a/n: really worried this chapter/next one are boring cos there's a lot of talking (so many characters and combos *semi crying*)
There will be some action soon I promise xx
Comment and vote <3
- Bea

1919

Lillian stood on the edge of The Bayou, staring across the water, a clearing developing around her. Her hands were covered in blood, fingers wiping it across her cheeks in large sweeping motions. Hair pinned back – perfect blue dress ripped, the once smooth satin wrapped around her waist untied and lost to the trees. Blood and mud, turning the colour of the sky she suited so well into murky and shadowed spots.

Her gaze was focused, lips parted.

"Lilli," Tom was behind her, "Listen to me – "

"You don't understand."

Her shoes were missing, no fabric protecting her feet, stings and cuts from nettles and broken branches almost meaningless. No reaction, flinching, or signs of pain.

"It is too weak."

"You cannot do this."

"It is what's right."

"Your mother would not – "

"My mother is dead."

Spoken so easily.

"And they want my head for it."

"You did kill her."

"It is what the spirits required."

"Lillian," He could risk getting any closer, "I am – "

"You need to listen," Her quiet response brought silence, "Listen to how the candle burns."

He stilled, really watching her.

"The voice in the ripple," Her hand came forward, silver knife cutting her palm, dripping into the water beneath, "Can you hear it sing?"

"We are trying to help you, Lilli."

"I am helped."

Her eyes shut, swaying slightly.

There was no breeze – only the rustle of forest life fleeing from the sight. Smelling the magic in the air before any humans could, knowing it never meant anything good. Being in tune with the world in the way most witches tried to mimic. People claimed to find music in everything, delivering them messages, falling in too deep to escape by the time they realised it wasn't a song, but a curse.

"They are using you," He spoke calmly.

"They're not."

"You killed your mother, and you can't give me a good reason as to why."

"I needed to be Regent."

"You were shunned."

"Because they are yet to understand," Lillian finally faced him, veins in her arms blue – like poison, "Sometimes you must sacrifice to be reborn."

"You are the smartest witch alive," He pleaded, "You do not need whatever they are offering."

"Peace."

He tried not to cry, watching the woman he loved so out of reach.

"It is not that I need them, but I do what is needed."

"You are not making sense."

"I am," She made a matching cut on the other hand, "You are just choosing to ignore my points."

"You have hurt people – "

"Yet you are still here. Offering support."

"I love you," He repeated, "I am not supporting. I just want to know how I can stop this!"

Five months of chaos.

"Get you back. Help you through the after – "

"It is all about to end," She spoke like a promise, "And it will all be okay."

"Lilli – "

"My mother did not suffer."

"She – "

"Had an almost instantaneous death."

He breathed in shakily.

"And no one else will have to hurt anyone."

"The Axeman hasn't been caught."

"This is so much bigger than him."

The area may have been filled with trees, but there was enough space for a leaf to slowly blow between them. Dry brown, the winter season just beginning, giving up on hope too.

"I have all the power, Tom."

A phrase that would echo through time.

"The magic – the information – and the spirits do not question me – they embrace me!"

The joyous laugh from her mouth was terrifying.

"They created me – they are proud that I have finally lived up to what I was born to do – born to be," She tugged at her hair, "All those whispers? All that noise?"

Things that had haunted her through her youth.

"It was just them welcoming me!"

Always a little too close to the line between living and dead.

"All of you have got it wrong! No clue what you're doing – but – but – but, I'm different."

'Chosen.'

"Doing this means you will not fall victim to any of it," She stepped closer, "You will never die, Tom. You will be safe. And all the deaths needed will finally be seen for what they are."

"Death is not a currency to make mystical deals with."

"A spell this big requires it."

"And the Lillian I know did not think life was exchangeable."

"And she was wasting her abilities."

"So you admit you're not Lillian?"

A smile that would haunt nightmares, "I am everything."

"Give her back."

"She is here – I am here."

"What have you done to her?"

"They have done nothing," She moved back to the water's edge, "Other than give me the power to be free. To set everyone free."

Tom tried to understand.

Tried to work out if reasoning with her was worth it.

If the person he loved was still in there, or if her body was truly lost to something darker, the blue against her skin growing deeper every second.

"You wish to talk me out of this?"

"I do"

"To banish the ancestor's influence?"

"I can."

"You have completely misunderstood," Her eyes were bleeding, "It's too late."

"It is never too late."

Hands shaking.

"I will never let you go – I will never stop loving you – I will never stop fighting for your soul."

"They are already everywhere," Her hands came out, "The spirits bled so these streets could be built. And abused. And manipulated. By vampires and wolves – "

"We are only weak when we let the spirits divide us."

"Look at us, Tom!" She snapped, "Our entire lives have been divided! And hidden. And wasted, trying to appease a world we should be controlling."

"This is not you, Lillian!"

"You do not get to say that!" She shoved forward, a force flinging him back, "I am doing this for you – for us."

"You are going to get yourself killed."

"And you will live on. And our baby will live on."

He froze.

"People die. Over and over. For people who are not deserving – I have done nothing but give death purpose."

"You're pregnant?"

"I think, what is in my stomach, only has a chance, if we are willing to do everything for it."

"Put the knife down," He watched how she lifted it up, "Lillian, we need – "

"All the chanting," She seemed about to sob, "It will only stop if I make it."

The silver caught in the moonlight.

"The connection between the living and the dead is too weak to survive," She pointed it forward, "We doubt it. We question it. We are disloyal to it."

"We have done nothing but practice for them."

"And that is the problem!" Her neck was pale, lines tracing the surface, "We are taught to be weak."

"We are taught to survive."

"And we will survive by having faith," Her tone settled, no longer yelling, "By people like me, showing that we have faith."

The word that would haunt them.

"And those who fight back will die."

Tom blinked, risking taking another step.

"And they will not go peacefully."

Eye focused again, staring straight through him.

"Suffering for putting the rest of us at risk in such a fashion."

He was holding his breath like it might cost him everything.

"I am ending this, Tom," She turned to the water again, "I am doing what is needed to keep us safe."

He screamed, lurching forward as she cut through her neck. Letting her body fall right into the glistening water, a reflection of stars, forest, and moon, broken by the ripples. Supposedly singing out in relief.

THE WOLVES
The Benko Gambit

Freya had moved to sit by the water's edge, trying to ignore the fact there were four wolf bodies on her left. They were tied to Hayley. The water was a natural element, far larger than she could risk making the fire, an extra boost to her power.

"Komdu Til Mín."

It seemed to vibrate.

"Komda I Oryggio," Freya moved the palm closer to the surface, every hair on her body jolting with static, "Komdu Til Mín."

Yes, she'd gone to the water for a boost.

"Komda I Oryggio."

But she hadn't expected a kick that big.

"Heyrou Petta Modur."

Freya fell back, power knocking through her bones like she'd stuck fingers into a broken socket.

"Sister," Elijah caught her, appearing from the forest, "Are you okay?"

"There's definitely some magic involved," She panted.

A moment to regain her bearings.

"Someone is trying to block The Crescents from sensing my help."

"I would have to agree," He helped her straighten up, "There is something you might be able to explain to me."

Her chest warmed slightly at the faith, shaking off her initial kickback. Trying to ignore the migraine forming in her brain, jitters from the blast still trickling through her mortal bones. Whatever was blocking Hayley wasn't just keeping her out but fighting back against interference.

Like the spirits in the wind wanted to watch her wither down.

"If you are well enough too," He noted how pale she'd become, "Freya – "

"We are dealing with a magical foe," She dismissed, "I will be fine."

"Freya."

"A walk will help."

A walk through The Bayou that suddenly felt far more magical than Freya had ever expected it to.

Stained with death.

