Chapter Text
While Caroline and El were in bed, cuddling away, across town Stefan went back to the Boarding House only to pause when he smelled blood. Knowing his brother, he immediately thought of the worse. Speeding into the house, the dried out corpse of his nephew stared back at him with cold empty eyes.
“Zach!” He knelt down, not even needing to use his super hearing to know he doesn’t have a heartbeat. “Oh, no Zach…” Of course that was when his phone rang. “Hello?”
“I want my ring.”
—-------
“ Where are you?”
Damon poured alcohol on the body’s that littered the campfire at the cemetery. “I'm at the Sizzler. I had the buffet. Where's my ring?”
“I don't have it. Where are you? What have you done?”
“Noooo, what have you done?” He corrected his brother. “You're the one that locked me in the basement and starved me, so whatever I've done, whoever I've sucked dry is on you, buddy.”
“You're being careless. How many more animal attacks is this town gonna believe, huh?”
“I know how to cover my tracks, Stefan.” He spoke into the phone, watching the flames grow taller. “Where's my ring?”
“I gave it to Zach to hide. Probably shouldn't have killed him.”
Damon’s face palled for a split second. “Ah, you almost got me. Where is it?”
“I'll get it back, but I need time.”
“What, did you FedEx it to Rome?” How much time does one need to get a ring? “Where is it? I want my ring, Stefan, or my next stop's El's.” He had to go there anyway, but Stefan didn’t know that.
“I already want you dead. Don't give me another reason to make it happen.”
“Don't give me another reason to rip you apart.”
“Yeah? Is that gonna be before or after you get your ring back?”
Already tired of all the games that he was pulled into today, he didn’t have the energy to come up with a witty comeback. “Just get it.” Shutting the phone, Damon tossed it into the fire. Turning to see another body, he grabbed the liquor that he threw on the ground and started pouring over the girl when she began coughing.
Curious, the Vampire crouched down, balancing on his heels when he recognized the face. Vicki. “You just don’t wanna die, do ya?”
—-------
Back at the Forbes residents, up in Caroline’s room, the two girls were cuddled up with one another. Caroline was laying on her back with El curled into her. The witch’s nose was pressed into the blonde’s neck while Care’s hand was tangled up in her hair. Both dead to the world.
Well, they would have been if El’s phone didn’t start to buzz. Shifting slightly, El moved in closer, like her body was fighting to stay asleep. But the buzzing wouldn’t stop. Detangling herself from her girlfriend(?), her hand patted the bed before stumbling across her phone.
“Hello?” The grogginess in her voice could be easily spotted.
“You certainly sound like Katerina.”
Her mind jerked. Sitting up, quicker than she ever thought possible, only to wince when Caroline rolled onto her side. “Niklaus?”
“Hello, Jamie Micheals was it? Love the last name, clever. Little on the nose, but clever nonetheless.”
She pulled the phone away from her ear, putting her hand over the speaker. “...shit.” She whispered to herself. Why now? Why couldn’t the bastard call her at a normal time. Bringing the phone up again, she cleared her throat. “Yeah, yeah that’s me. Just give me a sec.”
Getting out of bed, grateful that Caroline hadn’t woken up, she pulled on the robe that was hanging on the blonde’s bedroom door and slipped into the bathroom that was down the hall. “Sorry about that, I wasn’t expecting a call so soon.”
“Yes well, I wasn’t expecting the newest doppelganger to offer herself up. Especially when it was thought the line died off.”
“Guess we’ve both been surprised.” Her eyes shifted to the door. “Look, I would love to keep talking, but it’s gonna have to wait.”
“You are delusional if you think I’m going to wait before I come after you.”
“Frankly, I don’t really give a shit about what you want at the moment. It’s the ass crack of dawn where I am, and I know for a fact that I’m gonna be roped into more supernatural drama in a few hours. I don’t really have time for you right now.”
“Time for me-!”
“Look Niklaus, I’m sorry.” She pinched her nose between her thumb and forefinger. “I really am, Esther shouldn’t have spelled you all those years ago, and I will let you break your curse, but I need your patience right now.” Silence. “Hello?”
“...how do you know that name?”
Double shit. “I’m a doppelganger, knowing your history was a must.” It was almost comical. Here El was, on the phone with the Original Hybrid, in a robe that wasn’t hers, hiding in the bathroom so as not to wake up the girl she’d been crushing on for weeks now, what even is her life? “I get you waited for a thousand years for this and that it’s hard for you to trust people, especially when it’s someone with my face, but all I’m asking is for some grace here. Please.”
“You have till the end of the day.”
Those were the last words she heard from the Mikaelson. Flipping her phone shut, she leaned on the bathroom counter, staring into her reflection.
Triple shit.
—-------
After that well-informed phone call, El slipped back into bed next to Caroline, only to wake up a couple hours later to an alarm clock. Feeling the slight shift in movement, El tightens her grip on Care’s waist. “No.” Her voice was muffled as a pillow was blocking half her face.
