Washington D.C.
Hayley smiles softly as she feels a warm hand stroke her bare back. The sun is just rising on the horizon and this is the first time in years for her to wake up without having anything to fear from anyone near her. No Klaus with his paranoid conspiracy theories, no Elijah watching her like a hawk whenever her behaviour seems dubious to him and no Kol or Rebekah who seem to avoid their brother's wrath at any cost. Hayley remembers that once, when Klaus threatened to kill her, Kol was nearby and did nothing.
At first, she counted herself lucky. She got a lovely daughter with a family who provided a very comfortable lifestyle for her and her baby. In other words, a home and someone who loved her. Having been a rogue werewolf before, this was a dream at the beginning. And her little girl's father and uncle were really hot too. She liked to have fun with them. Nothing serious, of course, she just casually hung out with both of them for some fun in her free time. Since neither Klaus nor Elijah were interested in her as a steady girlfriend, they did not mind her hanging out with whichever one she felt like hanging out at the moment. But eventually, she realized just how little they cared in actual fact. She knew they didn't love her, but when Klaus locked her away for meeting up with some other werewolves in New Orleans, she saw for herself that none of her occasional lovers cared about her well-being at all. The threats the blonde hybrid sometimes threw at her suddenly became a lot more real and she eventually started to fear the Mikaelsons.
She had been wanting to get away from them for a very long time now, but knowing that she couldn't take her daughter with her made her stay. Until now.
Damon probes himself up on his elbows behind her. "Good morning, beautiful!" he murmurs.
The brunette werewolf smiles at her lover. "Good morning yourself! I still can't believe you found a witch to help us."
"Well, I'm kinda friends with her cousin. Plus, she once almost killed my brother's girl, so she felt guilty. She cloaked us so people can't track us. I didn't exactly tell her everything, but, if we keep moving around the world for a while, we'll be safe from those originals. Who, by the way, never deserved you anyway." Damon replies.
"Good." the brunette woman says.
Damon smirks and gets out of the bed. "So, should we go and check on the little one?"
Hayley bites her lip and nods.
***
Stefan's PoV
Rebekah joins us in the living room. She walks up to us and folds her arms. My girlfriend does not look happy, as I might add.
"Nik told me your idiotic wanker of a brother took my niece and her mother away from us! You have ten seconds to explain yourself to me!" her icy voice bears cold fury, betrayal and pain.
I step a bit closer to her, my gaze pleadingly set on her eyes.
"Rebekah, I swear, I had no idea what Damon was up to! If I had, I would have tried to stop him! But, when I learned what happened, I just didn't know how to deal with it. He might be an asshole, but he's still my brother! Something you of all people understand the best, I know you do! I wanted to tell you, but if Klaus catches Damon, he'll kill him. I love my brother, Bekah. But I also love you!" I poignantly say.
She archs an eyebrow. "And now you want me to - what?! Tell Nik to let them go and forget about them? About his own daughter? If you really think that's possible, you're an even bigger idiot than your brother!"
"No, that's not what I'm asking. Rebekah, I'm asking you to help us find them. If we get to them before Klaus does, we could bring Hope back to him. This way, you'll have your niece back and maybe, someday, if we somehow make it up to him, Klaus will stop chasing Damon." I explain.
"That's not bloody likely. I know my brother, Stefan. You'd have to give him the actual moon for him to stop hunting Damon and that runaway bitch. But, perhaps he'll be somewhat less frantic about it once he gets his daughter back." she replies, a little softer now.
"So you'll help us?" Caroline inquires carefully.
Rebekah looks around at everyone present. "I'll help you get Hope. And I will not kill your idiotic brother while I'm at it. But I'm not promising anything else."
I sigh and give her a grateful smile. "I know. I would never ask you to."
"But what about Hayley? We're talking about taking her daughter." Elena asks.
I turn to my ex-girlfriend with a twinge of anger in my stomach. "I seriously don't care! She dragged my brother into this. Now she can deal with it."
***
A few hours later, Bonnie gives us the location. She seems nervous. When I ask her what else is wrong, she tells us that they had been cloaked to prevent people from finding them with a locator spell. And the fact that she was able to break through it means that cloaking spell was cast by another Bennett witch.
"Damon met my cousin Lucy once. I'll see if I can get in touch with her. If she cast that spell and Klaus finds out, she's doomed. I'll tell her to lay low for now, but we have to get Hope back to Klaus as soon as possible!" she says.
Rebekah and I get into my car. A glance to the side tells me that Elena has decided to tag along too.
"What do you think you're doing, Elena? You know you're human, you won't be of much help." Rebekah asks her.
Elena poignantly looks at us. "I'm coming because I know Hayley and Damon won't give us Hope without a fight. Damon and I may have had our differences, but he always listened to me and he trusted me. If we can convince him of our plan, this will be a lot faster."
"She's right there, Bekah. If anyone can convince my brother to go with our plan, it's her!" I point out, remembering the past. Rebekah finally nods.
