The time following their night together proved to be rather uneventful, though that only gave Elijah and Beatrix more time to steal glances at each other.

Beatrix knew for a fact that their 'proper goodbye' had been a mistake. A blissful error that had allowed her to relive the pleasure she hadn't had in nearly a century. Sure, she had been with Kai because her needs had been far too great to withhold from, but he was human, and as good as he was, he was nothing compared to Elijah.

And it wasn't in the sense that he wasn't physically gifted. Because he certainly was. But Kai had slept with her because of lust, anger, and frustration. A means for coping and releasing stress to keep motivated without a lingering desire in the back of his mind. He got intimate with her solely because he needed to feel a more human connection than what he could take care of on his own. He stayed the night only when it was convenient to fit into fantasies of murder, which certainly aroused him more than anything he could do with her, no matter how sexually graphic it was.

With Elijah, Beatrix felt safe, and his priority had always been pleasing her rather than just using her for his own desires. He took his time and while it could feel aggravating, it overloaded her with satisfaction that made her see red and white over and over, squirming and losing herself at his will, always under his control. He knew just how to make her shiver— what spots to touch that would drive her crazy. What pace he needed to take in every step of the way to ensure he left her looking a mess when he was done with her. He never left when they were done. He held her into the night, wanting to feel her falling asleep in his hold after he'd left her too tired to do anything else, especially any sort of movement.

They did not speak of what they had done. They could feel stares from Cami, and smirks coming their way, because she of course knew what they'd done as a coping mechanism. Neither commented on it. They spoke normally, taking care of Hope and entertaining the little girl enough to keep her smiling and happy. It wasn't until one evening that Klaus called, and Elijah stepped outside, though Beatrix could not resist her temptation to listen in.

"The wedding works in our favor," he said, after he'd explained to Elijah that he'd spoken to Hayley about her having to tell Jackson the truth about Hope due to their wedding rituals. "Newly-empowered and ruled by Hayley, the wolves will be an asset to our family."

"Yes, assuming you're willing to trust Jackson with our secrecy," said Elijah smoothly. "I must confess, brother— I'm a little surprised to find that you do."

"Well, my faith in Jackson is a means to an end." Typical Klaus. "If I had simply killed him, Hayley would have turned against me. You should have seen the ferocity with which she defended him. It was impressive. That said, I don't take the matter of secrets lightly. Once the wedding takes place and the wolves are forever altered, well, Jackson's fate becomes a little less certain."

She heard the phone call end— presumably Klaus's doing. Breathing deeply, she acted as though she hadn't been listening, and took a sip of her water. She'd been trying to urge herself to drink water and blood rather than using alcohol to calm herself. It wasn't like she could get drunk anyway.

She looked down at her phone and blinked at the notification. Apparently, someone wanted to follow her on Twitter. She went into the app, going toward the tab where her follow requests were. As it turned out, there were quite a few that she hadn't seen before, but mostly random accounts that were promoting something or pretending to be a model.

"Catfishes," she murmured as she looked at the profiles. "Jesus, there are so many of them..." She suddenly stopped as she looked down at one that stood out from the others. @ Cobrakai1972.

She went into the profile and saw that it had been made quite recently. Her heart began to beat very fast. Kai was out of the prison world, it seemed. She allowed him to follow her and followed back. Almost immediately, she got a message.

"Trixter! Would you look at that, I didn't think you'd have Twitter. I got recommended to follow @ heretrix1684 right away and I knew it was you. Look at that! I just sent an entire four sentences."

Beatrix leaned back in her seat, taking another sip of water. "Honestly, I'm not surprised you chose CobraKai as a username. Now, how the hell are we speaking? Since when have you been out?"

"Not that long. After you abandoned me, it was just Bonnie and I. We found the knife where my darling sister Josette hid her magic, and I used her blood to get back. Simple, really."

Beatrix gulped. "Does that mean Bonnie is still trapped?"

"Yeah, but who cares. At least I gave her a nice Thanksgiving meal before abandoning her <3."

"Dick move, bitchboy."

"How bold of you. I can only assume you finally got in bed with your babydaddy again."

Beatrix rolled her eyes. "And I can assume that now you're back to the harsh reality where no one wants anything to do with you."

"Let's not get cocky and forget that you were all over it before."

"Cut to the chase. You're messaging me for a reason."

