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[LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO]

1.06 || wanna screw over damon salvatore

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Tatum looks around curiously as she walks with Jenna and Elijah on their tour of some of the historical sights of Mystic Falls. "The old Fell property actually starts just beyond that fence." Jenna says.

"Ah, the Fells. One of the founding families." Elijah remarks.

"Why do you say it like that?" Jenna asks. 

"Our research showed that this area was actually settled almost two full centuries earlier." Elijah explains and Tatum glances at him briefly, frowning a little at the stick he was holding before going back to looking around. "There was a migration of townsfolk from the Northeast. Um, it was Salem, to be precise." He says.

"Massachusetts? As in the witch trials?" Jenna asks and Tatum looks over at them as Elijah nods a little. 

"Which, I suppose means that the ever-lauded founding families never actually found anything." Tatum remarks idly. 

"Well, I bet it was the men who made a big deal about being founders back in 1860. Men are very territorial." Jenna remarks and Tatum smiles slightly in amusement. 

"Okay, you I definitely like." Tatum says and Jenna smiles at her briefly.

"Yes, they are." Elijah responds and Tatum looks over at where his gaze was aimed to see an unfamiliar man walking towards them. 

"Uh, Elijah, Tatum, this is my friend, Alaric Saltzman." Jenna introduces.

"I got your, uh, message about walking Elijah and Tatum through the property lines. I thought I would, uh, tag along. You know, being a history buff and all." Alaric says and Tatum tilts her head slightly at him when she notes Jenna's slight discomfort and the awkward air settling around them. "Where to next?" He asks.

"I'm pretty curious about the freed slave property owners. Some say the descendants of the slaves are the true keepers of American history." Elijah comments and Tatum glances away from Alaric briefly to look at the Original and Jenna. 

"I only brought the surveys. I've got that list in my car. Just give me a sec." Jenna says before walking past Alaric and up to the cars.

"Alaric Saltzman. You're one of those people on Elena's list of loved ones to protect." Elijah says. 

"He also apparently the single least discreet person on the planet. We wouldn't harm Jenna. She's also on that list and honestly, possibly the most bearable person in this town." Tatum says.

"You don't have to be jealous. I rarely pursue younger women." Elijah remarks and the corner of Tatum's lips quirks up in amusement as Alaric stiffens slightly. "It's a joke, Ric. Lighten up." He says, patting the man's arm.

"You're funny." Alaric comments as Elijah leads Tatum past him. 

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When they're finished with their tour around the old properties in Mystic Falls, the four of them make their way back to the cars. "You guys interested in getting some lunch?" Jenna asks, looking at Tatum and Elijah. 

"Oh, my God. I would kill for something to eat right now." Tatum responds with a smile and Jenna nods, smiling at her. "Elijah and I'll come with you. That way we're not keeping Alaric any longer. He must have something else to do." She says.

"We'll go wait by the car for you." Elijah offers when Jenna glances at Alaric before steering Tatum away. "Please stop antagonising these people." He says lowly. 

"You cannot keep taking all my fun away from me, Elijah. It's just not fair." Tatum retorts and he rolls his eyes lightly as they stand by Jenna's car, watching her and Alaric talk. "Is it just me or does she not look very happy with him?" Tatum asks. 

"She's not." Elijah responds and she looks up at him. 

"Hey, if I can't antagonise them, you can't listen in on their conversations." Tatum says.

The witch grumbles slightly as she slides into the back seat. "So," Jenna starts a few minutes into the drive. "How long have the two of you been together?" 

"Who, me and Elijah?" Tatum asks. 

"Yeah, who else would I mean? You guys seem pretty close." Jenna says.

"We're research partners." Elijah says. 

"Yeah, uh, not a thing." Tatum adds.

"Oh, I'm really sorry. You guys just always give off the vibe that you're together." Jenna says. 

"It's fine. Really." Tatum says and Jenna nods. 

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The three of them walk into the Mystic Grill, which they clearly didn't even try when naming, Jenna still happily chattering on about the history of the town. "Hi." Damon calls and Tatum groans internally. 

"Hey, guys." Jenna says with a smile, heading over to this. 

"Is she seriously the only person within Elena's little list of people who has no idea what is going on around her?" Tatum whispers.

"It does look that way." Elijah responds. 

"Can we tell her?" Tatum asks. 

"Let's not." Elijah responds and the witch huffs.

