the Guardian. You're the doppelgänger" she points to Elena, pauses for 2 seconds, turning to Kat "And you're the Guardian. Which means, in order to break the curse you're the ones who have to die"

"Though I don't believe this stupid mass murder lore, entertain me, tell me more" Kat leans back, thinking of all the people probably going on with their day back at home. Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Damon... Stefan...

Trevor comes in with a chair "Captivity has made her pushy, eh? What do you want to know doppelicious?"

"Who were you running from?" Elena asks.

"The originals" 

Kat rolls her eyes "Yeah, Pixie here already said that vampy. But what does 'the originals' mean?" she makes finger quotes on the most important words.

"The first family, the old world. Rose and I pissed them off"

"Mm-hmm" Rose clears her throat with a raised eyebrow. Trevor looks sheepishly "Correction, I pissed them off, Rose had my back and for over half a millennium, they wanted us dead"

"What did you do?" Kat asked, somewhat blaming him without knowing what he did.

"He made the same mistake " Rose gets up dramatically "-countless others did... He trusted Katerina Petrova"

Kat uncrosses her legs and crosses the other way, letting her eyes turn amber with an unspoken threat. Katherine may be a bitch, but she's crawled her way under her skin, connecting this unconscious desire of hers to her previous life.

"Katherine" Elena mumbles.

"The one and only, the first Petrova Doppelgänger"

The Guardian suppresses a snort. These people don't know half the stuff about Guardians. Katherine is just the previous doppelganger. There's a very long line of Petrova doppelgangers which Pixie and Grandpa won't know from Kat's mouth ever. 

"I helped her escape her fate" Trevor gets up too "-and now I've, sorry, we've been marked ever since"

"Which is why we're not gonna make the same mistake again" Rose declares firmly. Whether she was trying to convince herself or the girls in front of her, she did not know.

"Rose, a word?" Trevor asks politely, but with hidden meaning and they stalk out of the room.

"Well that is ju-" Kat starts but her voice undermines another sound. A crinkle. Frowning, the sisters look around and then under them on the couch. Rose and Trevor go on about something like family, but they can still hear them.

Kat motions a finger on her lips and her ear. Getting up as slowly as she can without crinkling the paper more, they see a piece of paper 

Stefan and Damon are coming for you

-B

They sigh, pushing it into the folds of the cushion. Kat hugs Elena close. Her sister will be safe.

They jolt out of their embrace when Trevor rushes in, taking quick deep breaths "He's here! This was a mistake!"

"No," Rose frowns "I told you I would get us out of this. You have to trust me!"

"No! He wants me dead, Rose! Me!"

"He wants them more"

"I can't do this. You give them to him, he'll have mercy on you but I need to get out of here! Ros-"

"Hey!" she holds him roughly by the shoulders "What are we?"

"We're family," he breathes out with his eyes closed "...forever"

A very loud knock sounds at the door, and Kat feels the back of her neck go rigid. Rose looks "Stay here with them and don't make a sound" she throws the last instruction to the girls, one scared and one eager to meet this Elijah.

"Rose-Marie" they hear a sophisticated deep voice. The elder Gilbert would have laughed at Pixie's full name but something in that voice makes her stop and listen. Listen hard. 

She never thought she'd want to see someone so much after hearing only horror stories about them and hearing their voice, but... it feels like she knew him, like, like....

"Is there somewhere we can talk?"

"Yes, in here. You have to forgive the house"

"Oh, no, what's a little dirt? I completely understand. So tell me, what is it that gives you the courage to call me?"

"I wanted my freedom. I'm tired of running. Are you in a position to grant me that?"

"I have complete authority to grant pardon to you and your little pet -... What is his name these days? Trevor. If I so see fit..."

"Letta and Katerina?"

"...I'm listening" Elijah's voice states, pushing the words out like a command.

"Katerina didn't burn in the church in 1864"

"Continue"

"She survived"

"And Letta?" the pupils in the jade eyes of the Guardian dilate as she hears the name.

"No..." Rose whispers.

"Where is Katerina?"

"...You don't seem surprised by this"

"Oh, " Elijah says off-handedly "-when you called and invited me into this armpit of civilization, which is a mere three hours from Mystic Falls, I surmised it had everything to do with Katerina. Do you have her in your possession?"