"OFC. That means 'of fucking course,' in case you're too old to know text slang. Anyway, there was this big Traveler spell thing over Mystic Falls that was keeping supernaturals out. I absorbed all of it (you'd be sooo proud of me ;) and now, I'm basically you, without the fangs. I had a fun time trapping Damon's girl in her little high school place... but the good news is just starting. Josette is preparing to do the Merge with me, and I will soon lead the Gemini Coven, because there is no way she can beat me. Keep your phone handy. I'll require you to come to Mystic Falls soon."

The Heretic was rather shocked at the words. Things were progressing quickly for him. It was almost alarming. "I'm not sure I'm going to be willing to just drop everything and help you," she answered bluntly. "I have obligations here. They're my family. Not you."

"Ouch. Kidding, that didn't hurt. You'll help, though, I know you will. You can't resist me. TTYL."

He stopped responding after that, and Beatrix wondered if perhaps he could be the first person she'd block on Twitter.

But she didn't want to cut him off. She couldn't help but think back to the anger that rose whenever she thought of the Gemini Coven. They trapped her even when she wasn't hurting anyone. Forced her into a prison, away from her loved ones, before they could find out she was still alive.

All she could do now was await more news from Kai.

Another while afterward, there was actual news, but it came from Klaus. Apparently, the long lost eldest sister Freya was not so lost anymore, and most certainly not dead from plague. She had gone to aid Finn after having helped Rebekah escape where she'd been trapped— the Dowager Fauline Cottage. Beatrix had to admit, it was rather cruel for Kol to have put her there, of all places. He could have instead trapped her in an ugly body, or something, for a bit. It raised the question of whether Dahlia was also around or not, and they collectively feared the answer to that.

Beatrix tried to cope the best way she could without being reckless: by cooking. Although she had definitely not been an avid cook in the past, her time in the prison world had at least made her better than that. While she and Kai couldn't die permanently, they had needed to eat, and it was nice to try random dishes over the years and perfect her technique.

She had been making a scrumptious breakfast with the help of Elijah when they both heard something break, and Hope begin to cry. They sped over, and found Hope with a small cut on her forehead.

"Oh!" cried Cami worriedly as she scooped the baby up. "She yanked the tablecloth and that knick-knack fell on her. It's just a scratch..."

"Let me examine it," said Beatrix, taking Hope into her arms and bringing her closer to Elijah. It was indeed, thankfully, nothing more than a small cut, one that would heal well. But before she could say anything about it, she felt Elijah tense up beside her, staring at Hope intently, his eyes fixated right where the blood pooled over her head.

"Elijah?" said Cami urgently. "Elijah!"

He quickly shook his head, taking a step back "Yes... forgive me," he said, looking thoroughly embarrassed. He sped away and returned with a bandage, handing it to Cami, and keeping his distance as Hope slowly stopped crying.

"It's a trigger," said Cami to Elijah as Beatrix gently put the cupcake-patterned bandage on Hope's forehead. "You pulled yourself back, which is an improvement for sure, but we can't ignore that your mind clearly went elsewhere. It's a very common thing in traditional PTSD patients. We've done the work to face your atrocities. The truth is, it's just going to take some time to settle."

"I wish it was something I could just siphon away," sighed Beatrix. "I don't have experience with patients like that. All of mine, in the past, were pregnant mothers or young women who were visiting a gynecologist office for the first time."

"Do you believe you have the power to resolve this?" asked Elijah, facing Cami.

The blonde sighed. "It's not that easy. With Beatrix's patients, it's a simpler process. There's no—" she snapped her fingers, "and you're fixed. In cases like yours, sometimes not dwelling on the problem is more productive than examining it through the minutiae of therapy." She pulled out a list on a sheet of paper and handed it to Elijah. "Staying mentally busy instead of physically. This house— though charming— is completely falling apart."

Elijah raised his eyebrows as he glanced down at the list. "So, this is your solution? Mend the home, mend the man?"

Cami smiled knowingly. "Or, we could go fishing and take turns talking about how we lost our virginity—"

Elijah quickly held his hand up to stop her. "I'll mend the home."

"And I'll spend the day with Hope," said Cami pleasantly. "And you spend the day not thinking. And fixing the heater, because this place is freezing at night." She turned to Beatrix. "Would you rather go into town with Hope and I, or help Elijah?"