Unlocking something new.

~***~

Pri ended up carrying the 'prisoner,' jumping in the way when Klaus went to drag him through the building by his ankle. She thought that was ridiculously over the top, so instead had him over her shoulder, slight groans showing that he was on the brink of waking up.

Andrew.

MJ repeated the name in her head, processing what it meant. Levi had come to her because of a hex, which Kol and Klaus had now explained was actually a deal he'd made. Trying to use MJ to get out of it?

At the end of the corridor was an elevator, the first floor the same level as the reception, two below it, one above.

The place didn't seem big enough to have 60 spaces.

Then again, they didn't know how big the places would be.

Maybe some were more like lockers than rooms.

"So," Klaus repeated the point, "This Levi is here, purely for you?"

"Seems so."

"Because I pissed him off," Jeremy rephrased, "None of this is your fault, MJ."

"It's yours," Klaus nodded falsely, "The pack she cares about is – "

"It's no ones," MJ interrupted, "It's not our fault that people act like this."

"I mean," Jeremy pulled a face, "Seeking revenge against a guy who killed your entire family is a little more reasonable and would be their fault."

"Trying to justify why you murdered Kol?" Klaus baited, "If you had a problem with me, surely I should've been the target?"

"You were. Things got complicated."

"I'm so faltered to be your second choice," Kol gagged, "People would kill to be you."

Jeremy gave him a look, followed by a glance at MJ.

"But instead of listing all the reasons I'm a far more worthy target," He huffed, "I'd quite like to loop back to your story about Lucien."

Klaus glared at his brother.

"He's in New York?"

"And you confronted him together?" MJ preferred that topic, "You told me vamp trouble in August, and Jer was – "

"That was my second incident with him," Pri clarified, "The first one went down during the Levi stuff."

"Because you think they're working together."

Each step was careful.

They were all expecting someone to jump out at them, and yet?

MJ stilled, hairs standing up on her neck, instantly spinning round to check every reflective surface.

"M?"

She focused on the metal of the elevator door, now behind them as they searched the dryly designed and repetitive interior.

"Sensing something?"

"...Yeah."

Klaus glanced at Kol, "We felt a spiritual presence earlier."

"Oh," MJ didn't like that, "That's..."

"Wolfman might feel a ghost," Pri finished her thought, "But a vampire?"

MJ bit her cheek, "If you want my help?"

Nothing.

She sighed, accepting the feeling and letting it flitter away.

If the spirit didn't come forward, she wouldn't force it to – especially when it didn't feel like a spirit. It wasn't the hypnotic energy she'd experienced while examining Levi, details of reality getting blurred by the tattoos. This was more like the apartment, clock out of time and echoing through her body.

"This is a longstanding issue," Klaus spoke, "You hadn't thought to mention?"

"You knew I saw Ryos."

"This is like that?"

"Probably," MJ met Kol's eyes. 

They had a rapid non-verbal conversation.

Klaus turned his nose up, "Time to share with the class?"

"On my birthday, a witch friend told me to be careful," MJ confessed, "That a spirit was watching me on her side."

"Her side?"

"A Lwa," She confessed, "Tia is one of the remaining Voodoo Queens."

Klaus's teeth grated, not liking that announcement.

"Potentially, a few of them are watching me."

"Um," Jeremy shifted, "I don't know what that means."

"A Lwa is a spirit," Pri answered, "It's not a ghost the way the ancestors are, more like...think, deity ghosts. Louisianan or Haitian?"

"Assuming Louisianan," MJ bobbed, "They spell voodoo the Louisiana way so .."

"Why do you know that?" Klaus didn't miss a beat, "New York Vampire."

"My girlfriend's a witch, and my best friend lives in Louisiana," Pri looked at him like he was an idiot, "You know, the Voodoo capital of America."

"A spirit with Papa Legba," MJ clarified, "She could sense Ryos."

"Poor her," Pri gagged.

"We don't know that she was talking about him," Kol reminded her.

"I literally saw him in the same room she felt something."

"Poor you," Pri corrected.

The New York Gang, besides Beni, had always been quietly disapproving of Ryos. Beni hadn't been quiet. He and MJ had argued about his thoughts on her brother a lot when she'd lived there.

"Ryos knew voodoo. He made plans for everything, so I'm assuming he made a plan for if he died," MJ decided, "That was away from the spirits and the Floare. And everything he hated."

Since he'd seemingly hated them all so much.

"With the magic style he actually chose," MJ cleared her throat, "It doesn't matter."

Jeremy sent her a look, "If you're feeling your brother – "

"If Ryos wants a final chat, he can show himself."

End of conversation.

"He's not; therefore, it doesn't matter right now."

Kol's original topic change.

"Lucien and you guys?"

"MJ," Jeremy didn't let her dodge again, "Your witch feelings are never wrong."

She'd predicted both Kol and his deaths.

"And," She sighed in agreement with him, "I'm the queen of lecturing people for ignoring witch feelings."

But she'd been doing it all summer.

"This is different," She stressed, "It's Ryos."

A problem for her therapist.

Not them.

Not that day.

"Tia felt it in August. This hunter's been here for a few days."

One problem at a time.

Just a feeling in the air she somewhat recognised yet couldn't place – almost out of time. Like she was walking a millisecond out of sync with reality, a smell filling her nose like a crypt, yet nobody in sight.

She needed to deal with one problem at a time.

"Lucien."

"I'm supposed to believe," Klaus was looking down the corridor, "A vampire over a thousand years old let the local do-gooders boss him about because of some banking information?"

"We met him," Jeremy looked uncomfortable, "He knew who I was."

"And that was so terrifying he stopped?"

"Considering I killed an Original Vampire. Yeah."

The silence rippled out.

"He thought I had white oak on me."

MJ and Kol didn't look at each other.

"We didn't go in there intending for that to come up..."

"He'd caught me breaking into his office," Pri admitted, "Looking through his emails for more proof. He admitted to sending his exterminators after my missing people."

"And he claimed he'd stop to get you to leave," Klaus assumed.

"Apparently, Selene had phoned him," Pri's lips were in a fine line, "Apologised for messing with the balance. And offered to prove he meant it by helping me catch my 'real hunter.'"

Kol and Klaus shared another specific look.

"I never bought it for a second," Pri stopped at a corner, "My gut is never wrong."

Shoes flashing slightly as her feet pushed up in annoyance.

"But I couldn't find anything to explain what was up with his finances."

Silence as she glared down the path they'd walked.

"Rich people manipulate numbers," Jeremy gave the mortal justification, "He was spooked you knew the amount you did. Research well done. Proves compulsion doesn't go unnoticed."

"I know it's probably just hiding his feeding habits, but I just..."

A head shake.

"His dumb fancy ass actually helped us find Levi," She complained, "Like that would make up for everything. And! It was clearly the bullshit I labelled it as if he's here."

"Why would he be here, though?" Jeremy pointed out, "You thought he was waiting to kick you off your throne. Well, you're here. He can take the position he wanted a lot easier right now."

MJ watched Pri's blank reaction, "Why did you leave?"

"I wanted to help you."

"Pri..."

"What?"

"New York is New York."

The equivalent to the power New Orleans had over her.

"You love it, and it loves you."

"If my kingdom is so fragile that it collapses the moment I leave, have I really built anything?"

A point.

"I've left it in good hands."

"Meaning?"

"One of Selene's old seconds – And yeah, Lucien was waiting for me to slip up," Pri turned between Jeremy and her, "But he likes being in places filled with the same sire-line. New York is – "

Hands to her mouth to holler.

"'Team Elijah' for life!"

Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Relocating here makes more sense," She went back to Lucien, "Especially if he knew a wolf hunter would swoop through – more proof he knows Levi."