"Hi, so I hear you three had, uh, quite a meeting of historical minds." Damon says and Tatum tilts her head slightly. 

"Yeah. I guess you could say that." Jenna says, glancing at Tatum and Elijah, both of them smiling politely.

"Well, as much as I'd like to continue this, I, uh, I've got papers to grade." Alaric says and Tatum raises a brow when Jenna's smile quickly drops. 

"You know what? We should continue this. Let's have a dinner party." The unfamiliar woman sitting next to Damon suggests. 

"Oh, how about we don't." Tatum whispers to Elijah and the vampire clears his throat briefly.

"Ooh, my girl. Full of good ideas. I'll be happy to host." Damon responds and Tatum scrunches her nose up in distaste when Damon looks at the two of them. "Say tonight, maybe?" He suggests.

"It's good for me. Jenna?" The woman next to Damon asks.

"No, I don't know if tonight-"

Jenna cuts Alaric off by saying, "Yeah, I'm free." She says, smiling smugly before looking at Elijah and Tatum and the witch sighs.

"It would be a pleasure." Elijah responds.

"Yeah, sounds great." Tatum says, completely unenthusiastically. 

"Great." Damon responds with a smile. 

"Wonderful." Tatum says and Elijah rests a hand on her back slightly warningly. 

Tatum looks over at Elijah impatiently as they walk out of the Grill. "If I could kill you, I so would." Tatum says.

"Noted." Elijah responds and the witch sighs.

"The only person I like attending that dinner is Jenna. We don't even know the other woman's name. Why are you doing this to me?" Tatum asks. 

"If you don't want to attend, Tatum, then you're more than welcome to stay at Jonas' place." Elijah says and she sighs. 

"No. I'll come to the stupid dinner. I just want to make sure you know how much I hate this. And I'm not getting changed for the stupid dinner." She says, pointing at him and he nods.

"That's fine." He responds and she huffs.

"Jesus Christ, if everyone makes it out of this dinner alive, it'll be a goddamn miracle." She mutters under her breath.

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Tatum stands outside the Salvatore's place next to Elijah, her arms folded across her chest as the Original knocks on the front door. "I hope you know what you're doing because these people hate us." Tatum says. 

"They've already tried to kill me once and failed, Tatum. And Damon Salvatore and I both watched you decapitate two werewolves the other night from the other side of the room. If he knows what's good for him, he won't try anything." Elijah says. 

"That's what I'm worried about. I'm not sure he knows what is good for him." Tatum mutters before the door opens. 

"Good evening." Elijah says and Tatum just raises her chin slightly. 

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in." Damon says.

"Just one moment." Elijah says. "Can I just say that if you have less-than-honourable intentions about how this evening is going to proceed, I suggest you reconsider. After all, you have seen first-hand just what Tatum is capable of and I'm sure you're aware of how much she dislikes you." Elijah says and the witch smiles at Damon.

"No, nothing dishonourable. Just, uh, getting to know you. Both of you." Damon says and Elijah hums in response. 

"Because, you know, although Elena and I have this deal, alongside her and Tatum, if you so much as make a move to cross either of us, we'll kill you and we'll kill everyone in this house. Are we clear?" Elijah asks and Tatum scrunches her nose up when he looks at her. 

"Crystal." Damon says and the witch hums softly.

"Jenna. Hey." Tatum says with a smile when she sees the woman before heading over to her with Elijah following her. 

"Yes, it's wonderful to see you again. How are you?" Elijah asks.

"Nice to see you both too." She says.

"You look incredible." Elijah comments.

"He's right, you do." Tatum says.

"Thank you." Jenna responds with a smile.

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Tatum ends up sitting between Alaric and Elijah at dinner and honestly, she wasn't sure there was enough wine in the house to get her through this dinner. 

"I hate to break it to you, Damon, but according to Tatum and Elijah, your family is so not a founder of this town." Jenna says as she fills the glass beside him with wine and Tatum hums, holding her hand out for the bottle that Jenna passes to her with a slightly amused smile.

Tatum fills her glass as much as would be considered respectable before she'd start getting weird looks before placing the bottle back down on the table. It wasn't even very good wine.

"Hm, do tell." Damon prompts, looking over at the two of them.

"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 the persecution." Elijah explains. 

"Hmm, because they were witches." Jenna says.