"I think I should go with you two, just to give Elijah his space," she said gently, smiling back at the Original. "It can be a girls' day out."

And so they parted ways. Beatrix dared to pat Elijah's arm as she headed out with Hope, while Cami gathered the supplies.

"So, you and Elijah got cozy," mused Cami curiously as they began to drive. "How does that make you feel?"

"Like I succumbed to my impulses and ruined things," sighed Beatrix bluntly. "I shouldn't have, and yet I did." She leaned over to Hope, as she was seated in the backseat with her. "Lesson to be learned, little one, think very carefully about who you let into your life. Don't forget to read the signs on someone just because they're good looking."

She could wish, at least, that the message stuck in Hope's head for future reference.

"Can we talk about how clever you were to get Elijah to work on repairs today?" chuckled Beatrix as she waved a toy over Hope's head, making the baby squeal in delight. "Talking about losing our virginity, I will forever laugh at that memory..."

"Well, with Elijah, making awkward statements like that seems to be the only way to get him to listen," she chuckled. "I suppose the conversation would be really weird to have, honestly, considering you both have been alive for a very long time."

Beatrix thought for a second. "Hmm, well, I actually held back once I realized I would be immortal, actually. I um, almost did it with this man I was courting just before I got turned— he got killed, though. When I was traveling the first time, I didn't trust many people. I'd snog many of them, but I never actually went to bed with them."

She thought back for a second to Kai, how he'd always been trying to get the details about her sex life in the past. In reality, there wasn't much of a story there.

"I actually lost it to Kol," said Beatrix, making Cami's eyebrows shoot up. "You probably shouldn't tell Davina that— I don't want to drive a wedge between them. Kol and I didn't actually have feelings for each other."

Cami seemed to like this topic of conversation. "Now that we're on the subject— is there anything you can tell me about him? Davina's like a little sister to me. And I don't know Kol the way you do."

"He's an obnoxious and often selfish prick," Beatrix mused. "But he's my best friend because of the fact that I saw past that. The deal with Kol is... he never really felt included by the others. So he doesn't tend to like getting close to people unless they share a common interest in witchcraft. The true Kol that I know is passionate about what he learns. Loyal and caring to a fault, and he would never hurt Davina. He cares about her, I can see that. He is a hopeless romantic who will do anything to keep her happy. And I know that he will be gentle and sweet. He seems so open with her, and I have every bit of faith that she's making him be a better person."

"You've really thought about this," said Cami.

"Well, he's family. It's about time he settled down with a nice girl. Davina's a powerful witch and she's perfectly pleasant. I like the idea of them together."

The Farmer's Market proved to be a nice environment to spend time with Hope. She was so adorable when it came to inanimate objects. She had examined a pear with great interest, as if she saw it as something other than a fruit. She waved it around enthusiastically, as if it were a doll, and babbled as if giving it the ability to speak.

"You're always a joy to be around," sighed Cami, patting her cheek gently. "Sometimes, I struggle to believe the fact that she's Klaus's daughter."

Beatrix had no problem believing it. After all, she knew Klaus wasn't always raging and murdering people.

"You painted this for me?"

It was 1831, and Klaus had come to Beatrix's apartment, bearing gifts in the form of a beautiful painting. It was a scenery of the bayou, picturing the shabby cabin that Beatrix had grown up in. She wasn't sure how Klaus had known, since she'd never shown him where it was. There was the figure of a woman holding the hand of a little girl, both their arms stretched out toward the water. Under their hands, the water glowed with so many colors— an aquatic rainbow brought to life by Klaus's talents. It was a square canvas that fit perfectly on Beatrix's nightstand, beside the jar of roses that she'd turned into teal flowers that smelled heavenly every morning.

"I-I thought you might like it," said Klaus, looking shy, which was so unlike him, as far as Beatrix had seen him. "I touched your arm the other night when you were asleep, and you were dreaming of this place, and the woman I can assume was your mother."

She had taken the canvas and looked down at it, smiling, and setting it down gently before pulling the very surprised hybrid into a hug. "It's beautiful," she whispered. "Thank you."

"You're sure you like it?" he asked worriedly. "I can always make something else—"

She grabbed his face and kissed him, not letting him finish his sentence. "I love it, Klaus," she assured him. "I'm going to keep it forever."