Jeremy looked at MJ, "I don't like how he knew who I was."

MJ didn't like it either.

"He made it sound like he'd had someone spying on all of us since the first...you know."

Finn's death.

"It's possible," MJ always knew it had been, "We're lucky no loved ones came seeking revenge."

She'd quiz Klaus and Kol more on Lucien later.

"Do we send someone to go looking for him?"

Klaus considered it, "Elijah is the only one who'd know his face."

"And he's setting up The Bayou," MJ grimaced, "If I ask him, he'll do it."

"Not on his one Hayley night," Klaus mused, "He'd never give me the satisfaction."

"I hate to agree," Kol winced, "But I'd bet any money he's sniffing about trying to identify which scent is hers."

MJ pulled out her phone, "Worth a try."

"162," Klaus pointed to the door behind him, "Was it?"

MJ hated how he'd waited to point it out.

She pushed past him to put the key into the lock, opening it slowly, all of their ears open. Ready for an attack – and ready to end the entire fiasco.

No one was there.

The room filled with boxes, and things, and just...

MJ felt her throat closing up, eyes fluttering in panic.

Like that would make it disappear –

Voice weak.

"...This is my mum's stuff..."

Some of the clothes that had played a protective bubble around her body in the closet. Cardboard boxes filled with things her parents had stored in the basement – MJ forgetting they'd ever had storage. Ryos had grabbed a bag of shit from his room before they'd left, hence the few photos she'd ended up with but –

"I – I – I – "

It was not the emotional trigger she'd expected to deal with that day.

Books packed tightly into a shelf unit MJ had tried to climb when she'd been six years old, cutting her knee and crying until her mum had put a healing paste on it.

Unable to look away.

Aware the others were talking around her, the specific words lost to puffs of blurred air as water filled up the fish tank of her life. Competing to have an opinion. A reaction. A confusion. Questions following her statement, unable to be answered –

Until MJ heard a sniff.

She vamp sped around, catching Andrew just as he lurched out of Pri's arms, about to bolt down the corridor. Catching his shirt collar and slamming him into the wall. Andrew didn't let that daze him, ducking down as his head swung side to side from impact, trying to dart around her, only to freeze as a knife landed in the wall. Just scraping his nose. 

Blood.

Jeremy had thrown it, the halt allowing MJ to wrap her fingers around Andrew's neck, pinning him against the wall and lifting him up, the other hand grabbing the blade to shove it against his skin.

"MJ!" Pri yelled, making her still.

She took in what she'd been about to.

The feeling in her ready to siphon.

Blood a second away from pouring down his neck, lips craving it.

"He is not your enemy."

Shakily, MJ stepped back. Releasing him and watching how he pressed himself against the wall, staring at her in fear. Not something she particularly liked, now wanted to experience anymore.

MJ needed to calm down.

Pri was right.

Andrew was just trying to get his sister back.

"Sorry."

He swallowed nervously.

"I'm – "

"MiMi Pasare," His voice was scratchy, "I know who you are."

She curled her lips in, turning to face the storage space.

"It's an honour."

"Thanks," She sounded tired, "I – um..."

"He'll be fine," Klaus stopped her incoming apology, "The vampire blood is still in his system."

Andrew arched forward, "What – "

"Vampire blood," He lorded, "Meaning one neck snap and your – "

"Stop threatening the victim!" Pri groaned, "God – "

The argument started behind her, MJ's foot inching further into the room.

Her old painting chair.

Just there.

The chair she would sit on next to her windowsill desk, rainbow curtains casting colours over it as she painted on the easel her dad had built for her after she'd run out of wall space.

Inhala, Exhala.

Jeremy was pulling at a polaroid of her dad and her lying in bed, "That's – "

"Yeah."

Her tiny hand reaching up towards the camera.

A big grin across her face.

Her dad looked barely any older if she was honest.

"Your eyes watch me for you," MJ recited, "The bottom of Levi's note."

"Marcel," Kol clicked, "If this is – "

"...My entire childhood is in here..."

"And if this Levi knows about it?" Kol's point, "He knows everything about you."

Her dad.

He'd know her dad's face.

He'd –

He'd –

He might –

"Marcel's given him everything he needs."

"We don't know that," MJ shifted, "Levi's trying to stress me out. He could've put it in Marcel's name."

And, god, was that plan working.

Klaus was staring at her curiously.

MJ needed to relax.

If anything had happened to her dad – she'd know.

She'd added so much protective magic to his house. Nothing supernatural could get in without her knowing. No pictures would change that. No amount of magic in Levi's attacks.

They were fine.

Her family would be fine.

"Can we stop touching stuff?" Her voice was high, "This is like..."

All the normal stuff she hadn't thought about.

So wrapped up in the spell books and journals, she hadn't even thought about her sewn-together pillow. Something Ryos and she had made at Christmas after she'd been given a 'make your own soft toy' kit they'd decided to repurpose.

But –

"There's a literal newspaper story explaining how the entire apartment was burnt up," Her eyes closed, "I – I – I saw the mess!"

Or had she?

"I – I – "

The living room had been smashed up in the fight, and a collection of things had been burnt, but she'd been so focused on her mum's heart that she hadn't taken it all in. And, she'd then closed her eyes and let Ryos lead her out of the building – the destruction she had seen had been projected onto everything, but –

"It was...I..." She breathed, "The living room was part of the fight but everything else?"

The newspaper report.

"Marcel got involved," Klaus repeated, "You might want to believe that this is all a ploy to make you upset, but – "

"Yeah."

Silence.

"Marcel's the only person in the city when it happened."

Other than the witches.

"Your name's Andrew," She turned back to the wolf, "And you think Levi has your sister?"

His eyes were jumping between all of them.

"Suggestion," Pri pipped up, "Truth rune."

MJ blinked.

She didn't know why she hadn't gone there herself.

Well, no, she did. Her mind was in a wind turbine surrounded by old memories – but still. MJ could control her emotions. She'd had a summer of adapting, and control wasn't the problem –

Inhala. Exhala.

She was a vampire.

She was new.

This was her real test, and she would get through it, and then she could stop panicking about the stupid word 'heightened.'

"Obviously vampire hearing," She spoke slowly, "But you can never be too careful."

Kol glanced at Jeremy, "The other face in those photos is proof of that."

Yeah.

That elephant in the room.

The number of Ryos's staring at her.

Her hands moved to create a letter in the air, "Verdalíth."

The shape appearing on the floor and glowing white.

Activated.

Inhale. Exhale.

"Hi," Her thoughts slowed, "So...you know who I am."

"Of course, I know who you are."

"Why do you know that?" Klaus phrased slightly, "Her name, sure – but MiMi Pasare could be anyone?"

"There are pictures."

MJ narrowed her eyes.

"The people who wanna know, find you, then they share."

"The following," Jeremy reminded her, "That this Lucien guy did."

"You know a Lucien?" Kol prompted.

He pulled a face, "No?"

"He's a grunt," Pri justified, "Grunts don't always know who's cashing their checks."

"I'm not getting any money from this," He rushed out, "I just want – "

"Your sister," MJ repeated.

Silence.

"You didn't find a body."

Nothing.

"Look," She made her features soften, "If there's a chance she's alive, you need to work with us."

He didn't respond.

A truth rune didn't force him to talk.

"Let's not make this any harder than it needs to be," Kol shoved his off the wall.

"I know how this works," He argued, "I spill, you kill me. So I'm not talking."

"You sure about that?" Kol's hand locked on his shoulder, digging right into the bone as he cried out, "Truly sure?"

"This doesn't need to get violent," Jeremy tried, "We're the good guys here."

"You might be," Klaus jabbed, "I...

Eyes turning gold.