"No, but I have better. I have her doppelgangers..."

"That's impossible, Violetta's family line ended with her and her sister. I know that for fact"

"The facts are wrong"

"Well, show them to me"

They hear them just outside the door and Elena steps slightly behind her sister "Elijah, you are a man of honor, you should be trusted but I want to hear you say it again"

"You have my word that I will pardon you" Ah, Kat thought, he didn't say anything about Grandpa. How about she kill him now?

"Follow me" she opens the door, to reveal Elijah.

To say the least, he looks like a man who will die in a suit if he ever dies. He carries a royal aura that oozes command.

The Guardian feels her chest physically ache, making her take in a stabilising breath. 

Elijah looks at the doppelganger in surprise.

Letta. 

His breath hitches in his throat as he looks to the girl's keen, piercing green eyes, very much like the Letta he knew. Light brown locks cascade down her bare shoulders, most of her dress red with dried blood. Yet she stands so confident, shielding her sister.

The Original vampire rushes to the doppelgangers, inching forward, taking a deep breath particles away from them "Human...." he states in disbelief "It's impossible...."

Kat frowns, pushing him back, a feat no other living had ever attempted and lived to tell the tale.

But the oldest vampire just smiles in amusement "Hello there"

She entertains a small snarky smile with a wave, still shielding her sister "Hello Mr. Cullen, but can you give us some space please?"

He frowns, not understanding she would call him Mr. Cullen "Mikaelson" he states with raised eyebrows.

"What-son?" she frowns, disappointing him just a tad bit. If she really had the memories of her previous life, she wouldn't have to grope for identification. She knew everything about him, his past, his future, his darkness, his light.

"I said... Mikaelson" he repeats, without waiting for her next comment, he addresses the twins "We have a long journey head of us. We should be going"

Elena squeezes her sister's hand and Kat scoffs "Yea... No thank you," she looks to vampy "Can you deliver us to our home please?"

When he sees the other supernatural in the room, Elijah's lips lift up into a smile as he stalks in the direction of the friend who betrayed him ages ago "One last piece of business and we're done"

"I've waited so long for this day, Elijah. I'm truly, very sorry" Trevor sighs.

"Oh no, your apology's not necessary"

"Yes, yes it is. You trusted me with Katerina and I failed you" way to dig a hole Grandpa.

"Oh yes" Elijah's brows go up "-you are the guilty one and Rose aided you because she was loyal to you and now, that I honor. Where was your loyalty?"

"I beg your forgiveness" he looks down at Elijah's polished shoes without moving his head.

"So granted" Mr. Mikaelson says, but he looks to Kat with some hidden meaning in his eyes. She frowns but turns her back to him, hugging Elena, making her burrow her face into her shoulder.

An awful sound of flesh tearing apart resounds through the entire house, followed by Rose's emotional scream. The sisters look to the scene to find Trevor's head lying feet away from his fallen body, splatter of blood painting the wood in between.

"You...!" Rose cries, looking up from her knees, only to have Elijah cut her off powerfully "Don't, Rose, now that you are free"

"Come" he beckons the girls, who don't move an inch.

"What about the moonstone?" Elena shouts an octave higher. The old vampire stops in his tracks "What do you know about the moonstone?"

"I know that you need it and I know where it is" the younger stupid twin continues, only to have her sister placate and stop her with a glare. 

"Yes? Tell me where it is"

"It doesn't work that way" Kat scoffs in his face, rolling her eyes.

"Are you negotiating with me?" his eyes narrow in amusement, that puny humans have the audacity to demand something from a man like him.

"What is this vervain doing around your neck?" he looks at Elena's neck, snatching off the necklace and throwing it across the room. Just as he grabs the girl by the shoulders, Kat picks the knives in the straps, stabbing him in the neck and the stomach with her healed hands. He groans and pushes her off.

Removing the lodged metal, he looks again into the brown eyes of the second doppelganger "Tell me where the moonstone is"

"Elena d-"

"In the tomb, underneath the church ruins"

"What is it doing there?" he asks and Kat picks up one of the bloody knives again, throwing it in his back, he grunts but removes it once again, discarding it down.

"It's with Katherine" Kat snatches her sister towards her, putting herself between Elena and Elijah.

"Interesting" he starts stalking steps towards the duo but a crash upstairs interrupts him.