And she had. It was still wrapped delicately, under her bed in the Mikaelson compound, where she'd left it in 1914 after she took it off the wall to re-paint it. She never got the chance to, but the painting was still secure. The memory made her smile. Once they returned to New Orleans, she'd put it back up.

"Oh, damn," said Cami suddenly, having reached into her pocket. "I left my cell at the house. Do you have yours?"

Beatrix dug into her pockets and sighed when she withdrew her phone, but saw it was dead. "I forgot to charge it again. I swear, I'm not used to having obligations to a little box of gears.." She waved her hand over it, humming and clasping it tightly. It started to turn on. "Excellent. Now, what did you want to do?"

"Just call Elijah and let him know we'll be heading home soon," she said as they went to get in line, shopping cart in tow. "Ugh, on second thought, wait a bit to call... this line is really long."

"I could always compel them to serve us sooner," said Beatrix, leaning down to play peekaboo with Hope. "Huh? Is that a good idea, little one? Should Auntie Trix compel the little humans?"

"I don't know how good of an example that is for her," said Cami, though she chuckled lightly. "We're in no rush, we can wait."

Out of respect for Cami, Beatrix held back from gaining them an advantage. Like a trio of perfectly normal people, they waited in line until they finally got to scan all their groceries.

"Next time, we're compelling people," said Beatrix once they started loading the bags into the back of the car they had. She pulled out her phone and dialed Elijah's number. He didn't answer, and Beatrix sighed, leaving a voicemail. "Heading home now, see you soon."

"Beatrix," said Cami right as she hung up. "Come look at this."

She turned toward where Cami had taken the bandage off of Hope's forehead. "Look, her cut is gone," she said. "Did you give her blood?"

"No," said Beatrix, perplexed. "Maybe Elijah did, when we were getting her ready to go. He probably felt bad and didn't want her to scar up."

Cami laughed lightly and caressed Hope's head gently. "Well, I don't know if the pediatric board would approve of Uncle Elijah using vampire blood to heal boo-boos!" She picked her up and went to fasten her in the car seat as Beatrix returned the shopping cart, sighing as she thought it over. Elijah might have given Hope blood. But was it possible she healed on her own? She hadn't been around very many supernatural children before. She wasn't sure if it worked that way.

They began to drive back, the sun already beginning to set, and darkness coming onto them. Beatrix sat with Hope in the backseat once again, humming as she started to fuss.

"Aw, darling, we're almost home," she said. "I think she's getting tired."

Cami began to hum a tune, and Beatrix joined her, rocking the car seat gently to help Hope sleep, if that was what she wanted. When she didn't close her eyes, Beatrix waved her hand to check her diaper, and frowned when she realized she didn't need a diaper change. "Maybe you're hungry again, even though we gave you some of the bottle in line?" she murmured, preparing another bottle for her and handing it to her, coaxing it into her mouth. Hope whined and pushed it away, clearly not at all interested in food.

"What's wrong, baby?" sighed Beatrix, looking up to see the house in the distance. "What else do you want?"

Suddenly, the car came to a stop. Cami started to press the button repeatedly, telling the engine to run again, but it wasn't working.

"Oh, come on," sighed Beatrix. She waved her hand over the dashboard, but nothing happened. "What—? Someone is blocking my magic, stopping me from turning the car on."

But within instants, the car was the last thing they were focused on. A massive explosion sounded, shaking the car. In the distance, fire and smoke burst out of the house.

"Oh my God!" cried Cami, covering her mouth. Right as she finished speaking, the car's power clicked on again, and the two women turned toward Hope, who was now completely calm.

"No bloody way," whispered Beatrix. "She— she knew. How did she know?"

"I-I don't know," said Cami. "But Elijah— what happened?!"

"Turn back and head somewhere safe," said Beatrix, unbuckling herself and handing Cami her phone. "I'm going to go check it out. Call Klaus if I don't find you within two hours."

She sped away, going into the house and finding it was completely wrecked. There was a body on the floor when she entered, charred and unrecognizable from the explosion. Another body, nearer to where the window had been. This was Elijah. She dove to his side and flipped him over. Dead, but he'd awaken soon. The same could probably not be said about the other person. She saw his daylight ring on the floor beside him— who was this other person and why had Elijah orchestrated the explosion?

Then it hit her. Finn. Klaus had mentioned something about Finn wanting to find Hope— this entire time, he'd already known, and was planning to come and get her, but as luck would have it, they'd gone out that day.

