08:00

Once MJ arrived at the Salvatore House, she gave her vampire escort a list of things she needed him to do, a place to leave the car, then watched him drive away.

She hadn't slept much during the drive, a migraine kicking in.

It wasn't from sleep loss, though.

Her migraine was called 'Ryos is in Mystic Falls.'

MJ couldn't avoid him forever, especially if he was genuine about wanting to be a better sibling...especially since MJ really wanted her brother back...except?

Too little too late?

That had never been her style.

If she gave Klaus chances, someone who'd killed someone she loved and had once been on her nightmare list, she should give her flesh and blood a chance.

In all honesty?

MJ just wanted to nap until her problems went away, but that wasn't feasible if she wanted to save the day.

"Hey," Stefan opened the door, clocking the car exiting the drive, "New car?"

"Borrowed."

"Mikaelson money?"

"Compelled off someone," She stepped inside, putting a smile on and rubbing her hands together, "I wanna see Damon."

"Why?"

"Because I need his blood if I'm gonna reverse engineer whatever this Wes guy injected him with."

Stefan straightened up, "You think you could?"

"Studying wolf venom on and off for two years means I know far too much about curing stuff to not try."

She'd been helping Caroline and El – Katherine with their Bio courses over text too.

"Okay," Stefan slung an arm over her shoulder, "You need to keep your distance, though."

"Will do."

She let him lead her to the cellar, then stopped.

"Does he know yet?"

"I was about to tell him."

"Fun."

"Everyone else in on their way so we can strategise," He opened the door.

"God, déjà vu," MJ shivered, "We were battle planning against her basically this time two years ago."

Stefan pulled a face, "That was two years ago...?"

"Start of March 2010, and it's Feb 2012 now, so yeah...nearly two years."

Stefan paused, looking her over for a second.

"Yeah?"

"...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Everything with the cure went down this time last year," He'd apologised for that at the time, "I hadn't really thought about that when we were telling you to come back."

MJ swallowed.

The other reason MJ was super conflicted about the fact Katherine might be dead by the end of the day?

It was the 4th of Feb. A week earlier – the 28th of Jan, Kol had died.

He'd officially been dead for over a year, and MJ's busy schedule made it seem like his passing was going to become a permanent thing, and she couldn't let it.

Katherine.

"Now," She kept her forced light demeanour, "Damon?"

"Damon," Stefan let her brush it off.

The vampire in question seemed surprised to see her when they reached the bottom of the stairs. MJ didn't step in straight away, needing to assess his bloodlust, even if he was supposedly craving vampire only.

Stefan did go inside.

"Sabrina."

"Sup," She smiled, looking at the chains holding him to the ceiling, "Heard you got infected."

"Ha, ha, let me guess," He lulled, "You somehow have a mystical cure, and you're gonna make me beg for it?"

"I don't, actually."

He raised an eyebrow, "How come you're back in town?"

"Because," She stepped around Stefan, "I'm going to figure a cure out, and, well...some other business."

"Hey, hey," The younger Salvatore shook his head, "What did I say about not getting close?"

MJ smiled wider, watching as Damon groaned, body frozen.

"I really hate that this is so easy for you now."

She walked straight to him and pulled out her pocketknife, "I don't."

As Stefan caught Damon up on the Katherine Situation, MJ kneeled down to be at his level, collecting; a vial of his blood, some of the sweat on his face, as well as some saliva – all of which had Damon pulling faces. He didn't really trust her swabbing his mouth with a knife, but he had to let her.

Damon's reaction?

"She is brilliant."

"We haven't noticed that Katherine's been inhabiting Elena's body for weeks, and that's all you have to say?"

"Yep."

"He's not wrong," MJ had been waiting for someone else to say it, "She played everyone for nearly a month. You gotta give her some credit."

"Thank you, Sabrina."

"Don't encourage him," Stefan shook his head, "He's trying to ignore the situation he's in."

"The fact Katherine dumped him, not Elena?"

Damon rolled his eyes.

"The fact he went on a little murder spree with Enzo," Stefan came closer, "Where he, uh, killed Aaron – "

"Wait?" She waved a hand, "You didn't?"

"Your boy toy is still alive. Didn't tell Enzo about a brother."

"No..." MJ added call Whit to her to-do list.

"That's not all," Stefan smiled falsely, "He nearly killed Jeremy, tried to kill Wes, but ended up getting infected with a ripper virus."

Damon groaned louder.

"Ah," She sighed wistfully, "And it was all a reaction to Katherine."

"Can you two stop whatever smug buddy-buddy thing you're doing?"

"Can I make a comment?" MJ grimaced, "Since you're currently unable to attack me for saying it?"

"No, but you're going to anyway."

"Even if it hadn't been Katherine," She stood up, "You can't just react like this every time you and Elena get in a fight."

"I was trying to convince myself she was right!" He defended, "That I was too bad to be fixed."

"Which is really stupid," She retorted, "I swear, the last lecture I gave you was about this! Unless you start doing better for you, it doesn't count as doing better!"

Stefan wasn't following.

"When we met Enzo," MJ waved a hand, "And it's true. If you need someone breathing down your neck to do the right thing – or if you want a reward for every good thing you do, you're actually a worse person."

It was basically the speech she'd given amnesiac-Stefan.

"You're manipulative and conditioning her just as much as she's conditioning you."

"I get it. You hate me."

"I don't, actually."

Both Salvatore's shared a surprised look.

"I used to – and this isn't me saying I like you, it's me saying..." She shook her head, "It's hard to hate you when I just feel bad and irritated."

"Bad and irritated?"

"You want to be loved, you want friendships and humanity," Her voice was tired, "I've seen it. From Rose to Ric, to Liz, to whatever weird dynamic you're currently building with Enzo."

Murder-buddies.

"Elena wants it for you too, and her want gives you some self-belief, but that doesn't matter! You want it – so take it! So what if Elena dumped you for being a bad influence on her? Why does she get to decide what you are?"

No response.

"Can't this be a freedom thing? The chance to no longer be the cliché bad boy only she has the power to redeem. Redeem yourself."

"Still not getting the whole feeling bad for me bit?"

"I feel bad for you because we always react the same way," She mocked, "Shucks-ee-doo, I guess Damon went off the rails again. Jee-golly, Elena, go say 'for me' in his ear and hope that helps!"

The silly voice was dropped.

"Don't you feel demeaned by it all?" She would've, "That's our only strategy? That's how little effort we put into you."

Silence.

"I feel bad because we're feeding a toxic situation by treating you like you can revert to old habits with no consequences. You never grow. It's repetitive and depressing to watch."

"Your growth is so great?" He challenged, "You've grown into a person who lives with the psychopaths responsible for most of the messes around here the past two years."

"Actually," She put to hands out, "I have my own apartment."

Not the point.

"And I have my moral lines, and I stick to them."

Even if that meant teaming with Marcel.

"Because, for once, I feel fully in control of my life," She crouched down to his level again, "And it's a really nice feeling. Highly recommend making choice based on yourself."

She was so happy when she wasn't in Mystic Falls. Even though it was chaos in New Orleans, she was happy.

"The two options aren't; Elena's romanticised version of what you could be or Katherine's twisted little creation," She and Damon were locked in a stare-off, "There's a third, and probably a fourth."

Plan A to Z.

"Don't prove Katherine right. Don't be the toxic stale point in your relationship – be the one she got wrong."

"You know, I don't get why you keeping saying Katherine's name." Damon's eyes were wild, "Telling a starving, bloodthirsty, vampire-feeding Ripper that his nemesis is still walking around, alive and well, while I can't do anything about it, hardly seems smart."

"I have it under control."

"I'm sure," Damon gave MJ a look, "Witch over here is just gonna jump Elena back despite the fact she prefers the psycho?"

"My personal preference doesn't matter – "

"She admits it!"

"Hm, yeah, I wonder who I prefer," MJ shut him down, "The girl that killed the guy I was into this time last year? Or the girl who listens and helps me in the bad situations?"

Silence.

"My personal preference doesn't matter," She restarted, "It's Katherine. Being a decent person to me doesn't erase the fact she screws over everyone else."

She had a plan.

"And it's Elena. We're in Mystic Falls. Saving her is what we do around here. And, unless I'm about to become the villain of this story, I'll get her back in her head."