"There's no tangible proof there were witches in Salem." Damon's girlfriend, if that's what she was, says. Tatum still didn't know her name. Or the name of the guy at the other end of the table.

"Andie's a journalist. Big on facts." Damon says. 

Finally.

"Tatum would beg to differ with you on that fact." Elijah says and everyone looks at the witch. 

"Family journals." She says.

"You have family journals documenting the presence of witches in Salem?" Jenna asks. 

"In a way. My, uh, my Aunt was really interested in looking into the truth behind the Salem Witch Trials. And apparently there were people in my family who claimed to have been witches persecuted for who they were." Tatum says.

"So, you could be related to witches? That's kind of cool." Jenna says. 

"It's definitely a conversation starter." Tatum responds with a slight smile before glancing back at Elijah. 

She was so going to kick him for that later. He wasn't even trying to be subtle.

"Well, the lore says that there was this wave of anti-witch hysteria. Broke out in the neighbouring 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 for miles around as they were consumed by the fire." Elijah says and Tatum clears her throat as she sips her wine. "Could you pass the-" Elijah nods at the table in front of Alaric and Alaric moves to grab what he was asking for.

"I, uh, wouldn't repeat this to the historical society." Jenna says with a slight laugh and Andie chuckles in amusement as Tatum and Elijah smile slightly at her. 

"Probably for the best." Tatum agrees.

"It's starting to sound a little like a ghost story to me." The blond at the end of the table says. 

"What you can believe in ghosts but not witches?" Tatum asks, raising a brow and the blond shrugs.

"So, why do you wanna know the location of these alleged massacres?" Damon asks.

"You know, healthy historian's curiosity, of course." Elijah responds.

"Of course." Damon responds.

Tatum pours the last of the bottle of wine into her glass as they finish up dinner before picking it up and drinking a mouthful. "Would anyone care for some cognac? I have a bottle I've been saving for ages." Damon says, standing up.

"None for me, thanks. Nine bottles of wine is my limit." Alaric says and Damon hums a laugh.

"Well, nine bottles of wine definitely isn't my limit. I could happily drink something a little stronger." Tatum says before everyone moves to get up. 

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

"I have to say the food was almost as wonderful as the company." Elijah says, putting his napkin down. 

"I like you." Andie says, pointing at him as Jenna grabs some plates.

"You're not a gentleman. Make yourself useful, hm?" Jenna says, holding the plates out towards the man who's name Tatum still didn't know.

"Hey, I'm gonna go keep an eye on the boys. Make sure they don't get into any trouble. You're good without me, right?" Tatum asks Jenna and the other woman nods before Tatum follows Elijah and Damon.

"So, let me guess." Damon starts as Tatum steps into the room just behind Elijah. "In addition to the moonstone, doppelganger, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, you need to find this witch burial ground?" Damon guesses. 

"Because I feel as though we've grown so close, Damon, I'll tell you yes. Do you know where it is?" Elijah asks and Tatum glances at him before moving to take one of the glasses from Damon and he pours another one. 

"Maybe." The younger vampire responds. "Tell me why it's so important." Damon says.

"We're not that close." Elijah retorts as Tatum sips her drink before scrunching her nose up.

"Ugh, no thank you." She mutters, putting the glass down before grabbing a fresh one and looking through the bottles. 

"This is quite a collection you have here." Elijah comments as Tatum grabs a bottle of bourbon. 

"Eh, that'll do." She says before pouring a glass as Damon hums.

She heads back towards Elijah as he looks through the collection of books on the wall. "Here's a funny thing about books. Before they existed, people actually had memories." Elijah remarks before someone bursts through the door suddenly. 

"Gentlemen. Tatum. We forgot about dessert." Alaric says with a smile and Andie holds out a hand towards her and Elijah. 

"Elijah. Tatum." She says.

"Ms Star." Elijah responds before taking his and Tatum's glasses, handing them off to Damon as he grabs Tatum's hand, leading her to Andie. He grabs the other woman's offered hand before turning her around so they could head down the hall. "You wait here. Listen in." Elijah mutters to Tatum and she frowns before he taps his temple before she nods. 

"I'll catch up. I'm just going to use the bathroom." Tatum says and Andie nods before Elijah leads her away. 