"...Am not."

"Or we could not cover all my childhood things with blood," MJ winced, "Like – "

Her photo albums were not about to get ruined.

"Just a suggestion."

Klaus let the gold vanish, giving her a look.

"Just because you have a thousand years of memorabilia to trash doesn't mean the rest of us do," Her nose could smell the blood on him, "If this is real?"

Dry blood on Kol's hands.

"My actual things?"

Heartbeat clear in her ears.

"You can feed," Klaus took a step closer to her, "It's allowed, Mira."

A beat.

"...He's admitted to stalking you...He's not offering help..."

She cleared her throat, "Feed?"

"Your eyes," Kol's lips were trying not to twitch, "Have you eaten today?"

"His blood's laced with dark magic," Klaus revealed, "But that's good for you."

"You guys are so lucky I'm Team 'Let MJ do what she wants,'" Jeremy openly disapproved, "Instead of Team 'Ric knows best.'"

"She needs blood – "

"I've eaten today," MJ dismissed, "I'm just a little overwhelmed."

"Okay," Pri put a smile on, "Andrew."

She was giving MJ a moment.

"Not talking isn't a helpful stance," Her voice was warm, "You made a deal with him?"

His hands were trembling, "You guys are gonna kill me."

"No," Pri looked to MJ, "We're not."

"Someone's trying to kill me," MJ nodded in agreement, "Unless you're part of it, you're good."

"He was trying to kill us first."

"And I'm sorry about that."

The smell of blood was still so strong.

"But I might be able to help you."

After a moment of looking between Pri and her, he let his head nod.

"Levi showed me the hex."

"Hex?" He shook his head, "I've not been hexed."

"You have."

"No – "

Kol looked baffled, "What do you think is on your back?"

"It's what stops Levi from double-crossing me," He answered cautiously, "He got a witch to draw up our deal. It appeared when I signed it."

"You got played."

"But – "

"There's a spell binding your life to whatever task he's set you," MJ stressed.

Andrew's eyes went wide.

"Slightly more willing to talk to us now?"

His eyes were on his feet.

"Look," MJ pushed his chin up, "If your sister's alive, I can find her."

"...He wanted me to keep you out of his way until his job was done."

"Meaning," Klaus waved his finger, "This is all part of that."

He was fuming.

"We're wasting time even talking to him."

"Maybe," Pri narrowed her eyes, "But you're the ones who brought him here."

"Even if he did," MJ interrupted, "Who cares?"

"Who cares?"

"Levi came looking for me," She reminded them, "He fled 'cos I had back-up. But, his job is to kill me."

"His job is to wipe out all the wolves in The Bayou," Andrew corrected, "You guys wanna find him? Go there."

"Even worse for him," MJ shrugged, "Elijah and Freya are there."

"And they wouldn't let anything happen," Klaus murmured, "Would they."

"Which will send him back to find me until they've cleared out to pick up Hope."

"I'm telling Marcel to not let them take her," His phone came out.

"You can't – "

"You expect me to let my daughter be brought into an open hunting ground?"

"Yeah..." MJ sighed, "But Hayley gets her time the second he's gone."

"If we sort this before nightfall, Hayley can have all the time she wishes," Klaus bit back, "I suggest we make a start by killing him. Then killing the man targeting you."

"I'm not what matters here," MJ put her hands out, "There are two ways to kill me. The chance of him doing that?"

Everyone scrambling to watch over her was honestly incredibly messy.

"It's the wolves who need protecting. Andrew's already lived through what they're going through. He can talk to them."

Klaus growled, "This is – "

"About family," Pri's eyes were pinned on Andrew, "Sister or pack...Packs are family."

"Why didn't you ask for help," Klaus's voice was sharp, "If you – "

Andrew.

" – Know Mira here swoops in to save your kind. Why didn't you turn to her?"

"I did!" He argued, "I sent an email!"

Jeremy put a hand up, "And I answered."

"Too late."

The first two packs had already been wiped out when he'd arrived in the areas.

"We thought we killed him," His expression was low, "And he just woke up. Reset."

Pri used that, "Reset?"

"I don't know," He wasn't a witch, "Like – "

Eyes closing, face filled with pain.

"It was like each time he killed someone, he got stronger."

"What we were thinking," MJ nodded to Pri and Jeremy.

"He crawled out of the river we dumped him in," His eyes reopened, "Half the size he'd been when our druid snapped his neck and crazed."

"And you didn't think to pass on that info?" Jeremy pointed out.

"I'm so sorry we didn't realise resurrection was that easy."

"Back up slightly," MJ focused, "How did you end up in a deal with him?"

He swallowed, "I spent a month following my sister's scent."

MJ stilled, Klaus hesitating slightly too.

"Led me back to the man who killed off everyone I've ever cared about."

If his sister was dead, surely the scent would fade?

"He has her somewhere."

MJ let her head bob.

"Of course, I took a deal with him."

"Well," She rubbed her side, "I can get a location from his head."

Klaus was giving her a 'stop talking' look.

"And I can kill him."

"How?"

"Why should we tell you?" Klaus spoke the quickest.

"If there's a way for this to end, why wouldn't I want that?"

Truth rune...

"Answering with a question," MJ shook her head, "Dodging isn't trustworthy."

"Would you want to be open in front of two vampires who could kill you at any second?"

Eyes on The Mikaelson's.

"And have proven they will."

"Do you have a way to communicate with Levi?" Pri kept the conversation moving.

"No."

"Does he have a way to communicate with you?"

"He left me locked in here," He admitted, "Showed up with the address they found me at and told me to wait."

His eyes darted to MJ's hands.

"If he can resurrect himself..."

Lingering there.

"...And that's how you kill him."

Kol took a threatening step towards him, "And there's some logic in you."

Starting a fight with a heretic was possibly the stupidest thing Levi could've done as someone reliant on magic to resurrect him.

"Stand down," Pri sighed, "We're not torturing him for connecting the obvious dot."

"You don't get a say," Klaus crossed his arms.

"Can I point out how it's a waste of time?"

"We're already wasting time. Least we can do is make it fun."

"Torture isn't fun."

He chuckled, "That's not true."

"You underestimate my style."

"Depends who you're torturing."

Jeremy sighed deeply at Klaus, Kol, and MJ's different responses.

Pri's look was pointed, "He's technically on our side!"

"Yeah," Andrew nodded furiously, "Just take me to The Bayou."

MJ let her eyes look over the white chair again.

"I know Levi's tells – I know how to dismantle his traps – just – just – "

Don't kill me.

That was the logical end to his sentence.

Klaus looming over the conversation, Kol unsure which side of the team he wanted to be on, MJ in a position to stop someone from becoming her. Traumatised by Klaus Mikaelson for potentially the rest of their life because of a situation out of their control.

"Do you know how many bodies I've looked at in the past month?"

His entire pack.

"It was basically everyone I'd ever known," He pulled himself together, "I know my sister. She wouldn't have abandoned me, and her body – and – "

"It appears every supernatural creature has some familiarity with you, Mira," Klaus spotted her tremoring fingers, "He's trying to appeal to your sympathies – "

"We're telling you that similar happened with us!" Pri's eyes were raging.

"At the end of the day," Klaus just spoke louder, "He is working with the enemy."

"So was she," Jeremy's phrase cut, "If you go back over it, how many times did MJ technically 'work with the enemy?'"

Her lips curled in.

"Doesn't make her any less."

It had been what she'd had to do to keep people alive.

"Doesn't change that you forced her into it most of the time."

"He's trying to stay alive and find his sister," Pri repeated.

Ryos's stupid face in the pictures across the room, MJ's feet drawn closer to the bookshelf.

"You do not get a say either," Klaus reminded him, "You are visitors here."