"Oh, how gracious of you."

MJ scoffed, "Don't get rude just because I've told you to get your life together – No – "

She thought of a better way of phrasing it.

"Correction. Don't be rude just because I'm saying I have faith in you to do better, but I'm not willing to sleep with you to motivate it."

"And," Stefan put his hands on her shoulders, patting twice to get her to start walking, "That's the end of this conversation."

"I just want him to do better," MJ justified as he guided her out, "He might actually find happiness if his choices stopped being based on two women with the same face."

"I thought you didn't care about our relationship!" Damon yelled after them.

"I don't care if you guys are together; I care about how you act to other people!"

Stefan closed the cell door.

MJ looked at him awkwardly.

"You know," He took them up the stairs, "I've wanted to lecture him since I got him down there, but you just do it so much better."

"Ha."

"I disagree with your points," Stefan's dry tone was making her smile, "But you just yell at him so well."

"I barely yelled," Her voice had only gotten firmer, not louder.

"Elena's the best thing to ever happened to him."

"Maybe," She wasn't going to argue against that, "But that's beside the point."

"It's – "

"It's Elena's life," She stressed, "Not every relationship lasts forever. Just because you think she makes him better doesn't mean she owes him the rest of time."

Regardless of MJ's views on Elena as a person, she didn't want her in a textbook emotionally manipulative relationship.

"And, to be perfectly honest, wasn't Damon a good person once? You were a ripper, and he was a heartbroken guy asking Lexi to help you because he hated the idea you were alone?"

Out of everyone in their 'friendship' group, MJ had the most context to the Salvatore's.

"That was before Elena."

Regardless of MJ's views on Damon as a person, she didn't want him in a textbook emotionally manipulative relationship either.

She didn't want anyone to be in a manipulative co-dependant relationship.

"If he can be good on his own then, he can learn to be good now. That doesn't mean he becomes you or does a personality one-eighty. It just means he stops acting out unreasonably. Owns his decisions rather than pinning them on everyone else."

They were at the top of the stairs leading into the house.

"Do you give these lectures to Klaus every day?"

"Nope."

"Surely he acts out worse than Damon?"

"See, Klaus gets leeway – "

"Rules for some, rules for others," He tutted, "That's your expression."

"Because!" MJ put a hand up in the foyer, "His problems are about witches sacrificing teenagers."

Stefan paused.

"And people kidnapping and trying to kill the mother of his unborn child. And his sister being the reason his father almost killed him. His tantrums are justified, and when they go too far, I do get involved."

It was a 'fun' list.

"Damon went on a murder spree because a pwetty girl made him fweel bwad about himself."

There was something about the kiddy voice that made MJ very happy inside.

"One of those lists is a big deal. The other is the vampire equivalent to what thirteen-year-old boys do when a girl doesn't date them because they did the bare minimum! They were nice! They pretended to care about her interests! She's evil and fake for not wanting to kiss me!"

Stefan bobbed his head awkwardly, "Damn."

"I'm on my second night-slash-third day without sleep. I no longer know how I used to do this regularly. My filter is very, very low."

"You said you were in the middle of something."

"I was."

"Did you sort it?"

"Noooo," MJ rubbed her eyes, hearing voices as they walked toward the library, "This just about called priority – and I really mean 'just about.'"

"Well, I've missed you," He smiled friendlily, "Even if you're in a cranky mood and would rather not be here."

"I missed you too," She managed a smile, "And I'll try and perk up."

"Hang on here," Matt's voice, "Katherine's still alive?"

Caroline had summoned everyone, all arriving while they'd been in the cellar.

"How is that possible?"

"You literally had a passenger in your head Matty-Blue," MJ stepped down the half step into the room.

Matt, Tyler, and Caroline were all sitting in the library, a phone on the table so Jeremy and Bonnie could be at the conference call while at Whitmore. MJ didn't understand why Jeremy was at Whitmore. He seemed to spend more time on campus than anyone else.

But his Spanish and Chem grades were fine, so she wasn't going to ask.

Ty jumped up to hug her, "Your car wasn't out front. Didn't think you were here yet."

"Got driven by someone else," She squeezed him tightly, then hopped over the back of the sofa to sit next to Caroline.

She was neutral ground.

"It's the same thing as Nadia's ex," Caroline nodded, "Katherine's a passenger in Elena...Except it's worse because none of us noticed!"

"She was at my house," Tyler pulled a face, "How did none of us figure it out?"

"Because it's Katherine," MJ shrugged, "And she's smart."

"And conniving, and sneaky," Caroline listed, "...And we're the worst friends ever."

"I think Bonnie should get that apology," MJ pointed out, "Only took us what? Four months to notice she was dead."

"You knew something was up," Bonnie spoke through the phone, "You just didn't know what."

"Just under a month is progress!"

Everyone could hear the mocking in MJ's voice.

"Go us!"

"This makes no sense," Jeremy, "She saved my life. She gave me CPR when Enzo tried to kill me."

MJ was adding 'hit Enzo with a chair' to her to-do list.

"Katherine would never do that."

"That's what made her so believable," Bonnie sighed, "If she let you die, Jer, her cover would've been blown."

"I was sleeping three feet away from her!" Caroline was pinching her cheeks in regret, "She picked my Bitter Ball dress!"

She stilled in disgust.

"I let her use my toothpaste!"

"Well," Stefan closed his eyes, "Did she lure you into a hotel room to make out with you?"

Everyone properly processed that information.

Tyler groaned, "She's the reason I found out about you and Klaus!"

"Of course!" Caroline hadn't quite clicked that until then, "Oh my god!"

"How do we kill the bitch?"

"Passengers can be expelled from the host," Stefan motioned to himself and MJ, "We saw it happen. Gregor died, and Matt lived."

"All we have to do is stab her with the Traveller knife," MJ agreed.

"I still have the knife Nadia gave me," Matt confirmed.

"Perfect! Go get it."

"Wait, you guys!" Caroline stopped them, "This is Katherine we're talking about. She's going to see a sneak attack from a mile away."

"Very true," MJ rested into her best friend, "We need a plan."

"We've got to get her to come to us. Get her guard down and corner her."

"Fat chance you'll be seeing her today," Tyler relaxed back in his seat, "I'm pretty sure I bit Nadia."

Everyone stared at him.

"What do you mean," Matt spoke slowly, "You bit her?"

"She was attacking Caroline, and I might've nipped her a little."

"And you're just mentioning this now?"

"Calm, Matt," MJ looked at him, "I'll heal her."

"You have Klaus's blood on you?" Jeremy checked.

"I always have some on me, but I don't need it. I can siphon werewolf bites."

Tyler raised an eyebrow, "You can?"

"Bites. Traces of venom in the blood after the actual injury has closed up. The whole shazam."

He smiled, proud of her.

"Practise makes perfect when it comes to magic, and I've had a few chances."

"And should we be saving Nadia?"

She gave him a stern look, "It seems cruel to make Katherine's last day alive, the day she watches her daughter die."

"Focus," Caroline stopped the conversation, "Tyler's right. Katherine's not going to leave Nadia's side unless not leaving compromises her identity."

"Which means...?" Matt prompted.

"We invite her to something Elena can't say no to."

"You guys text me what you come up with," MJ stood up, "Getting me to ask her would give us away."

"So?"

"I'm gonna head to Whitmore – If Stefan doesn't mind me borrowing his car?"

"Keys are by the door."

"How come?" Bonnie asked, "I can grab what you need before we drive back for this."

"I'm gonna check out Wes's lab, then his old office."

Something that didn't sound suspicious.

"Ripper virus research," She had said she'd help, "Someone text me the location of Wes's second workplace. I'll check it out too."

Ty looked ready to get up too, "You wanna do that on your own?"

"I wouldn't object to company."

"Nope – you volunteered for guard duty," Stefan pointed at him, "I refuse to be the only person dealing with Damon today."

"Come on, man!"

"If it's science stuff," Caroline's innocent tone was not appreciated, "You could text your brother to come help you."

"My brother does not learn I'm here," MJ stressed, "Understood?"

"You're gonna have to talk to him eventually, and he genuinely seems like his heart's in the right place."

Optimism was Caroline's nature.