“El.” Through her own morning tiredness, Care let out a slight giggle. “We have to get up.”
“It’s a weekend.” Her eyes were still shut. “Let’s just enjoy this a little bit longer.”
“I have cheer practice in two hours.” Somehow, she escaped the clutches of the witch as she picked up a shirt from the ground, pulling it over her head only to yelp when her body was tugged back into bed.
Tangling their legs together, El's chest was pushed up against Caroline’s back. “So what I’m hearing is-” the witch playfully nipped at the blonde’s ear. “-we have plenty of time.”
Involuntarily, Care’s neck tilted giving the doppelganger more access, her need to get ready fading from her mind. “Well…I guess a few-uh-few more minutes wouldn’t-um-hurt.”
Grinning against her neck, El shuffled around to where she was now on top of the blonde. “I knew you’d come around.” Leaning down, their lips met once more, but just like earlier that morning, the witch’s phone started buzzing.
Growling, El simply yanked the phone up to her face, not bothering to check who was calling. “Klaus, I swear to all things holy-”
“Who’s Klaus?”
She knew that voice all too well. “Stefan.” Her head fell into Caroline’s chest in defeat as Care’s fell down into the pillow. How the hell was this man always cock blocking them? It was uncanny. “How the hell did you get my number and why are you calling me at-” she pulled the phone from her face to check the time “-not even seven in the fucking morning?”
“Bonnie gave it to me on the night of the comet.”
“Lovely.” Huffing a little, she rolled off of Caroline, now laying on her back. Mouthing a sorry to the girl, who simply waved her off as she kissed El’s cheek before rolling out of bed herself. “What about the other part of the question?”
“Damon escaped.”
“How’d that happen?” Someone get her an oscar.
“I don’t know. I came home last night and he was gone.” There was some ruffling in the background. “El, I’m sorry but-”
“You need my help.”
“Please.”
And this is why she told Nik to be patient. “Fine, but it’s not gonna be free. Meet me at the Grill.” Flipping her phone shut once more, she took hold of one of the many pillows that decorated Caroline’s bed and screamed into it.
Was Damon escaping her fault, yes. Did that mean she wanted to deal with the fallout, no.
—-------
“So, what’s the plan?” El ripped into her croissant, asking the question as she popped it into her mouth. “You gonna drug him again?”
The vampire shook his head. “No, he knows we have access to vervain, he’ll expect it.”
“Not necessarily.” The witch leaned back into her chair. “Unless you, I don’t know, tried to put it into his shampoo or something.” She really did mean it as a joke, but it clearly wasn’t a joke to Stefan. “Holy shit, did you really?”
“I put it in his bourbon, actually.”
“Wow. You suck at the element of surprise, and that’s saying something cause you literally have super speed.”
Stefan smiled, amused at how easily El was poking fun at him, like they weren’t just an unlikely alliance. He preferred this to the uneasiness the last couple weeks he felt with her. “I’m sorry I don’t meet your ‘vampire checklist’. I’ll make sure to do better.”
The doppelganger snorted, only to then narrow her eyes at the man. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make me laugh.” She lazily pointed over the table. “It’s making me wanna like you.”
He held his hands in mock surrender. “Okay, I’ll stop. Promise.”
“Mhh.” She changed topics. “Back to Damon, what’s happening there? I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t staked you in broad daylight.” She wasn’t at all surprised, already knowing that Stefan took his brother’s daylight ring, forcing him to stay indoors until sundown.
“I took his ring.” He flashed his ring for effect. “He’s stuck at the Boarding House right now until nightfall.”
“And what’s stopping him from ripping your head off after, besides being his little brother and all?” She really hated having to act like she doesn’t know things.
“I’m the only one who knows where his daylight ring is.” The vampire answered her question, not realizing that she did in fact, already knew why. “If he kills me, he won’t ever walk in the sun again.”
“Makes sense.” El cocked her head to the side. “So, why’d you need my help if you’re safe?
“Because he threatened someone I care about.”
“Ah.” She hummed, of course. The most stereotypical play in the book. “And who is this unnamed person you speak of?” When he didn’t answer her, it clicked. “Dude…seriously?”
He shifted in his seat. “I’m sorry-”
“No, don’t-” She waved him off. It technically wasn't his fault and she was frankly tired of hearing the ‘s’ word that seemed to always spill from his mouth. “-I get it. After all of this I really got to sit you down and explain your history. Anyways-” she got back to the topic at hand. “-I stand by what I said. I’ll help, but it’ll cost ya.”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to get Emily Bennett’s grimoire that’s currently resting in your father’s grave.”
He had to take a second to let her request sink in. “You want…”
“The Bennett grimoire, yes.” El said, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she stood up. “So, shall we?”