"Ones who – "

"We don't need."

MJ stared at one of the books, frowning.

Unfamiliar yet tugging at her memory.

She was so focused she didn't notice everyone staring at her, the air humming as her fingers drifted towards it, eyes deep red. The face of someone starved enough to tear apart a city yet entirely in control, the magic pulling her, hunger in her stomach false. MJ wasn't deprived of blood that day – just – just

Instead of locking in on it, her eyes drifted up.

Looking at the things piled on top of the shelves.

A familiar chess board stared back at her, a thin layer of dust over the squares, pieces out, almost like they'd been played...

Dust.

Too much dust.

It hadn't been left there by a hunter. Who would've left it like that at all? Ana had always preferred playing at the park, Ryan and she pulling out the smaller set when Ryos and MJ would seem too energetic after dinner. A joke about sides and who was meant to team up and win.

MJ and Ryos high-fiving the one time they'd worked together and somehow bested their mother.

If she remembered right, her dad had taken pictures of the evening.

Their beaming faces.

The last person to touch it could've been anyone. Vampires moving it to the space, or Ryos, in his room, simply going over things as he tried to do his homework. Ryos and Ana trying to track the stolen Grimoire – if Ryos's version of events were to be believed. The pair had been working together without MJ even noticing. Needing as much focus as the universe can give them, pulling out the stupid chessboard like it actually taught anything.

Two of MJ's fingers hovered over the piece, looking at the formation, pad pressing into the tip.

What was the next step?

How could a wooden piece instigate some trapped memory filled with answers?

"Stop," MJ's hands flickered, a ripple going through the air to create stillness, "Just...stop."

Her brain hurt.

"We're on your side Andrew," She assured him, "I'll see what I can do about your hex and your sister, and...and he'll be dead."

"And when the sister is just dead?" Klaus reminded them, "And we find out Lucien is somehow here and didn't tell me?"

"You'll handle him," She decided, "This is all a distraction."

She lifted up the chess piece.

"Right?"

Andrew nodded, "You need to go to The Bayou."

There was something about how the wolf's eyes darted around the room.

Familiarity.

Stress.

The energy of the bookshelf not sitting well in her stomach.

"He just – "

She finally placed her piece in a new spot, "The Bayou."

Pushing away how her gut wanted to analyse every object in the room until she found proof there was more to it all. Technically making a move. Allowing the game to continue.

Old habits die hard.

~***~

Freya was sitting next to the body, Elijah crouched beside her, scanning its features like one blink would turn it back to normal. Be explainable. Understandable. Rather than almost melted flesh blended into fur, nails and claws alike, teeth of an animal protruding out of the jaw and blackened. Just like the animals at the water's edge.

Others like it just a short walk away.

Six people, human enough to be recognised, yet tufts of fur still decorating their flesh, stitched into their DNA, feet elongated and mauled, claws instead of nails, and eyes yellow.

"This wasn't done by magic," Freya was on her third test, "There's nothing to suggest a spell was involved."

"A mortal hunter could've done this?"

"For all we know, Dahlia did more than change the curse to work on hybrids."

"But there's no magic?"

"No magic other than the curse," She reasoned, "Maybe I can't find a source because this is all a part of her and Klaus's revenge."

Elijah swallowed slowly, digging his hand into the mud, scrunching it into a fist to try and calm his nerves. Let out his anger in any way it could. Act like the sky wasn't the strange colour between night and day, blue somewhat indescribable, unsure what it wanted to be. Stars invisible, but the moon appearing – the way it could sometimes form during the day. Part of what made the curse so complicated.

What counted as a 'full moon?'

Shifts happen at different times for different people, the same way turning could sometimes last an hour or an entirely painful night.

The day had seemed so long when they'd first arrived, but now, while the humans may have all been dead, his search for them had only unlocked a far worse situation for the pack.

"If it's not Dahlia, I don't know what it could be?"

"The traps," Elijah knew there were a few in the area, "Maybe the magic's contained to them."

"If a vampire hired the company – "

"They could have a witch."

Freya looked around, forcing herself to stand.

To not stare at the Frankenstein-like creation they were working off.

"These seem to be normal too," She hated to say it, "We're..."

Brain fuzzy from the failed attempts to draw Hayley out of the forest.

"Freya?"

"I'll see if their deaths are recent enough to still see memories."

Hands-on temples.

Eyes closed.

Body swaying slightly, digging down deeper to bring up her power and remind the world that she was a firstborn Mikaelson Witch. Whatever was trying to drain her could continue to do so – that wouldn't stop her from achieving her goal. And it certainly wouldn't stop her from protecting her family.

"Fantasma Denye Imaj."

A spell MJ had created.

"Fantom Parét Pou Mwen."

Altered so it could be used by non-Floare New Orleans Witches.

"Ant Lavi Ou Te Ye."

The world flickered away.

"Fantasma Denye Imaj."

Cold whistling in her ears.

"Fantom Parét Pou Mwen."

Flashes of images overlapping with reality as Freya let her eyes open, leaves around her sparking up to act like candles. Tiny beacons of light. Tethering her to reality – to life. To Elijah. Watching over her and ready to interrupt if it seemed like she'd drifted too deep.

"Ant Lavi Ou Te Ye."

A man with pale yellow eyes, weapons strapped across his body, lines of black up his neck like he'd been poisoned, snarling as he dug a long metallic rod into the person they were with. Watching as they spasmed out, hair standing on its edges.

Scream rippling through everything like a wave of power, yet no magic cast.

"Fantasma Denye Imaj."

He turned as the body fell dead to the floor, half-morphed, another animal jumping him.

The mortal hunters could be heard in the distance, but it was almost like they couldn't see him or the animal. Senses stuck in the centre of a hurricane, Freya trapped with them. Just watching. Seeing how, as the animal made contact with the cattle-like device, it seemed to grow, back bending in a way it shouldn't, features flickering to human, then back.

Another hit.

"Ant Lavi Ou Te Ye."

Another moment of pulsing, shaking the legs and head until half of the fur was brunt off, revealing human hands and legs at the wrong sizes, struggling to break free and back to their natural form.

The hunter pulling out a knife, stabbing it into the heart.

Interrupted by a third and much larger wolf tackling him straight to the floor, claws driving into his shoulder until finally, he was the one to scream.

To make birds scramble from the trees in fear.

"Fantasma Denye Imaj."

Fangs drove into his neck while claws ripped across his face –

A move that would kill anyone else.

And yet, the hunter just rolled over. Hunched on all fours, the blood staining his face like a shower, pale yellow starting to glow. Teeth morphing to mirror the creature who'd finally managed to deal any damage.

A wolf that –

Freya was broken out of the trance by a coughing fit, Elijah's hands keeping her steady.

"Sister – "

"I'm fine."

"What did you see?"

"I – " She was blinking, counting the bodies around them, "A different hunter."

Only two in the immediate area.

"I don't know how but...he's responsible for this."

Elijah tightened his jaw.

"The wolves weren't standing a chance, but something stronger attacked – "

"Hayley," He was back to smelling blood.

Across every leaf and inch of mud.

Hayley's body wasn't anywhere in sight, but neither was a mysterious supernatural hunter's – he could be hunting her as they spoke.

Freya shifted, "These bodies – "

Elijah's hand came up to signal silence.

He could hear movement.

Lots of it.

People.

"We have company," He stretched back to standing, "Of the familial kind."

~***~

MJ was still.

It was the only thing she could let herself do when arriving at the torn-up clearing she'd grown used to throwing barbecues in. Tipped over chairs and tables, an unmarked van, a dead human hunter lying in front of it, wolf bodies by the water's edge, and a smell of burning in the air that she couldn't quite understand.