The witch leans against the doorframe, her eyes glowing a faint red as she tries to focus in on what the two men were doing. Tatum frowns when she sees flashes of a thin dagger sitting on the table alongside the bottles of alcohol. Then she sees a flash of a piece of paper saying 'If you use the dagger it will kill you.' She shakes her head a little with a confused frown when she feels a wave of frustration from Damon before heading to catch up with Andie and Elijah.

"Hey." Tatum says with a smile before heading straight over to Elijah. "Can I have a word?" She asks and he nods, glancing up at her before getting up from the table and following her to the side of the room. "I don't know what they were talking about but they were talking about some dagger that would kill Damon if he used it. I'm assuming they're planning to use it on you." Tatum whispers, glancing at the other two occupants of the room surreptitiously before she notices the pissed off look on Elijah's face.

"The deal's off." He mutters. "But we wait until they try." He says and she hesitates for a moment before nodding.

She had to be honest, she thought that was a pretty stupid idea but she wasn't going to argue with him. Not when he'd just given her the green light. 

And if Jenna happened to learn anything that she didn't already know, well, then that was their fault for not telling her anything.

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Tatum moves to sit down next to Elijah again at the same time as Andie and the blond man whose name she still didn't know. "I'm ever so sorry, I didn't catch your name." She says to him. 

"John Gilbert." He responds and she hums.

"Tatum Claire." The witch says with a brief smile.

"Andie was just saying how she wanted to ask us about the work we're doing here." Elijah says to the brunette sitting beside him. 

"Our research? I thought research and fact finding was kind of your thing." Tatum says as Damon and Alaric re-enter the room.

"It is but you two seem to know a lot of information that clearly isn't documented anywhere accessible." She responds and Tatum hums. "Ric, would you do me a favour and grab the notebook out of my bag?" Andie asks and the man heads over to her bag.

"Elijah, did John tell you that he's Elena's uncle-slash-father?" Damon asks as he sits down.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that." Elijah responds.

"Of course, she hates him. So, there's absolutely no need to keep him on the endangered species list." Damon says.

"Ric, it's in the front pocket on the- You know what? Excuse me, guys, sorry." Andie says, getting up.

"What I'd like to know, Elijah, is how you intend on killing Klaus." John says and Tatum leans back in her seat, sipping the tea that had been on the table in front of her.

"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." Elijah says, pointing his fork at Damon. "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 with Tatum's help, you'll never see her again." Elijah says. 

"And your little witch is happy being used as your personal weapon?" Damon asks. 

"Against you? She's thrilled. He's the only reason your face wasn't rearranged by concrete at Slater's apartment." Tatum responds. 

"Okay, my first question is, when you got here to Mystic-"

Tatum moves back with wide eyes when Elijah exclaims in pain before she sees a dagger stabbed through his chest and the chair. A red mist immediately appears around the brunette's hands before someone grabs her from behind, pinning her arms around her chest.

The witch raises a hand towards her chest before forcing her magic through herself and into John behind her, sending him flying back into the wall. As soon as her hands are free, she hits Alaric with a blast of magic, knocking him back into the table behind him. 

"You don't want to do this, Tatum. He's not here to help us." Damon says. 

"He was helping me. You can't help me." Tatum snaps. 

"Neither can Elijah right now. And witch or not, you're pretty mortal." Damon says and she tilts her head before her magic wraps around the dagger in Elijah's chest, pulling it out before sending it flying at Damon's face, the vampire catching it, just before it hits him. 

She hears footsteps behind her and just as she turns, someone hits her and the witch stumbles back slightly before smiling. "That's the best you've got?" She asks, wiping the blood away from her nose and then someone slams her head into the table.

"We're pissing off her?" John asks, looking at the unconscious witch on the floor. "The witch who can do things no other witch can. Who's hands glow bright red." John clarifies. 

"We had to kill Elijah. We'll handle the witch." Damon responds.

"Handle her? She just sent me halfway across the room when I held her in place. And Alaric without even moving towards him. Not to mention the dagger that nearly stabbed you in the eye." He says. 

"I mean, I hate to say it, but he's got a point. She's not like Bonnie. We don't know how to handle her." Alaric says.

"We'll figure it out. Now help me move them. Before Jenna comes back in." Damon snaps. 

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The first thing Tatum hears when she stirs is someone saying her name before she recoils slightly at the metallic taste in her mouth. "Tatum." She frowns slightly when she realises that was Elijah's voice before opening an eye. 

"So their magic dagger is a really shit magic dagger?" She asks and he hums. 