Catching up with what she wanted, Stefan pushed out of his seat. Gesturing to let the witch pass him. Moving past him, El turned her head to thank him when she almost rammed into someone.
“I’m so sorr-Jeremy?” El paused her apology when her eyes landed on her brother, who was glancing back and forth between the witch and the vampire.
“Elena.” As his tone, she couldn't help but flinch.
“Well-um-how’s it…going?” The playfulness that littered her face seemed to fade, now replaced with uncertainty. Don’t let him have that effect on you. A voice in her head that sounded exactly like Caroline said. You are not to blame, you’re just trying to keep him safe.
“Why do you care?” Her brother’s voice was harsh.
She cracked a couple knuckles, trying to release some nervous energy. “We haven’t really talked in a while, I just wanna know what’s going on with you.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want you to know?”
Ouch.
Stefan, the every loving prince charming that he is, stepped in. “Hey, I don’t think we ever properly met. I’m Stefan.” He held out his hand for him to shake.
Jeremy looked at him like he had head lice. “Yeah, I know who you are.”
Knowing that they weren’t going to get anywhere with the young teen, El shuffled her feet, nudging Stefan while doing so. “Come on, we have somewhere to be right?”
“Yeah, right.” The vampire bowed his head slightly. “Nice meeting you Jeremy.” All Jeremy did was scoff at the two before stalking away. Once he was out of ear sight, the dirty blonde looked down at the doppelganger. “You okay?”
“Fine.” Her answer was short.
“Do you want to pick up Dasher?”
“Please.”
—-------
About thirty minutes later, Stefan’s car dips off the main road onto a dirt path. And only then did it roll to a full stop. El was the first to climb out of the vehicle, letting Dashing out as soon as her feet touched the ground.
“Wow.” El spotted the pillar that was worn with time. Her hand hovered over the old relic, almost like she was afraid that as soon as she touched it, it would crumble. “I forgot how old you and your brother are, sometimes.”
“You know where we are?” Stefan asked, watching her from the driver side of the car.
“It's your home-” El muttered. “-or what's left of it, did your father really want to be buried in the backyard?”
“Oh-uh-no.” The vampire chuckled. “He's buried where the old cemetery is.”
The witch's brows furrowed. Now that, is something she didn't remember. “But then why…” However, she did remember something else. “You hid Damon's ring here.”
He walked past her, heading for the path that was almost completely overtaken with foliage. “Has anyone told you it's kind of unsettling how much you seem to know about me and my brother?”
“No, why?”
“No reason.”
The two human-like beings and dog got closer to where the house used to be. El looked at all the rotting pieces of wood and broken brick scattered around the land. “There's nothing left, I would've thought something would be left behind. I guess the Earth moved on.”
Stefan watched as Dasher sniffed the ground, getting used to the scents that were around the trio. “Yeah, I guess it did.”
The witch waited to speak up again as Stefan pulled an object that was wrapped in what looked like a raggedy, old cloth. “But you didn’t, move on I mean. You and Damon?” While it was phrased like one, it wasn’t a question.
Jamie Parker forgot just how much damage the bond between the two brothers had endured due to Katherine’s manipulation back in the 1800’s. She also forgot that the original Elena Gilbert may have broken it some more, she did end up fixing it in the long run, or well, she supposed she did. Jamie Parker never finished the show, only heard from the grape vine.
Fiddling with his brother’s ring, Stefan’s age seemed to show through the layers he tried desperately to bury when around humans. “No. Sometimes I think we did, but it always comes back to 1864. To Katherine.”
El pursed her lips together as she thought over that specific statement. It seemed almost everything that happened in the Vampire Diaries Universe happened because Katherine Pierce had some type of involvement. “God, you have no idea how true that is.” Taking a seat on the stone bench, Dasher followed her, laying down at her feet. “You gonna give Damon back his ring?”
“I don’t have a choice.” The vampire said. “If I don’t give it back he’ll retaliate in the only way that he knows he can hurt me.”
“And that’s by hurting me, right?”
“He already threatened to hurt you and he knows you’re a witch now. He won’t underestimate you again.”
“Damon always underestimates who he’s dealing with.” The witch corrected him. “It’s one of the many downfalls of his personality, he thinks he’s smarter than he actually is.”
He shook his head. “That doesn't matter anymore.” He held out his hand for her to grab. “Please, trust me on this.”
She looked down at his hand then up at his face. After a few moments of trying to decide, her decision was made. Placing her hand in his she let him host her up from the bench. “We need to pick someone up first.”
—-------
Klaus is here! Can you believe it?!?!? It only took over twenty chapters, but he’s here.
Also, sorry for the ridiculously long wait, I seem to be doing that alot lately, I will TRY to do better.
Anywho’s, next time we see our lovely doppelganger witch, Vickie will be in transition so be prepared for more bratty Jeremy.
Stay Safe!
-DA