Burning, and blood, and – and

Dark magic?

Vamp speed was a blessing, even if MJ sometimes slipped up with it, meaning they'd arrived quickly. Those without forced to let those with yank them through the early evening.

The vampires could smell blood and dead animal everywhere, bodies marking the paths – forms that would've started to turn back if they hadn't been shot. MJ kept herself from looking too closely at any of the faces. Closest to the untriggered, she'd have to go through them all later to identify who was now an orphan, and if she let herself start that list now, she'd start to freak out.

Kol tilted his head, "Do you think Hope's screaming Marcel's ear off right now?"

"Why would she be?" Klaus was inspecting the human body.

"She can sense unrest," Kol reasoned, "This is her dead family."

MJ winced at the truth of that.

"In her city – which her magic is tied to."

"She's hopefully napping," MJ whispered, "Waiting to see her mum."

"She'll be able to break the curse easily when she's older," Kol added, grinning at Klaus, "You can stop her from triggering the curse; you can't stop her from freeing her mother though."

MJ spun in a whoosh, "You're not gonna let her trigger it?"

Eyes on the hybrid.

"Klaus – "

"Is now really the time to discuss this?"

"I know Hayley doesn't want her to, but – "

"This pack has done nothing but prove its incompetence," He gestured out, "Why should I want her to be a member of it?"

"Because that's what it's about?"

He glared at Kol, "I would never remove her ability to do so."

Why MJ had panicked.

"I simply see no reason for her to kill anything."

"Dude," MJ waved her fingers, "She leeches me like she can already draw blood because it calms her down."

"She is a baby – "

"And, one day, she'll be a witch. With all our demonic whispers, and an untriggered wolf temper, and – "

"She will be better than us."

"It's not about being better," MJ hadn't expected to have that discussion that day, "It's about how she'll be a vampire. No matter what you do."

"I would allow anything to harm her?"

"To never die, she has to die."

Quiet.

"She'll feed. And it'll happen."

Quiet and silence hit differently.

"Klaus," MJ relaxed her tone, "I get why you don't want her to."

Who wanted to think about their kid going through the pain of the shift?

"Hayley and I talked about this when she was pregnant."

A phrase that seemed to catch his attention.

"But roots always come calling, and it's better to encourage that quest than get in the way of it," She didn't let her eyes jump to Jeremy, "You and I know that better than anyone."

The hybrid and the person who made him possible.

Elijah and Freya appeared from the trees, "What's going on?"

"I think we should be asking you that," Klaus turned to face him, "Care to explain this?"

Arms up, gesturing to the mess.

"A mortal exterminator group," Elijah pointed a thumb to the van, "Has massacred your daughter's extended family."

"They're not blood relations."

"And her mother?"

"I can't find her," Freya looked to MJ, "I've tried, and nothing."

MJ frowned.

"Whatever's cloaking her is laced with a draining spell," She admitted, "Right kick in the skull."

Eyes pinned on the unfamiliar faces.

"What brought you here?"

"Tracking an enchanted hunter," Kol answered, "Who's been leaving coded messages for MJ."

Both parties straightened up in shock.

"Well, for MiMi Pasare."

"Which we all know to be you," Elijah's posture was tall, "Jeremy."

"Hi," He sounded equally unenthused.

"And you are?"

Pri glanced to Kol before lifting her head high, golden nose ring glinting, "Pri Yadav."

"The friends I told you I had in New York," MJ filled in, "One of them."

"Selene Roux's inheritor," She phrased carefully.

Elijah's shoulder untensed, "She's with you?"

"Selene," Pri pursed her lips, "Is off doing who knows what with who knows who."

His face turned to concern.

"I'm here 'cos the enchanted wolf hunter is technically my problem."

"Our problem," Jeremy repeated.

Freya's eyes were darting between all of them.

"For context, Freya," Klaus seemed too happy, "This is Jeremy Gilbert. Mira's 'friend' from Mystic Falls."

Freya's paused.

"The one responsible for Kol's momentary passing."

"Oh."

Jeremy forced a smile, "You seem to enjoy bringing that up."

"I would just like to keep my sister  - "

"Sister?"

" – informed of who she's with," Klaus stood back up, "And yes. Long lost sister."

Jeremy let his eyes really look at her.

"He just enjoys throwing the fact I died in my face," Kol huffed.

"How many times do you mention that Mikael isn't really my father in regular conversation?"

"Your 'daddy issues' are entertaining."

"So is history's most psychotic serial killer being murdered by an amateur goth high schooler."

Kol opened his mouth to argue, only able to make a rude gesture with his hands.

"And, perhaps I'm saying it as a warning to the young man," He batted his eyes, "Out of protective familial love."

"Hm."

"My baby brother – "

"I will feed you – "

" – is under my protection – "

" – your own ankles."

"Therefore," Klaus spoke louder, "The offence might get him killed."

Jeremy looked baffled, "Because if wasn't a justified kill?"

"No."

"His sister wasn't walking out of that house alive," Kol reminded them, "If I'd been daggered, I would've killed her when I was awoken."

Klaus pulled a face, "I'm defending you."

"Because you know it's your fault," Jeremy was already done with them, "Everything we did was a retaliation to the things you did to us first."

MJ winced.

He wasn't wrong.

But she also knew Klaus being confronted by something he already felt guilty about, Kol and Finn's deaths, wouldn't end well. Them both aware Elijah had once blamed him (and himself) too, in the mood to be mad about it again.

"Or are you just casually forgetting how you killed my sister in a sacrifice?"

"She came back."

"So did Kol. And our uncle died in Elena's place."

i.e. someone had still passed.

"And is this where I bring up how you also killed my aunt?"

"Is this where we bring up Finn?"

Freya's attention turned to wide-eyed anger.

"That was after you killed both of them," Jeremy defended, "And Ric."

"Temporarily."

"The other two weren't," Jeremy looked gobsmacked, "And Finn's death wasn't about killing him."

"Oh, right!" Klaus clapped, "You intended to kill all of us."

"Because you were ruining our lives."

"Inspires much confidence in your sudden arrival," Elijah added falsely.

"I was in Denver for that – because you compelled me to walk in front of a car."

"Technically, Tyler Lockwood – "

"You sire-bonded him to do it!"

"The car missed."

"It hit and killed Ric!"

"Temporarily!"

"It turned him insane, almost killing MJ, forcing us to kill him for real."

"That was my – "

"I love how you're all yelling," Pri was spinning her vape, "When Kol is the one who actually died."

She breathed in deeply, letting out a strawberry-smelling puff.

"No offence, Jer. I know you died too. But still."

Klaus clenched his jaw, "You can stay out of this."

"But, she's right," Kol was standing incredibly still, "I died."

While earlier hadn't caused that big of a reaction, having it repeatedly yelled in an area filled with blood, Jeremy right there, was a recipe for disaster.

"He died."

MJ was shuffling closer to Kol.

"But yes, you all stand around screaming about the fine print of 'the blood feud.'"

Silence.

"He's here," Kol's eyes moved to Freya, "Because he works for MJ."

She looped her arm with Kol's, squeezing it gently to remind him that he was real.

"Hence a hunter targeting her."

Elijah's turn to look relatively confused, "Giving supernatural advice is worthy of death?"

Thus launched into yet another summary of their day.

Klaus was entirely stiff, Freya watching her brother's movements incredibly closely. They had to assume that Pri's familiarity with Kol, and MJ's defence, meant they trusted her, but that didn't mean they had to. Klaus especially. Not when they were standing in wolf corpse territory.

His unrest made even worse by Elijah officially knowing Pri was connected to an old love. 

And Jeremy reciting all his wrongdoings.

Mystic Falls and New Orleans felt worlds apart, and Klaus liked keeping it that way.