"It's a complicated situation," She needed time to prepare, "I just want to get a cure and get Elena back in her body."

MJ ruffled Care's hair before leaving, grabbing Stefan's keys and heading to the garage.

If Matt still had the Traveller's knife, they didn't need her to kick Katherine out of Elena's head.

If that was their plan, that was all MJ needed to know.

9:00

Getting to Whitmore was easy, but Wes's place was a mess.

The complete opposite of the clean and organised workspace she'd first visited. The lights weren't working, no power in the whole lab, papers everywhere, and empty syringes sprawled across the floor. The weird sprinklers on the air released high powered air when she pressed a red button – not just air.

Vervain.

Good thing she wasn't a vampire.

The lack of power was a bit of a problem since MJ wanted to use the computer in the room, but she did have a magical solution. A quick wave of the hand, a few words, and the place buzzed back to life, electricity running through the wires.

While everything turned on, MJ went to the draw that had caught her eye during the last visit.

Filled with notes about witches.

Healing magic – Wes trying to make a poison magic couldn't fix.

She hadn't properly read them at the time, just wanting to prove him wrong and get Enzo's heart beating again, but now, she did had time. She needed to work out why Wed had set himself those targets.

People in Mystic Falls, the council, hadn't known about witches, not properly. But Wes clearly did, and it seemed like he'd worked with witches before – or been shown up by them, and she wanted to know who. He'd lived there for years, so if there were witches in the town, MJ wanted to know how on earth they hadn't been drawn to Mystic Falls.

The computer started beeping, telling her it was on.

While reading, she walked to the table, summoning a notebook from her bag to start a new page on Wes's information about 'overpowering magic.' They were pretty well thought out, and she kept flipping back to look at the notes she'd made on Los Muertos Blade and the enchanted magic blocking shackles she'd found in Kol's book.

The cuffs were enchanted to stop magic, a specialised siphoning spell, combined with a buffering charm and a strength charm to make them slightly unbreakable.

The magic sucking 'death' sword? She was still trying to understand.

Wes?

Well, he had a collection of notes on parts of the body he wanted to make changes to. Blocking the ability to speak or ways to biologically stop hands from moving.

The more complex ideas were a little concerning.

Drugs that could permanently alter someone's brain patterns to stop them from doing magic completely. Most brain patterns were pretty set by the time you hit twenty-five, and it seemed like he wanted to test his ideas on people under that age, but he hadn't found a test subject yet.

Ryos was the perfect age for it and randomly selected for a Whitmore grant?

She didn't like it.

If Augustine knew about the Salvatores, they might know about her, targeting him.

Saying another quick spell over the computer showed MJ the password, letting her download all of his files to MiMi Pasare's cloud folder, then scanning his emails.

That was when she found something interesting.

Some company email connected to Augustine, that seemed like a witch informant.

All the information Wes had about naturally existing ingredients like lobelia flower and how magic worked in a body had come from someone.

Wes's viruses weren't solo projects.

MJ started forwarding several emails to herself, unsure what to do with that information.

Once she'd used her pen to mark up the few remaining vials in the cold storage fridge with a preservation charm, she'd pocketed them. The vials were all labelled oddly, and MJ would figure them out once she was back at the Salvatore House. Hopefully, one would be a cure, but she had other plans for the day.

15:00

Wes was holding a syringe filled with an orange liquid in the middle of his main workroom. Katherine had visited him that morning, asking him to cure a werewolf bite, giving him access to werewolf venom. Except, he wasn't about to actually help them. Working with The Travellers was one thing; he wasn't actually about to join the 'dark side.'

Especially when he wasn't comfortable with someone he viewed as a junior having all the power.

That was when there was a noise behind him.

He half expected it to be Ryos, but no familiar face appeared, "Hello?"

Nothing.

He crept towards his bag, only for the wind to whoosh, a firm hand grabbing his phone before Wes could.

Damon.

He crushed the phone, so Wes couldn't call for back up again, "What's up, Doc?"

"How did you find me?"

"I called my friend Enzo. Asked him about the little adventure he had with you."

Enzo still hadn't come back from The Travellers, but he was answering his phone.

"Gotta say, long way off the tenure track, huh?" Damon inspected the room, "I take it the Augustine Society hit a bit of a rough streak?"

"There is no Augustine Society, Damon. It's just me."

Ryos was right.

He didn't work for Augustine. Now, it was almost like Augustine worked for him since Wes was relying on him.

"Well then, I guess you're my guy!" Damon cheered, "I have this long road ahead of me to win my ex-girlfriend back, but I don't have a chance in hell if I'm lusting over her blood, you follow?"

"Even if I did cure you, what difference does it make?" Wes challenged, "You stop feeding off your friends, back to feeding on innocent people? Is that really going to impress Elena Gilbert?"

"Look at me!" Damon grabbed him by the shirt violently, "You did this to me."

"I didn't do this to you! You are this," Wes didn't seem to get the whole 'you shouldn't insult the serial killer' part of the supernatural lifestyle, "I simply held up the mirror."

Or maybe he was just ready to die.

Damon shoved his hand into Wes's stomach, "It's my turn to play doctor."

He picked up the nearest scalpel and started to cut into Wes's eyes.

"Stop!" MJ yelled over the screaming.

Damon's arm was paused, held in place, but the rest of him could move.

"How the hell did you find me?" He complained.

"I was already on my way when Ty texted that you got out," MJ stomped in, "I had your blood in my bag from the sample this morning."

Damon pulled his second hand out of the stomach, "Here to play moral high ground?"

Wes was too weak to move from the table he'd been pinned against anyway, unable to properly see who she was given how one eye had a knife in it, blood leaking out and down his face.

"No," MJ came closer to Wes, "Here to find out who he's working with."

"It's just him," Damon said smugly, "Now let me kill him."

"It's not just him."

Wes was bleeding out pretty fast, "I – I – "

"Who's the AugustineKLDI email?"

"I..."

"Why does it matter?" Damon complained.

"Because the Augustine Society is working with a witch."

"They're working with The Travellers," Damon said with a 'duh' tone, "Or he is, anyway."

MJ shook her head, "Then why name the email that? What does that have to do with The Travellers?"

"I don't know, and I don't care."

"You?" Wes's head tilted towards her, blinked slightly, then glossed over completely, "Look..."

"Dammit, Damon," She pushed him out the way and grabbed Wes's head, "I feel gross doing it once he's dead."

"What are you doing?"

"Getting the information I need."

She closed her eyes and started to chant.

MJ could see his recent memories; meeting Travellers, interacting with Enzo and Damon, being in a room MJ recognised as the basement of the Grayson Gilbert's Practise.

The basement she thought had been out of commission after she'd almost died in it.

"Sabrina!" Damon panicked.

She didn't open her eyes, still trying to find the information she wanted, "What?"

"You're on fire!"

That got her attention.

There was fire appearing on her hands and Wes's hair.

Blue fire.

She wafted her arms around, all of it going out.

The weirdest part?

She didn't feel any pain.

It hadn't burnt her, just a response to the lack of answers in his head.

"That's..." MJ looked at Wes closer, trying to see if he was wearing any kind of talisman, "I didn't sense any Traveller magic on his head..."

"And?"

"He's been wiped."

Damon paused a little at that.

She went back in, keeping her eyes open so she could track the tiny flames dancing up her arm as she got deeper in his mind. They didn't grow that much, like small candles across her skin and through Wes's hair.

There was some kind of magic on Wes, but MJ couldn't properly sense it.

She could sense something.

Like –

An absence of magic?

Not on the rest of his mind – just – a cold feeling in spots, like...anti-life?

- Magic was energy.

- Energy was life.

It was like the energy had been twisted into a negative – a photo negative.

A version of a spell that couldn't be traced back to a source. Usually, the unique feel of a spell paired it to its caster, coming from the energy of the person. Yet, nothing. Everything that made magic trackable was missing, leaving nothing but a negative.

The person working with Wes was either some kind of magic genius who didn't want to be found or...she didn't know what real Traveller magic felt like.

That was an option.

MJ knew the body jumping, but she didn't technically know what a pure spell by a group would feel like.

It was supposed to be the evil twin of magic, so maybe that was it?

"You got a cure yet?" Damon asked when she gave up searching.