"I'll explain in a minute." Elijah responds and she nods before pressing a hand to her forehead. 

"My head is literally throbbing. I didn't know that was even possible." She says. 

"Here," Elijah says, holding out his bloody wrist and she scrunches up her nose. "It'll stop the throbbing." He says and she sighs before nodding reluctantly. 

"I just hope you know it's super gross and really unsanitary." She complains and he hums with a slightly amused smile before moving his wrist closer so the brunette could get his blood in her system. "Don't let me die in the next twenty-four hours." Tatum says after pushing his wrist away. 

"I promise." Elijah responds and she nods. 

"And if you keep getting me in situations where I have to do that, I'm going home." She adds as he pulls out his handkerchief to clean the blood off her face.

"Noted." Elijah responds and she hums.

"So, why aren't you dead?" Tatum asks.

"The dagger has to remain in my heart for me to stay dead. And even then it can be reversed just by pulling the dagger out, regardless of how long it's been in." Elijah explains, wiping the blood off her forehead. 

She assumed it was from her head being slammed into the table. Which was pretty rude but she did slam John into the edge of a doorframe so she guesses she kind of had it coming.

"Well, I pulled the dagger out to fling at Damon but Alaric had been about to before I knocked him across the room anyway, so they don't know that." Tatum says and he nods before folding his handkerchief and putting it in his pocket. "Thanks." The witch says before looking around. "Are we back at Jonas' place?" Tatum asks and he nods. 

"He's locating Elena for me now and then I'm going to go get her." Elijah says. 

"I'll come with you." Tatum says

"No, you stay here. You can't risk getting killed with my blood in your system." Elijah says. 

"I won't." She says.

"Tatum, wait here." Elijah says and she hesitates for a moment. 

"Elijah, if they ambush you and I'm not there- We still don't know who told them about the dagger killing Damon if he used it. They might also know now about leaving the dagger in." She says.

"I'll be fine. You can't risk becoming a vampire. You'll lose your magic." Elijah says and she sighs before nodding reluctantly. "Stay here and if I'm not back tonight then you can come and help me after my blood is out of your system." He says. "They've already hurt you enough to leave you needing my blood to heal. They will kill you." 

"Yes, okay." Tatum says and he nods. "And in my defence, it was all three of them at once. I'm a very tiny person." She says and he hums. 

"You did brilliantly. Let me handle this." Elijah says and she nods gently. 

"Be careful. I still need you to get to Klaus." Tatum says and he nods. 

"You have my word." Elijah responds before getting up. 

"If you see Damon, fuck him up for me. Deal be damned." She says and he nods. 

"I'd be more than happy to." Elijah responds before disappearing from the room and Tatum sighs. 

She had a bad feeling about this but she knew arguing with him was totally pointless.

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So she was still going to help. Tatum looks around before closing her eyes and teleporting down to the caves they'd freed Stefan from to see Katherine getting ready to leave. 

"Hey." She says and the vampire turns to look at her. "You wanna screw over Damon Salvatore with me?" Tatum asks and the other woman smirks. 

"I thought you were Elijah's little witch." Katherine says. 

"I am. And I know you're free now that he's been daggered briefly because killing them breaks their compulsion, even if it's temporary. So, he's gone off and I've got a pretty bad feeling about it and I need help getting him back. Because I need him to get to Klaus." Tatum says.

"And what do you want with Klaus?" Katherine asks.

"That's my business." Tatum responds.

"And what do I get out of this?" Katherine asks.

"I'll talk to Elijah. Get him to back off. I'll keep you safe from Klaus." Tatum says and Katherine tilts her head slightly. "But if you screw me over? I'll kill you myself. And I mean that in every sense of the word." She says and Katherine hums. 

"I like you. So, sure. I'll help you." Katherine says and Tatum nods. 

"I'm Tatum." The witch says and Katherine nods.

"I'm sure you've heard Elijah calling me Katerina but I prefer Katherine." The vampire responds and Tatum hums.

"You're good at lying, right?" Tatum asks and Katherine shrugs. "You want to go convince Damon you're on his side?" She asks.

"I'd love to. Nice meeting you, Tatum." Katherine says before disappearing and the witch looks around briefly before teleporting back to Jonas' and grabbing her things.

She waits until the next morning before leaving to find herself a hotel room to stay in. She wasn't staying there with Elijah gone. She didn't trust Jonas or his son.

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