MJ and he had maintained peace and built a friendship by keeping it that way.

The end of the summary covered who Andrew was.

The very quiet werewolf, hands trembling as he took in how four Mikaelson were now in front of him, regretting all his life choices. Looking towards the trees. Like he was waiting for something – a reaction MJ didn't like.

Then again, he was betraying someone who could appear and kill him at any second.

Magically bound to him.

"You need to see what we found," Freya clicked her teeth, "A dead body, half-transformed."

MJ bobbed her head.

"I used a spell to see his final memories."

What she would've done too.

"A man, with yellow eyes, ripping through them like it was nothing."

"That'd be him," Jeremy nodded, "That smell in the air."

The burnt fur.

"Electricity," He looked to Pri, then MJ, "Any chance mains would come this far out?"

Elijah turned to MJ, "Is their claim truly possible?"

Recap covering the wolves they'd found half-transformed in New York.

"Funnily enough, I've never tested that..."

They all stared as her voice trailed.

"Well," MJ looked at Kol, "Tyler."

His eyebrows went up, "True."

"For context," MJ waved a hand, "Rebekah compelled Tyler to shift and kill everyone. I gave him time to fight the compulsion by blasting him with a lot of spells."

"Fire and electricity," Kol remembered, "It worked."

"He woke up from the turn," MJ had never phrased it like that before.

It hadn't been a test, and it had ended with her throat almost getting clawed out, so the actual details were a bit blurry on reflection. And she'd broken her own heart that night, then lost Kol and Jeremy the following days. She was allowed to forget things!

"Which is confirmation," Elijah didn't look happy, "Wonderful."

It was only getting darker around them.

"Hayley is usually one of the first to shift back."

"Her clothes are here?" MJ glanced at the car filled with barbecue set-up.

He nodded.

"I'll see if I can find her."

"Have you heard anything from Sam yet?" Kol eyed up the wolf bodies by the water.

"His phone's with his clothes," She skimmed through her notifications, "...Nothing."

"He's usually early too."

Kol had unintentionally spent too much time with Sam just before he'd been cursed, Sam following MJ's request to play nice. And, because MJ spent every full moon with his family, him slowly tagging along post-turning to keep her safe.

Klaus's eyes were on Andrew again, "Is that really the priority, Mira?"

The man was part of what was causing them to be unaligned that night.

Pri's stance on how to handle the situation versus his.

MJ unable to pick.

"You pointed out that you did not need protection because you are a hybrid. So is Hayley."

"That doesn't mean anything in this context," Elijah wanted to punch him, "We have no proof that her abilities will protect her in this form."

On a full moon, killing a werewolf in wolf form was near impossible – but The Crescents weren't being powered by the full moon anymore. They were being kept from it. Dampened. All the dead bodies implied that werewolf healing, strength, and speed weren't helping, so who knew how that would apply to Hayley and Sam.

MJ couldn't let herself think about that.

"Then, we should focus on the hunter," Klaus reasoned, "Stop him, and we know she'll be safe."

He was trying to justify himself with logic to piss Elijah off more.

"The van," Pri's eyes were pinned on it, "Mortal hunters too."

"Some company hired them," Freya confirmed, "The files are in the front seat."

She vamp-sped over, holding them up in victory, "Kingmaker Land Development!"

"You know them?" Elijah was deliberately turning from Klaus.

"Lucien Castle's company," Klaus answered before Pri could.

"And you're right," Jeremy smiled at her, "He's here."

"Lucien Castle has always been behind this!" She bumped her chest, "And I'm gonna prove he's behind the supernatural one too."

She wanted to be entirely right.

"Then you're gonna kill him for me."

"Lucien?" Elijah looked to Kol, "He's here."

"Seems so."

"And he hired these exterminators."

Elijah's eyes became enraged, marching at Klaus, "If you – "

"I didn't know."

"I simply cannot believe you!"

MJ groaned back.

"Isn't it such a lovely coincidence! The mother of your child goes missing after your old friend happens to arrive, puppeteering a massacre of the pack you resent for loving her."

"You think I enjoy Hayley's current?" Klaus batted, "I prefer to be able to locate my enemies."

His voice was turning rougher.

"For all we know, she is shifting back as we speak. Aware we will be rushing around trying to fix the mess, using that to steal my daughter away in the night once more!"

Elijah sped close enough to get in his face, "You may not be frightened yet, brother."

The term felt sarcastic.

"But, one day, your daughter will know exactly the kind of man her father is."

Any of Elijah's interjections to Jeremy's anti-Klaus stance had been about defending the family, not Klaus.

"If anything should happen to Hayley – and if you have anything to do with it," Elijah shook his head, false smile big, "No one will have to take Hope from you."

Something MJ had already told him that day he'd killed Mikael.

And, rephrased in a slightly different way for Hayley.

Hope's parents more similar than they would ever admit.

"She will, without question, leave you of her own accord."

They were just glaring at each other.

Both puffing chests, fists ready to attack.

Klaus leaning closer, "I have nothing to do with this."

"It is not unreasonable to assume you do. Lucien – "

MJ sighed extra loud.

Her eyes were on the bodies by the water's edge.

No bullet holes of obvious bleeding – just frozen corpses there to taunt them.

She turned to Andrew, then paused.

He was still there, but it was like he'd retreated towards the trees.

"Not to say the macho-bravados aren't entertaining," Pri was scanning the van pages, "And not to defend a man who seems enraged by my mere breathing."

Another inhale of the vape.

"But Lucien pulled this in New York too. So unless Mr-Niklaus has something against the city, he's telling the truth. The only bit that doesn't make sense?"

As much as Pri didn't want to admit it.

"If Lucien is working with our supernatural hunter, who we think gets power from each kill," She folded the corner of a sheet, "Why kill off his power supply?"

Far more bodies were simply dead from a bullet than half-shifted.

"My obvious thought is to cover for himself – "

MJ moved, vamping directly in Andrew's path as he turned, "Going somewhere?"

Everyone else became aware of how far he'd backed up.

"Terrified that you guys are about to start killing each other," His words were quick, "Not wanting to be in the middle."

"Fair," MJ didn't like the growing feeling in her gut, "You have any bodies like these?"

He swallowed slowly.

"Half-transformed? Burning in the air?"

Beyond the lack of apparent injuries, the bodies by the edge seemed unnaturally drained.

Their life force soaking in the soil.

There was a new power there she didn't like. An undercurrent roamed through the green leaves and bushes, cutting through roots and lapping the moisture and nutrients. Destroying the eco-system. Even if there weren't meant to be full-time wolves in New Orleans, they were a part of it.

You can't kill a part of a system without unintentionally destroying all of it.

You can't curse a third of one of the 'big three' species and expect it to end well.

And it was all...

It wasn't new; it was simply reignited.

"He just tore through us," His heartbeat picked up, "And I wasn't trying to see how everyone I cared about had been killed."

MJ couldn't get annoyed at him for responding like an average human. Most people weren't her. So used to bad situations, she could allow her brain to seem almost psychopathic. Studying injuries. Patterns. Knowing it was the only way to learn and survive.

She sucked her cheeks in.

Thoughts.

Sense.

MJ forced her eyes to the water.

Focus.

What to focus on?

Where to start, what to do –

She'd told Cami it wouldn't go on beyond a night.

Ending it in one night was possible.

Because she was Miss-Make-It-Possible.

"I need one of the half-transformed bodies," MJ decided, brain turning on, "I need to see what else is going on with them."

A plan of action forming.

"I need to find Hayley. And Sam. And Jack – and – "

Everything was red.

Blood.

Familiar faces lying dead, while a room of her mother's things had been sitting in her city. Locked away and used to taunt her –

A rush of movement.