"Nope. But I got a buttload of information from his head to write down."

He pulled out Wes's stomach before turning to go, "I'll leave you to it."

"Am I safe to let you go off on your own?"

"I'm going straight home, don't worry."

"And I should trust that because?"

"Draining a hybrid fills you up."

"...Good to know."

"Not gonna kill me for touching your bestie?"

"He's back on his feet, and kicking your ass right now seems counterproductive."

A notebook flicked out of her bag, MJ scribbling down everything she'd learnt, talking like she was only giving him half of her attention – because she was.

"I only have five minutes left of brain activity with Wes, and fighting will make you weak, i.e. make you need more blood. Rain-check till you're better."

He nodded, "Respect. Invading a dead man's thoughts. V evil Buffy of you."

"Four minutes– you want a cure?"

"You rock."

"Mhm."

He was gone

MJ dove back in with her right hand, writing with her left.

She used the remaining moments of brain activity to get one hundred per cent accurate details on certain things Wes had done. Then she did an information scan in the last few seconds, taking down as much as she could get. It was like the virus had appeared in his hand one day, which implied The Travellers had made it. He'd just pulled it apart before using it, meaning she could potential recreate it to make a vaccine.

"Wes!" A voice that made MJ stop collecting 'ingredients', "What the hell is taking so lo – "

Katherine paused when she saw her.

"Hi."

"MJ..." Katherine took a step forward, then back, "You didn't – "

She stopped herself.

"You know it's me, don't you?"

"Little bit."

"Well, that's inconvenient," She crossed her arms, "What gave me away?"

"Nothing," MJ tapped the table twice while staring at it, "You played me completely."

Katherine wasn't properly looking at her either.

"Stefan and Caroline figured it out, called me, and I went into denial until I started properly reading all my recent texts with Elena."

"My fashion sense was too good, wasn't it?" Katherine tried for a smile, "Or my humour?"

MJ didn't respond.

"Look," She walked to her to take her hand, "Don't take it personally – obviously I wanted to tell you, but if I told you – "

"You knew I'd have to kick you out," MJ stopped her.

"Exactly."

"Katherine," She closed her eyes, "I have a spell to get Elena back."

"Or you could not do that," Katherine's shoulders raised slightly, "You could run away with Nadia and me. I get the cure the Doctor was whipping up for me – and I could turn you!"

MJ was very happy Kol wasn't with her for that suggestion.

"And we could finally start our world tour of sun's and beaches."

MJ pulled her hand back, "I'm sorry to be the one to tell you, but – "

She pushed the table to the side, revealing Wes's dead body.

"No, no," Katherine's head was shaking as she rushed down to stare at his open stomach and bleeding eyes, "No, no, no, no. No! Please no!"

"He wasn't even making you a cure, by the way," MJ added, "That box."

One on the table, by the computer.

"He took the venom extract you gave him and made an upgraded ripper virus," MJ looked at his body, "Wolf venom."

Katherine's phone started ringing.

She pulled it out and stared at the ID, "It's Nadia, MJ..."

She sounded ready to cry too.

"What the hell am I supposed to tell her."

"Answer it on speaker," MJ kept her voice quiet, "I'll talk to her."

"Nadia," Katherine was really good at faking composure, "I'm coming back to the church right now."

"She's not at the church anymore," Stefan's voice, "She's with me, at home."

Katherine looked at MJ, mad, "Stefan, why do you have Nadia's phone?"

"She doesn't have much time left, Katherine."

"I don't know what you're talking about," She was playing dumb.

"I know that it's you, and I know that you care about Nadia," Stefan declared, "That's why I brought her here."

"Prove it. Put her on the phone."

There was an exchange of phone holders on the other end.

"Katherine..." Nadia's weak and croaky voice, "Run."

"You can always run, Katherine," Stefan had taken the phone back, "That's what you do best. Or you can come home and see your daughter one last time before she dies."

MJ frowned at that declaration.

"It's your choice," He hung up.

Katherine was squeezing the phone, just about to break it, when her anger flipped on MJ. She was still Katherine Pierce at the end of the day, throwing fits when she didn't get what she wanted, not above a hostage negotiation.

Being in Elena's body gave her the vampire perks, so she rammed MJ into a wall before she could react.

MJ wasn't worried though, "You're not gonna kill me, Katherine."

"No?"

"Do you really want killing one of the few friends you've made to be your final act?"

Katherine was staring at her, leaning in closer to properly get in MJ's face as her nails dug into the side of her neck.

"Do it, Katherine," MJ pushed up on her feet to get closer, "Show me that you're exactly who they think you are."

Katherine's head tilted slightly.

She knew MJ could've been fighting back.

She'd expected MJ to fight back so she could have an excuse to use her a little, to blame her actions on the fact MJ had betrayed her first.

"Come on," She taunted, hand coming up and brushing Katherine's hair back behind her ear, "Do it."

The same gesture Katherine had used on her many a time.

Katherine released her.

MJ smiled, "Right choice."

She turned from the vampire to start packing up her notes, letting Katherine drift to look at the syringe Wes had left lying around. MJ wasn't paying her any attention. She was focused on getting her notes, then getting Katherine to go back to the Salvatore House so they could save Nadia.

"I really liked our goodbye," MJ started as she rooted through a draw to steal a folder, "It was kinda perfect."

Katherine watched her closely as she pulled out the needle, "It just made me realise I didn't want it to be real."

"That and the fact Stefan basically gave you a second chance?"

"What can I say?" Katherine pressed the tip into her arm, slowly pushing up and using the table as cover, "Elena has it easy, and I thought I'd deserved some easy after..."

Five hundred years of solitude.

"All her problems practically came back to the two biggest mistakes she'd made, summed up in one word."

"Damon?"

"Damon," Katherine pulled the needle out while MJ looked through a notebook on Wes's desk, "She chose him over Stefan. She trusted him over you. I fixed those choices, as well as her awful hair job."

The red streak was gone.

MJ turned, and Katherine slid the needle up her jacket sleeve just in time to hide it.

MJ was looking at her hair, "Your hair always looked softer."

"I know how to condition properly."

"Um," She tried to fight off her smile, "Elijah told me to pass on a message."

Katherine faltered slightly.

"He told me to tell you thanks."

"...Thanks?"

"Thank you to Katerina, for re-opening his heart. To tell her she'll always have a place in his heart because of it," MJ needed to be careful, "You know, Stefan's right, Katherine, you can run."

She wouldn't even try to stop her if she did.

"You can go back to living out of a suitcase, and it would probably be a lot easier considering it's the Salvatore's on your tail, not Klaus. But is it really worth it?"

No response.

"Immortality is such a weird thing. You can watch the world change but never actually leave a mark on it. If you do, people will notice the lack of ageing, or you'll make yourself a target," MJ picked up her bag, "Vampires are vicious, remembered as monsters."

By witches, anyway.

"Elijah's going to remember you as Katerina, and he will carry that person with him in small ways."

The one he loved.

"I'm going to remember you too. I'm going to remember the confidence you carry yourself with. How smart you are...The fact you made me feel like my voice was worth hearing."

"Because it is."

"And I will carry the parts of you that I enjoy with me for as long as my life ends up lasting."

"The Mikaelson's will turn you eventually."

"Then I guess that part of you will live forever."

Katherine's face softened.

"Nadia could help with that too."

"Nadia will be dead within the hour."

MJ gave Katherine a look.

Her eyes went wide, "You have Klaus's blood!"

"Siphoners can cure werewolf bites."

"Oh my god!" Her face lifted, "Please – you have to! Save her, please. Get her out of that house and tell her – tell her to meet me – "

"I'll save her," MJ closed her eyes, "If you come with, and give Elena back."

Katherine's begging stopped.

Silence.

"Huh," Katherine mused, "I'm remarkably proud of you for that."

Manipulation.

"I can't let you just take off with her body, so if I'm going back to the house, you have to come too, and if you enter...I mean, you could fight back...it won't end well."

MJ had a plan.

"Promise me Nadia will live. You'll get her out of town."

"I promise you, Katerina," MJ walked back over to her, "And you know I keep my promises."

Katherine smiled softly at her, "Let's go have my grand finale then."

Katherine Pierce was choosing her daughter's life over her own because you couldn't run forever.