Five hours later, we arrive in Washington D.C. and start looking around. Elena quickly calls Bonnie and asks her to try another spell and give us a more concrete direction. Considering the size of the city, I'd say we could definitely use it, because we might be running out of time.
The sun is already setting when we arrive at a small diner near the airport. Streaks of orange and pink paint the sky in a beautiful mix of colours. I wish I had the time to relax and enjoy this with Rebekah.
But I don't. As soon as my girlfriend sees the face of a certain brunette werewolf through the diner's window, she jumps out of the car and rushes to confront her. Elena and I follow suit.
"You backstabbing bitch!!" Rebekah seethes at Hayley, holding her in the air by the throat. Fortunately, there is no one else in the diner at the moment.
In the next second, my beautiful girlfriend is knocked to the side by a swish of black. My brother Damon pins her to the next wall. "You wanna try that again, original barbie?" he growls.
I step between them. "Okay, guys, stop it! We didn't come here to fight. We just need to get the little girl back to her father and maybe you two will have a chance at survival!"
Cold determination in her eyes, Hayley glares between Rebekah and me. "I am not giving my daughter up!!" she seethes.
Elena turns to Damon, grabbing his arm to make him look at her.
"Damon, please! Klaus is beside himself! He will stop at nothing to find you and Hope is part of his own bloodline. Lucy Bennett can't hide you from him forever. Let him have the girl now and you and Hayley may have a chance. Damon, I'm begging you! As your friend, I don't want you to die and Stefan needs you, you know he does!"
Damon stares at my ex-girlfriend, his facial expression telling me that he's stricken. When he glances over at Hayley, she pleadingly shakes her head.
Finally, he says: "If this was just about Hayley getting away, then we wouldn't have needed that witch anyway! Or the running! Everything we prepared, everything we did in the last few weeks was for this! How did you even find us?"
"Bonnie is a Bennett witch too, she overrode Lucy's spell. Please, Damon, Hayley, we found you already. Don't let Klaus find you too!" Elena emphasizes her words, desperation evident in her tone.
A noise makes us all turn to the room with a bathroom sign for ladies on it. A little girl with red hair and cute freckles is standing there, observing us in a somewhat suspicious way.
In my peripheral vision, I see Rebekah beam at the girl.
"Hi sweetheart! Look who decided to pay you a surprise visit!" she says to the girl, her voice is so incredibly gentle and loving, it makes my heart melt. I always knew Rebekah had a good heart, but hearing it in her voice makes it even more present.
Hope looks at my girlfriend and tilts her head with a small smile. "Hi aunt Bekah. Why is Mommy looking so glum?" She turns to Hayley, asking: "Are you upset?"
"No, sweetie, not upset. Your aunt Rebekah and I have a little disagreement, but, we'll sort it out. Don't worry!" Hayley replies in a forced calm and sweet voice.
And Rebekah replies just as sweetly: "Indeed we will. But first, we are going back to Mystic Falls, my darling. And if your mother tries to stop us, I'm afraid we're going to have to kill her." At the end, she laughs lightly at her niece, making it appear to her that she is joking. But the deadly side glance she shoots clearly says she is serious.
Elena gives Damon a poignant and pleading glance as Rebekah approaches Hope. She lifts her niece up, steadying her with her hip and starts carrying her to my car. Hayley attempts to step in her way, but I stop her. She seems desperate. Damon walks over to us and hugs her, shooting me a glance. My brother tries his best to soothe his lover, assuring her they would go back and see her again soon.
As soon as I her the engine starting outside, I let go of the werewolf and join my girlfriend and ner niece in my car. As I look back at the diner, I see Elena holding Hayley back while reasoning with Damon. She shoots me a glance. "Go! Get Hope to Mystic Falls! I'm right behind you!" she tells us.
Rebekah and I exchange a look. Then, she hits the gas and drives off. Now that e have what we came for, I only hope that Damon and Hayley will make it. It has been a while since my brother had feelings strong enough to risk everything for that one special person. It didn't work with Elena, but Hayley seems to reciprocate his feelings. I wish them the best.
***
Elena's PoV
Luckily, Damon didn't stop him when Stefan held his lover back from going after Rebekah and Stefan. Hayley is still sobbing on his chest. He holds her and tries to console her.
"I'm very sorry about this, really." I say to them as softly as possible. Damon shoots me a glance and ruefully nods at me. I turn to leave.
"Teriffic, isn't it? Hope, my daughter, the only reason why I would have held back with you, is no longer here. Which basically means, now I can make you suffer as much as I want." a terribly familiar voice suddenly says.
The blood in my veins turns to ice. Klaus himself is walking out of the diner's kitchen. Panic, fear, disbelief, and so many other emotions run through me at once. I turn to the exit door, a simmer of hope that maybe Damon and Hayley could run away in my mind. But, that's not possible. Elijah is standing in the door, effectively blocking the only other exit there is in this diner.
We are trapped.