Elijah standing in Andrew's path; the man had turned to bolt again.

Heart skipping a beat in all of their ears, realising he'd misread their distraction.

"Somewhere to be?"

"Just..." His eyes darted up, "Levi's somewhere here."

"In my vision," Freya countered, "He was chasing a wolf out of The Bayou."

Andrew breathed in deeply, itching at his arms.

"Are you okay?" Pri let her own body finally show unease about him, "Andrew – "

"He wanted her here!" He rushed out the admission, "I – I – "

"Ah," Klaus grinned, "So you did know more."

"I can't be here," His eyes were staring at the darkening sky, away from the bodies, "My – my people – "

Metaphorically.

"Not tonight. Not right now. Not – "

"Werewolf..." MJ looked to the sky, "You starting to shift?"

"Not yet," He looked ill.

"Mira – "

"Klaus – "

"He just – "

"He's not what – "

Klaus vamped, using the fact she was talking to mean she was too occupied to stop him, hand on Andrew's neck and snapping it, sensing both Pri and MJ lunge forward. MJ more on protective instinct, Pri actually vamping, pushing him back, but too late. Body hitting the floor.

"Klaus!" MJ scolded

"He's not trustworthy," His hand rushed towards Pri's neck, only she ducked back, going to punch him.

He caught the fist, crushing it.

Just as MJ went to stop him, Pri's other fist slammed into his temple, fast enough to surprise him; Klaus used to pain distracting his enemies a little longer. Freeing herself and vamping back to put space between them before he could retaliate – face fuming.

An exchange of looks, the family a little on edge at her quick reaction.

"...Now he will be."

Pri was pressing her hand flat so the bones could heal.

"He just said," Klaus growled, "He led us here because Levi told him to."

MJ was ready to strangle everyone.

"And you did not even care."

"He's a victim!" Pri snapped.

Klaus rolled his eyes at Kol, "How do you stand her?"

"Every decade has a Mary-Sue vampire," He smiled charmingly, "You simply tune them out."

"You want us to be approving friends?" Pri pointed, "That means you respect my right to not be an asshole to strangers."

"Turning him means we don't have to worry about time," He justified, "And it means he can be compelled."

"Precisely," Klaus gestured to his brother, pleased, "Someone else still has logical thought here!"

MJ let him have the jab.

"A rune still allows him to be selective. Willingly walking you into danger, knowing you'd offered him solutions to his ailments."

MJ's eyes were shut, the sound of the snap locked in her ears.

"I shall act how I deem effective to the cause."

"That's all you've ever done," Elijah mused.

"I get results!"

"Spells mirror compulsion," Pri muttered, "You didn't have to kill him."

"Especially when," MJ's eyes opened, "He's gonna wake up rabid."

She faced Klaus.

"No one else here had to deal with your summer of superspeed zombies. Not in the mood to do it again!"

Even if it couldn't kill her, it was so much effort.

"They went rabid without doppelgänger blood," Klaus's eyes gleamed, "Because I got them to feed on humans."

Triggering the body into a frenzy.

"We simply don't feed him any," He reasoned, "And if that feels 'cruel.'"

Mocking Pri.

"There are two vials of Human-Elena-Gilbert blood in your drawer."

MJ's lips became a thin line.

"It is your choice to let him go feral."

Jeremy crossed his arms, giving MJ an unmistakable look.

"Do not speak," Klaus really didn't like his arrival, "Our plans succeed. Gilbert input doesn't."

"MJ," Kol tilted his head, "He's not wrong."

Normally, hearing his voice would've soothed her.

Seeing Klaus and him getting along would've made her happy.

That day was not normal, and she just wanted to yell at them both.

"You can't cast a truth rune on an entire forest."

"But I could've cast a boundary spell with truth written into it."

"Regardless," Klaus pushed the body with his foot, turning it over, "That."

The witch mark.

"It connects him to the hunter."

MJ blinked slowly.

"A door moves in both directions," Kol spoke carefully, "There's a chance it will have had some effect on him."

"It won't have killed him."

"True," He agreed, "However, the deal will have been tied to a wolf..."

MJ clicked what he was implying, "By turning, the magic will need to rewrite itself."

"And," Kol motioned, "For a few moments, it will be occupied doing so and cease."

"And I can track the person it's tied to," MJ's anger faded slightly, "Through the gap upon his waking up."

A weak spot.

MJ let herself nod, not looking at Pri or Jeremy.

It was too late to change what had happened, so she might as well use it. The same way she'd jump into a recently killed man's memories – it wasn't that big of a deal. It was perfectly within her character!

Screw having so many people who knew her at different periods of her identity crisis in one place.

Screw Kol and Klaus for not calling her.

Screw her for being so petty about it when she was so unpetty with everyone else.

On any other day, MJ would've run with the plan once it had happened, but now she was in a loop or arguing and justifying it in her head. Just because so many people were there. And because she was upset with the two she would've picked to handle the crisis with. Kol, Klaus, and she, on one side, just being them, no judgement or stress – but now –

Breathe.

The word was on repeat in her head.

"Now the dramatics have passed," Freya reminded them of the bigger problem, "We still do not know if Hayley is alive, and, if she is, where she is."

Magic blocking her location...

MJ clicked her tongue, waving a hand.

Snapping a vile of Hope's blood straight out of her box in The Compound and into her hand. Preparations for if anyone was stupid enough to try and kidnap the child coming in hand.

"Hayley wanted to fair alone," Klaus spoke, "You offered her help, and she turned it down."

"She was scared," MJ sat on the porch, "And trying to escape a violent one-night-stand."

Jeremy's shoulders untensed slightly at her snap back.

"And you really wanna rehash what happens when we argue about her?"

Since MJ's transitioned, they'd all quickly learnt that when the pair argued, they truly became their worst selves. MJ was still new to the 'heightened' emotions thing, Klaus incredibly sensitive to her analytical insults. Opting to lord her 'mummy issues' was why she cared rather than any real connection with Hayley. Talking like the two hadn't shared a bed every time he'd made Hayley cry that first year. 

Klaus stepped back first, putting his arms down.

MJ bit her lip and bobbed her head in response.

"Jer can look after this."

A different vial sparked out in front of him, half-stumbling to catch it before it hit the floor.

"Given that it's his sister's."

There was no way for MJ to know when Klaus had clicked about her secret vials, but he clearly had. And she wasn't about to lie and act like she didn't have any now he'd confronted her about it. It wasn't like she'd ever lied about them – she'd just never brought them up.

Her heart softened slightly at the realisation Klaus had known.

He'd had the potential to make new hybrids and chose not to.

He'd chosen not to bring it up?

To force her to hand it over with another one of his guilt-tripping speeches about how she should understand his pain. Encourage his mission. Help him create his hybrid pack. Because she'd heard the screams! Seen the pain! Felt the isolation!

...He'd let her have it...

"I'll see whether this block is strong enough to stop me."

Hope's blood was the strongest connection to her since all her Hayley vials had gone 'missing' while she'd been unconscious from a neck snap.

"Pada Ti Veras, Ibi Wa Faire."

The vial heating up between her fingers.

"Pada Ti Veras."

The same way she'd tried tracking Mikaelson's in the afterlife.

"Ibi Wa Vaire."

The universe going a beat out of sync.

"Pada Ti Veras."

Flashes of yellow.

"Ibi Wa Vaire."

They couldn't see the magic working, but they could all feel the shift in the air.

"Pada Ti Veras."

MJ's eyes snapped open, orangey-gold, lips slightly parted, entering a trance state.

"Ibi Wa Vaire – "

"Fuck this," Pri decided, needing space, "I wanna see the bodies."

Marching off, silence forming behind her.