As she walked, MJ took a moment to watch her go, pressing her necklace firmly into her palm, her mother's stone back on it, muttering quietly under her breath.

15:30

Matt was sitting on the couch next to Nadia. MJ had been texting people all day, letting everyone know where she was in case Wes was floating around and managed to jump her. She'd gone quiet for about twenty minutes. Then Damon had shown back up at the Salvatore House, told everyone she was fine, just researching a cure, and would probably be back shortly.

Damon had then disappeared to get a drink, not really caring if Nadia lived or died, enjoying his momentary freedom since he knew he'd be back in chains before the night was over.

Eventually, as Nadia mumbled through the hallucinations, Bonnie, Jeremy, Caroline, Stefan, and Tyler crept in to check on her. There was an odd feeling in the air. Everyone knew MJ had a collection of witch supplies in Mystic Falls, some in Ric's apartment, some in the Lockwood Mansion, some in 'her room' at the Salvatore House. Klaus's blood was in one of them.

Bonnie took a seat on the coffee table, taking Nadia's hand from Matt, causing her to wake up slightly.

Before too much conversing could happen, the front door swung up, Katherine walking right in.

"I'm here to see my daughter."

MJ was by her side, and even though they did trust her, the tension went up.

If MJ had been with Katherine, they all knew some kind of conversation had happened; their second goodbye or Katherine attempting to talk MJ into helping her. And everyone knew MJ had a lot of reasons to help her.

"Nadia..." Katherine took Bonnie's place, pushing her daughter's hair back.

There was a light in Nadia's eyes, "You came back for me."

"Of course I did."

"Did you find a way to save me?"

"I did."

Nadia tensed, "Wes?"

"Wes was a liar."

"No, no – you didn't out yourself to Klaus?"

"Maybe I should've," Katherine shrugged, "He might've done it if it meant he got to kill me."

"But," MJ walked forward closely, "She doesn't need to."

"No," Katherine smiled at her, "I was very smart. I made friends with the right witch. The one who figures everything out."

Nadia looked at MJ.

"MJ," Stefan said carefully.

"I'm healing her."

"Not until we get Elena back."

"My mother's name is Katherine," Nadia started to hallucinate again, her accent coming out stronger, "I'm looking for her."

"You found me, Nadia," Katherine whispered, "I'm right here."

"I'm doing it now."

Jeremy shook his head, "If you do it now, she'll run."

"She's a liar and a murderer," Nadia squirmed, "She manipulates, she betrays."

"Nadia – "

"She'll do anything to survive."

Katherine face scrunched up, "No."

"Sur..."

"I'm...I...Nadia, look at me," She cupped her face, "You're going to survive this time. I promise you, you're going to survive."

Nadia's eyes were glossing.

"Look at me. I'm here – I'm right here."

"Kat, I need to do it now."

"I'm looking for my mother."

"Kat."

Katherine stood up to give MJ space.

"MJ!" Bonnie repeated, "They'll run."

"I'm doing it now."

She placed her hand on Nadia's arm, over the wound.

Tyler's hand was on her arm, "We need Elena back."

MJ clenched her jaw, and all of them were shoved back, forced to freeze and watch; anyone who squirmed to try and break free pushed further back and down to the floor.

"Katherine's giving Elena back," She multitasked, left hand siphoning the venom, right holding them, pissed off, "Her last request is that her daughter gets to live, so her daughter gets to live."

Katherine raised an eyebrow at the ease MJ had. She was siphoning, managing a general spell to hold them back, a second one to respond to the people dumb enough to try and fight free, and talking...and she wasn't even breaking sweat.

Katherine smiled coyly, "I told you, you'd be good at making people kneel to you."

MJ released everyone, the bite gone.

Nadia's face was pale, sweaty, too weak to cry out, but her breathing and heartbeat were steady.

"She needs to sleep to regain strength," MJ rubbed her hands together, "But she'll be good as new when she wakes up."

Nadia could see her clearly, "Mother."

"Shhh," Katherine dropped back to her side, "I want you to live, even if I don't...because this is not what your life should have been."

She touched Nadia's face again.

"Five hundred years searching for a mother who ended up being me," Katherine kissed her forehead, "Rest. Heal. And dream of what your life should have been. What a perfect day would look like."

Her thumb was on her daughter's temple.

She didn't want Nadia to be awake to watch her die.

"You and I had a little cottage," She cooed, "It was an ordinary summer day."

MJ had to close her eyes to keep her cool.

"You were playing outside, then you were tired, and it was time for bed," She was just about keeping her voice collected, loving, "You told me about the fort that you'd built out in the woods by the river, so I asked if I could visit, and you said when the sun came out in the morning. And I said, goodnight Nadia...Sleep well."

Katherine Pierce was openly crying in front of them.

"When you wake, you'll be free to find a new, beautiful life for yourself. One free of my legacy. And I will have died, knowing my daughter, the one I wanted to love, but lost...who I do love, is going to get to live, and be happy, no longer running after someone who would never deserve her."

Nadia's eyes closed as she slipped into the dream.

"Your mother loves you."

With Nadia asleep, Katherine wiped her eyes and accepted the next part of her evening.

"So," She stood up, "This is it?"

Before she could even try to run, Damon was in the way, a looming presence in the large exit of the library.

Every potential exit was somehow covered as the group had encircled her.

"Hello, Katherine," Damon took a step into the room, "You didn't think I'd miss this, did you?"

"Okay," Katherine rubbed her legs and slowly began to turn, inspecting each of them, "So...who's got the knife?"

Her steps echoed, bravado back in full force.

"Which one of you is gonna get to kill the elusive Katherine Pierce once and for all?"

No one answered the question.

"What?"

MJ had a feeling Katherine had already worked it out, deliberately dragging it out to have the last word.

"Suddenly, everyone's speechless?" She taunted, "When I was on my deathbed, you all had plenty to say."

They hadn't been the quietest group of 'mourners.'

"Is it you, Tyler?" She stepped towards him first, "Because I triggered the werewolf curse?"

Her nod was filled with foe sympathy.

"Because I gave you an identity and made you matter?"

"You've done nothing for me."

"Oh please, Tyler," Katherine scoffed, "If I hadn't walked into your life, you'd just be a wasted nobody with a boozy mom and a temper problem."

He went to jump at her, but Caroline stopped him, "Don't."

"And you," Katherine used her involvement to start her next thought, "I'm not worried about you offing me because we both know I made you better by making you a vampire."

"Goodbye, Katherine."

"Bye, bye Caroline," She winked, voice going cute, then focusing on Matt, walking right up to him, "The one girl here who actually appreciates how beautiful you are. You wouldn't stab me in the heart – would you, Matty Blue?"

MJ found it incredibly odd that she and Katherine called him that, considering neither had ever said it in front of the other.

"No, I don't think so," She pouted a little, "You will definitely go down as the best night I never had. Oh, well."

"Oh, well," Matt mimicked.

"Little Gilbert," Katherine looked to Jeremy, "It was nice to have a brother for a second there...when you weren't so damn annoying."

Jeremy didn't respond.

"Bon-Bon," She thought for a second, then just pulled a face, "No need for goodbyes. I'll see you on the flip side."

Then she turned.

She was momentarily paused, eyes and body moving between MJ and Damon.

She took a step towards MJ, looked to the floor, then turned on her heel to Damon.

"Damon," She said his name, walking forward slowly, "How you would love nothing more than to drive that blade right through me."

"We've already done this, Kitty Kat," He wasn't meeting her eyes, glaring to the left of her head, "I've said all I needed to say."

"I know," She stopped in front of him, "But I never got to say what I needed to."

She waited until his head moved, forcing him to look at her.

"I'm sorry."

The anger dissipated instantly at the declaration – at the genuine sound of it.

"You blame me for who you are. And I'm sorry," Katherine lifted her head high, "I'm sorry that I turned you."

Voice turning harsher.

"I'm sorry that you didn't get to die as a forgotten nobody on a bloody battlefield."

The vulnerable look on Damon's face showed that he was trying not to cry.

"That your father didn't get to live another day to be disgraced by you."

He was completely fixed on her.

"Damon," She shook her head, enjoying it, "I'm sorry that I gave you a life purpose."