"Okay," breathed Beatrix, gathering her wits and slipping the daylight ring back onto Elijah's finger before pulling him up. She groaned in effort. She'd definitely need to start working out again. Hoisting him against her shoulder, she pulled him out of the house, coughing from all the ash around. She laid him down on the grass outside and put her hands on his chest, mumbling a spell to speed up his return.

Within minutes, he'd sat up, coughing loudly, and she thumped his back to have him cough out all the ash.

"You diabolical little shit," she breathed. "Becoming an arsonist now?"

He chuckled a bit, wiping his face. "Maybe. It was Finn."

"I deduced correctly, then. Come on, let's go find Cami. She turned back to take Hope somewhere safe. They shouldn't be too far."

The two sped forward, and soon found that Cami had just stopped at a nearby auto garage, alone in the parking lot. The blonde was standing outside of the car, apparently trying to get service on Beatrix's cell phone.

They stopped a bit aways from her, and Elijah began to walk on his own, accidentally tripping over a piece of metal on the ground. This, of course, startled Cami.

"Whoever's out there, if you try anything, I will gouge out your eyes!" she shrieked, turning around to look in all directions.

"Actually, Camille, that's probably not necessary," said Elijah calmly as he and Beatrix made themselves seen.

Cami sighed in relief, but stopped when she saw how messed up Elijah looked. "What the hell happened back there?"

"That's a discussion for the car," he said, climbing into the driver's seat of the car. Cami nodded and climbed into the back with Hope, while Beatrix went shotgun.

"Call Klaus," Elijah instructed as he began to drive. "Let him know we're on our way."

Cami handed Beatrix her phone back, and the Heretic took it quickly, dialing Klaus's number.

"What happened?" asked Klaus immediately. "Is Hope alright?"

"She's fine," said Beatrix quickly. "Elijah got rid of Finn. We're on our way back to New Orleans. Unless, of course, there's some other location you want us to go to."

"No, come back, we'll be expecting you," he said. "Drive safely." He hung up, and Beatrix sighed, leaning back in her seat, adjusting her seatbelt and setting her phone down.

Elijah went into an explanation of what'd happened, which Beatrix found unnerving. Apparently, Freya had helped Finn locate them, and Finn had intended to take Hope.

"So, is Freya on our bad guy list?" asked Beatrix, her phone buzzing in her lap.

"For now, it may seem so," Elijah murmured.

Beatrix winced, and opened her phone, seeing a notification from Twitter. Message from Cobrakai1972. He'd sent a picture of himself holding up a peace sign, and looking a bit disheveled.

"Just became the leader of the Gemini Coven," his message read, with an emoji kissing a heart beside it.

Beatrix furrowed her brows in concern. "Jo went with it?" she questioned.

"You remember the twins I wanted to kill? Olivia and Lucas? Well, selfless little Luke made a deal— he'd merge with me to protect Liv and Jo. Of course, I beat him. Rip." Followed by a skull emoji, and a happy face emoji.

"Don't be so insensitive. What's your plan from here?"

"Lay low for a bit. Do some charity work. FFS, Trixter, IDK. You're still on standby. Don't get too attached to your Original bone machine."

"Ew, do not call Elijah that. I'd prefer you let me know first what you're planning."

"I'm biding my time. I want to gather the Coven somewhere, eventually, and die to get rid of them. As I recall, you're eager to help with that. I'm thinking I could get turned there, for them to see. Then, you'd be able to teach me about being a Heretic. Unfortunately, Herekai doesn't work as well as Heretrix, but Cobrakai is still perfectly functional."

"Herekai makes you sound like an STD."

"Thx. Be sure to tell Elijah how you obsessed you were with this STD." An emoji sticking its tongue out at her.

"Not going to happen. GTG. Business to take care of."

"Think of me when you do the deed." An eggplant emoji and a peach emoji, followed by three water droplets.

Beatrix rolled her eyes and shut off her phone, letting out an audible groan.

"Everything alright?" asked Elijah, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Yes, everything's fine," she said quickly.

"Ooh, who were you talking to?" said Cami, trying to diffuse the tension. "Made friends on Twitter already?"

Beatrix smirked slightly. "An old acquaintance. I don't know if I'd consider them a friend."

She said nothing more the rest of the way, ignoring the curious looks Elijah was sending her way.