Katherine still had such a hold on him.

"Passion, drive, desire," She was back to using warmth, but each word still felt like a punch in the face, "I'm sorry that you are who you are."

She took him in one final time.

"Because I'm the one that taught you how to love."

He blinked, swallowing so his voice wouldn't break, "I'll see you in hell, Katherine."

She winked.

Then she looked to MJ.

"Speaking of hell," Her steps were lighter, "I'll save you a seat by my side."

MJ couldn't not laugh.

She looked her up and down, "We have pretty much said it all..."

"That's true," MJ agreed, "Two goodbyes cover a lot."

"But I'm not completely done."

"Hm?"

"I'd kiss you if I wasn't in Elena Gilbert's body right now," Katherine pulled a face, "You deserve better than her lips."

"To our other life. Where we would've been the hottest couple."

"Hot and badass," Katherine raised an invisible glass, "'til we meet again."

MJ smiled sadly, raising one too, "Until we meet again, Katerina."

She finally lost confidence.

"Stefan."

MJ had assumed he'd had the knife too.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to be loved by you," Katherine started with the sad sentiment, "You've gotta admit, for one fleeting moment....your feelings were real."

There was a wistful look on her face as she stepped close enough to be all he could see.

"It's been the role of a lifetime. Stefan," Her voice was enchanting, "I love you. And I've always loved you."

As she kissed him, he drove the knife into her stomach.

"Then I guess this is how," She gasped out, "Our love story ends."

She sunk to the floor in front of him, Matt rushing forward to catch her, just in time to lower her to a couch before she hit her head. Elena was the one who'd have to deal with the headache after all.

Her eyes closed.

Re-opened, completely black.

Then they closed again.

MJ instantly put her hands on her temples and closed her own eyes.

Beat.

Power flickering across her vision, heat on the base of her neck.

"It's Elena in there," She announced, "And only Elena."

"And we should just take your word for it?" Damon challenged.

No one else said anything.

"How many times do I have to prove myself before you finally pull your head out of your ass?"

Stepping away from the body, her eyes lingered shut.

"Stop holding me to your standards."

It was basically the anniversary of Kol's death, and her group of 'we're the good guys' friends had tried to stop her from healing someone.

"No matter how many times I save you or give you good advice – " MJ cut herself off to open her eyes, "You know what, no. This isn't even a lecture just for Damon."

She looked them all in the eye.

"You all know werewolf bites take time to heal," She shook her head, "Katherine wouldn't have known Nadia was okay. You could've cured her the moment you got her here. I left a vial of Klaus's in this house for you guys."

No one was meeting her eyes.

"What the hell has happened to you all!"

Jeremy frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I get we've always been loose with morals when it comes to saving Elena. But there's a massive difference between driving a stake into someone's heart because they're trying to kill her and letting someone die a slow and agonising death because they wanted their mum to live."

MJ gestured to Nadia.

"She's just as much a 'victim of Katherine' as we are," She hated it, "And you had a way to help her, but you didn't. You told me to stop when she was on her last legs – "

"We get it," Damon tried to shut her up, "You hate Elena and don't actually want her back, and now you're mad at us for prioritising her over a psycho."

"I repeat," MJ narrowed her eyes, "Stop holding me to your standards."

She'd hid in her Elena hate for a year, that she'd completely missed everyone else's spotty behaviour.

"I don't act out every time something doesn't go my way. I'm not five."

She'd downgraded him from thirteen-year-old to five-year-old.

"Take a look at yourselves!" MJ snapped, "A lot of you are going to live forever, and if you keep acting this way, you're gonna end up as Katherine. She prioritised herself and the things she cared about – sounds familiar?"

She took a calming breath.

"You all seem to think you're better, and I want you to be. I don't wanna be in this position ever again. I don't want to end up against one of you in a few years because we're in another situation where death is preventable, and you try to stop me from helping someone."

Caroline looked down guiltily.

"Start owning your choices. You make bad ones; you make good ones. You try to do better. But you can't keep acting like this is all okay because it's for Elena."

They'd all become selfish over the years.

"You're never gonna do better unless you start admitting that you aren't as 'good' as you think you are. And that's okay! You can't live in this world and base your entire personality off of being the hero! You'll break!"

#RippaStefan

Her, in a way.

So many of her issues came back to trying to be the hero, but that was because, unlike them, she didn't think she was one. She was trying, they weren't.

"Make grey moral lines, and stick to them rather than standing around right now on your hypocritical high-horses."

She walked back to Nadia.

"I'm getting her out of town."

"I'm helping you," Matt said instantly.

MJ quickly scanned his face, then nodded.

He picked the sleeping body up.

The last stop of the day was bringing Nadia's body to the car her vampire escort had left for her on the edge of town, a place she'd already visited that day.

While Matt placed her in the back, she was on the hood.

Nadia looked so much healthier, but MJ was subtly spelling her to stay asleep so she could get Matt to leave and finish the rest of her plan.

Matt finally broke the silence, "Did you mean all that?"

"Which bits?"

"Do you really think we've all changed for the worse?"

MJ thought about her answer carefully, "I think everyone is stuck."

He watched her face.

"You all act like you're the same people you were a year or two ago," She shrugged, "I think the familiarity of this, Mystic Falls, has allowed you to make excuses for yourselves."

"And become worse people?"

"Not worse, just not different," She looked up, "Changing is how life works."

Mystic Falls had a nice sky.

"At the start, you were all learning about how big the world really was, but now?... Self-preservation is human nature. Deep down, we usually prioritise ourselves and our own happiness over the happiness of people we don't know...but that's just really sad."

After everything, MJ knew the type of person she wanted to be.

"When this all started, it felt like we were helping the town not get ripped apart by the tomb vampires. With Klaus, we were trying to save each other."

And Elena had been willing to die for them.

"That in there? It felt like we just wanted to get rid of everything Katherine from our lives, even another person, who had no control over who her mother was."

Thinking back, her mind drifted to why she'd let herself get taken captive.

"Elena's one goal back then was 'keep the people I care about safe.' Mine was too."

It was why she kept giving the girl a chance.

Elena had included MJ in her deal with Elijah. She'd asked for her explicitly to be okay. All of their friends – but still. MJ had been born into a world that made her feel like her family were the only people who would ever accept her siphoner nature.

She'd hidden it from her New York friends for nearly four years.

The fact Elena had chosen her, asked for her to be kept safe, made it almost impossible to let her go. But MJ couldn't let herself be that pathetic anymore. She couldn't let herself be defined by something that she didn't even view as a curse anymore.

She couldn't let her friendships of all things be defined by it.

"We all split into three factions because of the cure," MJ would blame it for everything, "It stopped being about saving people and started being about what we could get from a situation."

She fiddled with her fingers.

"I just hate the fact none of you seem happy, bar, like, Bonnie."

"What?"

"Every time I'm in town, it's like there's a cloud over everyone, and I refuse to just blame the supernatural. I know enough people who are supernatural and happy – I'm supernatural and happy. If you guys aren't happy with who you're becoming, stop becoming them. Enjoy life, enjoy things outside of this bubble."

16:00

The moment Matt was gone, MJ got to work. He'd wanted to stay to say goodbye, but MJ had then explained how most vampires needed twelves hours to sleep a werewolf bite off once they were saved.

Then, Matt had opted to leave a goodbye note, letting MJ have a moment of quiet to 'mourn her friend.'

What he didn't know was that Katherine's original corpse was waiting for her the moment he was out of sight, stuffed into the trunk.

MJ pinched her nose while levitating it out, laying it across the bonnet of the compelled car and starting to pull chalk out of her bag and yanking her necklace off.

Kol appeared behind her, "Are you sure you can do this?"

Her hand was shaking the longer she stared at the body.

"Mira?"

It was burned.

Part of Katherine's body jumping ceremony had involved fire, leaving her flesh blackened and crispy, breaking apart beneath the singed grey hairs and unreactive waxy eyes.

The last burnt body she'd seen had been Kol's.

It had been over a year, but she still had to turn away to reset her breathing. Each inch of her being was being flooded by the feeling of being trapped in a car while her body shut down from cold all over again. Reminding her of every detail of his blistered and destroyed body lying on that kitchen floor.

"Mira!"

"I'm fine," She squeaked.

"You're clearly not," He was in front of her, "What's wrong."

"It just looks really dead."

Yes, MJ knew she could probably just tell him – but she didn't want to actually admit it yet.

It felt pathetic to tell a ghost she was bordering on having a panic attack at the sight of a burned corpse because it reminded her of his. She didn't want to be that weak. She hadn't actually had a PTSD-esque panic attack in a decently long time, and she didn't want to let the habit kick back in.

Kol's pristine face was in front of her.

"If you've got this right, it'll look a lot better."

"Yep," She forced herself to mark runes across the face, "I did everything else right. Just gotta hope the body'll take her back."

06:15

MJ hated a lot of things about her situation. The drive back to town was surprisingly nice, sitting in the back of a car and resting while a vampire who was scared of getting in her/Elijah's bad books got her back to Mystic Falls as quickly and as smoothly as possible.

That was the good.

The bad?

Katherine Pierce.

MJ kept staring at her phone, re-reading nearly a month's worth of texts and having to re-evaluate all of them.

She felt so incredibly selfish.

She would have to bring Elena back, but she didn't want to, which made her feel like a terrible person.

Katherine was a bad person.

MJ knew she was a bad person.

Just because she'd somehow wormed her way into MJ's heart didn't change the facts. She'd killed Caroline, compelled Stefan to love her while force-feeding him blood, and manipulated Damon. She'd gotten Tyler's curse triggered to offer him as a sacrifice, killed Jeremy – and screwed over countless people for hundreds of years.

But she'd been a friend to MJ.

Katherine had possessed Elena after trying to kill her multiple times. And trying to ruin her life. And murdering her family, and attacking other members of her family, and as much as MJ wasn't Elena's biggest fan anymore...

To stop herself from overthinking, she'd called Marcel.

He was panicking, "You're not in town right now?"

"That tone is exactly why I called," She had to warn him, "Klaus is waking up. Be careful – and if you want to run, I'll kill the witches and get Davina back."

"Those witches have gotta go now. Rebekah and me are already on it."

MJ bit her cheek, "If you're sure."

"The Harvest was my problem long before it was any of yours. I failed to step in earlier so it's my job to get those girls back – not just D."

"Witches being crazy isn't your fault."

"Your mum warned me about it years ago."

"Witches being crazy isn't your fault. They want more power, they were willing to do anything to get it, and sure, that comes back to your rule of the city, but they shouldn't be happy to just slit throats."

"Just..." He sucked on his lip, "I'm not leaving. No way."

"Keep me updated."

And MJ was back to being left with her thoughts

She couldn't actually sleep during the drive. She couldn't get her brain to switch off enough to sleep, but she was resting. Listening to things on her phone, reading the Floare spell books, body jumping specifically, tracing energy runes to keep her going.

When MJ felt a ghostly presence appear next to her, she relaxed.

The vampire in the front wasn't about to question her, and he was probably already judging her, so MJ let herself talk.

"I think I'm gonna betray Elena."

Kol grinned, "Thank god."

She laughed.

The driver sent her a look in the mirror, clocked how she'd turned to talk to the empty seat next to her, and decided not to ask.

"And I might need your help?"

"Like you even need to ask," He looked at what she was holding, "You're just going to jump her to someone else?"

"No," MJ had that as her backup plan, "I need to find her body."

Kol's face became unreadable.

"I have a plan – a preservation spell."

"The body will still be dead, MJ," He pointed out, "That'll just stop it from decomposing once you jump her back."

"That's the only thing I need to do."

He considered it, "Do you even have a spell powerful enough to combat the after-effects of the cure?"

"Yes," Her slight lie was justified, "I have a plan."

He nodded.

"If you've been floating about, do you have any clue where her body might've ended up?"

"I can find it for you."

"Thank you," She grabbed her hand, "I have a plan – I do – "

"You're going to save her. I'm in – "

"More than that," MJ stressed, "Bonnie's the anchor. If Katherine doesn't pass through her, they're all gonna know she's alive and freak out."

He blinked, "Okay?"

"I need to fake her death."

"You're going to trick Bonnie?"

"...I...I'm still figuring that part out."

Kol played with her fingers, "Why do they need to believe she's dead?"

"If they don't, someone will do something stupid, and I just can't be asked with this anymore," She groaned, leaning forward, so her forehead rested on his shoulder, "Klaus wants her dead. Elijah's trying to act indifferent. And Katherine's human now - and she's got a daughter – she should be allowed to live in peace."

Kol traced his hand up her arm.

"But I need her actual body to do this properly."

"Then I shall find it for you."

MJ glanced up.

Something was wrong.

Kol was acting how he always did around her, but something was different about it – an edge in his eye. MJ trusted him to help; she was sure he'd love to be part of a scheme that meant tricking people he didn't like, and yet?

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Her gut response, "I'm sorry."

"...What for?"

"For saving her when I couldn't save you?"

He smiled, "I'm not mad about that."

"Because I am going to save you too."

"Exactly."

"But," MJ leant back, "By responding with 'about that' – you're basically confirming you're upset about something."

His mouth opened slightly, tongue tapping his teeth before he closed it again.

"Please just tell me."

"It's," Kol scanned her face, "Later."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Can you give me a hint?"

"I'm not upset with you," He said easily, "We just need to have a conversation about your brother."

She swallowed.

"One problem at a time."

"Yeah," She nodded, "That's a good idea."

16:30

MJ's skin matched Katherine's.

Brightly coloured chalk shapes drawn up both of their arms, luminescent on Katherine's face. The jumping spell used to get her into Elena's body was pretty gruesome to think about, having clearly involved cutting her original body up into nothing and burning it.

Still, MJ had stomached it.

When they'd been in Wes's lab, MJ had used her emotions towards the spirit in the body to cast a linking spell between it and her necklace.

Katherine was a Traveller.

Travellers were technically Floare.

Floare spirit preservation spells worked on them. And Flore weren't that anti-resurrection. They had troupe spells written for it, to give people the spirits deemed as worthy second chances.

That was the part MJ was having to plan around.

Katherine and she weren't related, and Katherine wasn't worthy.

Her moment checking the body's temples had been to make sure the spirit was suspended rather than shoved straight onto The Other Side.

Kol was sitting on the car bonnet too now, "Your plan for Bonnie?"

"She'll approve of the lie I give her," MJ nodded, "She may hate Katherine, but I'll keep it vague, and she won't want to tell me off for trying to get my friend to peace - so that's what she'll think I'm doing."

He hopped off, "Ready to begin?"

"Now or never."

And MJ closed her eyes, hands going onto the face as she started the first spell.

A restoration spell.

"Restoration followed by a suspended state...magic from my mother's grimoire."

She bobbed her head, the Ancestral Latin mixed with a forgotten version of the Nordic Language falling from her lips.

"Combined with a Floare preservation spell, so you can then use a Floare spiritual transference spell," He whistled in appreciation, "You have a gift with combing spells to create new ones."

Her words stopped.

The chalk ink on Katherine's body had melted to nothing, shining gold as it worked like string, sewing the injures back together before their eyes until it was like a brand new doll, waiting to be animated. No resurrection needed, just restoration and possession.

MJ breathed in shakily.

The Floare resurrection spells weren't actually about bending nature. They were about passion and spirits. That's why it was viewed as okay.

"It'll work, Mira," He stood beside her, "It'll take time, but it will."

She nodded and started the next section of the spell, holding the daylight bracelet Katherine still wore on her wrist tightly.

18:15

MJ was pacing like a madman, having wiped the runes from her skin, waiting for Katherine to wake up.

After finishing the last part of the spell, the cured vampire had shot up, only to instantly pass out on the hood, leaving her to wait for her to reawaken. MJ had gone to magically wake her up again, except Kol had stopped her. He'd pointed out how interfering with the re-alignment of her spirit could muck it all up.

In that time, she called Bonnie.

"Hey," MJ knew she sounded nervous, "So...I might have done something."

"MJ?"

"I captured Katherine's ghost."

Silence.

Bonnie cleared her throat, "You did what?"

"I know she's a bitch, but I can't deal with another person I care about being stuck on The Other Side."

"Well," She breathed in deeply, "That explains why I haven't seen her yet."

"Yeah."

"MJ," Bonnie tried to speak nicely, "You can't keep her in your necklace. You can't do that to yourself all over again."

"I'm not going to!"

Pause.

Bonnie's voice went up, "You're not?"

"Katherine's a Traveller. That means she's a Floare. Floare spirits are meant to find peace in our separate afterlife well of power - automatic peace."

"...Oh..."

"Yeah," MJ felt bad about the lie, but she knew Bonnie wouldn't be on board with her saving Katherine, "She's gonna pass on. No more loitering around as a problem for us."

"Can you even do that?"

"I think so," She didn't need to fake sounding worried, "It might go wrong, in which case, she'll end up with you - but...I have to try."

Bonnie sounded like she was nodding, "I'll tell everyone I saw her."

"Thank you!"

"Rather she finds peace than spends the rest of time annoying me like some of the other spirits."

Kol snorted next to MJ, shaking his head to hide his smile.

"I hope it works."

"Me too."

The conversation ended, the phone hanging up, just as Katherine woke up.

She sat up too quickly, swaying as spots clearly jumped about her vision, frantically looking around, hands slipping against the black metal of the vehicle, confused. Her brown curled hair was frizzy – messy, nothing like the perfection it usually carried, but that was fair enough considering it had been buried a few hours earlier.

She was lucky MJ had been kind enough to brush all the dirt out of the strands while she'd been working.

After a moment, the woman regained her senses, slowly raising her head to look at MJ, "...What?"

"Hey, Katherine."

Silence.

"How's not being dead?"

The doppelgänger blinked.

She looked at the shiny surface beneath her, staring at her reflection then grabbing at her face to check it was real, hands pushing cheeks around, stretching her muscles and groaning as they ached.

Then, slowly, she pushed off the bonnet to stare back at her saviour.

"How much do you love me?" MJ couldn't help but smile, "Because I think it should be a very high amount."

Katherine laughed, unsteadily rushing forward to throw her arms around MJ's neck.

"You really thought I was just gonna let you die?"

Katherine pressed her face into MJ's neck, "How?"

A beat.

She shoved back, "Nadia – "

"In the car," MJ gestured back.

They were standing near the forest road, two turns from one of the leaving town sign, surrounded by a recently dark sky, trees, and nothing but each other. Kol was leaning against the vehicle's bonnet himself, head titled to the side as he watched.

MJ had sent the vampire who'd been instructed to drive her on his way earlier, meaning the car was somewhat stolen, but she didn't really care. Going forward, it was going to be Nadia's – until she probably ditched it for a different one in a different country. It was comfy, low-lying, and Nadia's still sleeping body was in the back, a bag of possessions in the passenger seat, keys in MJ's hands.

She tossed them over.

Katherine played with the metal in her fingers, again looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"This body's dying, MJ," She couldn't help but look at the grey strands.

"She could at least sound grateful."

"This is a bit of a bittersweet rescue," MJ gave him a quick look, "You're not actually permanently locked to the body right now."

Katherine didn't follow.

"Your spirit is in your daylight bracelet," She gestured, "Where it will stay until I figure out Qetsiyah's Grimoire."

"...What am I then?"

"Momentarily possessing it again," MJ fiddled with her jacket, "So you can explain the situation to Nadia when she wakes up."

"If I stay here, I'm still going to die?"

"I basically restored the body back a few days," She tried not to sound too awkward, "It's still naturally going to try and decompose unless I put you in a preserved coma state. Spirit elsewhere, so it doesn't feel like desiccation."

She stared at her bracelet, "I'll be a ghost?"

"You'll be asleep. But, the universe will count you as dead, as your not a spirit untethered to a body."

"Much more peaceful."

"Then, once I've found the recipe for the cure in here and worked out how to reverse its effects. I'll contact Nadia, and we'll bring you back to live out a better life."

Silence.

"I know it's not perfect, but – "

Katherine was hugging her again.

MJ pressed her face into the side of her neck, "Half the ingredients no longer exist, but I'll try not to take too long."

"You're incredible."

"Tell me that once I get it right."

"I'm telling it to you now."

They separated, MJ watching as the human drifted back to perch on the car.

"What magic is keeping me up right now?"

"Esther Mikaelson's suspension spell."

Katherine straightened up, "The ghost boyfriend helped?"

"He did," MJ confirmed, "But I have Esther's Grimoire too."

She motioned to her bag.

"Then I used some Floare magic to connect with your Traveller side, to stop you from going to The Other Side."

"...You can do that?"

"Travellers don't have access to the well of power anymore, but they used to," She rubbed her necklace against her chest, "So I could still create a link to catch your spirit."

Katherine processed that, blinking slowly.

"You still need to explain some things, darling."

"Kol found your body for me."

Her eyes went wide, "What - how?"

"Because," She shared a look with the ghost, "Apparently, my brother was the person who 'saved' you?"

Silence.

"I know what I saw, Mira."

During the day, Kol had ghosted off to check around for the body, looking in the tomb, in a house her brother was supposedly staying in that MJ wasn't interested in visited, before settling on the recently dug ground by the tomb, and leading MJ to it.

"I wouldn't lie about this - "

"I know, Kol," She assured him, "I know you wouldn't lie about it."

"He isn't," Katherine confirmed, "Nadia hired Ryos to teach me the magic and complete the spell."

Interesting.

"And Kol was watching?"

"Only part," He admitted, "Once the magic started, I couldn't see anything for who knows how long."

"He saw Ryos start the spell but then couldn't see anything for a little bit...But he found where Nadia buried your body to make all of this possible. She left a mini tribute pile for you."

"Oh," She rubbed her arm, "Where is he?"

"Next to you. Left side."

Katherine turned, "Well...thank you..."

Kol looked at MJ like he wasn't sure how to react.

"A Mikaelson actually helping me," She almost laughed, "Who would've thought - I will never question your relationship again!"

Kol fought off a small smile at the clear relief and gratitude she was feeling, not used to those types of emotions directed at him.

"I got back into town this morning and decided I wasn't going to let you go," MJ rested into Katherine's shoulder, "While we were digging up your body, Kol told me about Ryos."

What he'd been wanted to tell her in the car.

"He's..." Katherine looked irritated, "Nadia got him to help, and he was recommended by a Traveller - but he isn't one himself."

Kol's expression faltered.

"She had to go snooping to get his number off one of them, and he certainly didn't want to be associated with them."

MJ breathed out in relief.

Katherine pressed up to standing, "He's shady, though."

MJ bit into her cheek.

"It seems like he's not with the Travellers, but he's definitely up to something. Maybe not with, like, a member, but working with them in some way."

"Thank you," Kol mumbled.

"You were there when he was helping Stefan and Caroline," MJ recalled, "Care bought whatever act he put on."

"If I'm honest," Katherine pursed her lip, "I can't tell you what the act was."

"Traitorous bastard?"

"He was putting on this front to earn points from your friends, but even when I got a breakthrough?" Katherine had been testing him, "He lashed out because of you."

"Because of me?"

"He seems to be here because of you," Her words were completely reluctant, "I don't like him. I don't like his act – but the only genuine reaction I got out of him was about you."

A pause.

"And when he helped me."

"Was it weird?"

"The 'nice-guy' vanished, and I did not like it."

"Did he threaten you?"

"In a way? More, I threatened him, and he taunted me."

More 'interesting.'

"He's clearly a natural liar – but the dark confidence felt as put on as the niceness."

Which just meant that everything he did felt like a lie, whether it was helping her friends or helping their enemies.

"He's overcompensating for something with his do-gooding. Real do-gooders don't need to flaunt it...Basically, he doesn't have your natural inclination – which means he's hiding something."

"I'll figure it out."

"You should."

Silence.

MJ cleared her throat, "Anyway..."

"Anyway."

"I guess this is time to say goodbye?"

"I still have questions," Katherine shook her head, walking back to the bonnet, "Goodbye in a minute."

a/n: I miss writing Moonstone-MJ outsmarting people chapters but there isn't a need for them atm cos she and Klaus are to on the same page lol

Also, I'm aware Katherine ends up the Queen of Hell (one, low-key didn't like the plot because she lost her nuance; two, she can potentially still end up there later)

For now, MJ deserved the win of somewhat 'saving' her.