a/n: Charlotte's outfit for the chapter is above!
☆═━ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄━═☆
"I am being kidnapped. It's not funny," Charlotte said as Angelina buckled her into the passenger seat of the car. Lina got in the driver's seat and smiled coyly at her, "I told you both, I am absolutely fine and I just need a day, or a week, at home. Alone."
Angelina slammed the passenger side of the door closed and got into the backseat as Lina shook her head, "And I told you, we know where Katherine is and we are gonna find the bitch and have a good time."
"The definition of a good time is subjective," Charlotte sighed, rolling her eyes, "Plus Stefan and Damon are already going. I heard them yesterday."
"So?" The Forbes vampire huffed out, "We are a team. We have a grudge."
"I don't have a grudge."
Lina started the car, pointing out, "You should have the biggest grudge out of us three," She turned the stirring wheel as she pulled out of the driveway, "She came for your boyfriend, killed you, and then had you locked in a tomb where you were supposed to starve to death. That didn't happen but you spent 145 years starving while the world thought she is in there."
Charlotte played with the ends of her sleeves, "I don't like talking about that."
"And I don't like bringing it up but there's a long due debt," Paulina stated, turning to her best friend, "And it's time to collect."
Angelina nodded, squeezing Charlotte's shoulder in reassurance from where she sat in the backseat. The Bernard vampire questioned, "And you are not doing this because of the whole Elijah thing?"
"And you don't want to kill her for Jeremy?"
Charlotte pursed her lips together and left the topic at that, "I don't even know where she is."
"I do, I called in a favor from Liz Forbes," The Gilbert answered, grinning smugly as Charlotte looked at her suspiciously, "Relax, I didn't threaten anyone. Haven't you heard? I am the good Gilbert now."
"Glad your humor is still intact."
✵ ✵ ✵
Lina turned up the radio when they finally got on the road as Charlotte questioned again, "Willoughby? Katherine is hiding in Willoughby?"
Angelina folded her arms together, "It's small. It's discreet. No one would pick her out of the crowd."
Charlotte nodded to herself before shooting out a question, "What do you plan on doing when we find her?" It was mostly directed at Lina who seemed like she had all the answers in the world right then but Angelina's ears perked up at the question, "I mean, we can't just storm into her town and claim that we are there to collect a debt."
"It's not her town, she is just hiding in it. People who are hiding don't get the privilege of calling things their own," Angelina pointed out, resting her elbows on her knees.
The brunette rolled her eyes, "Of course, my mistake. What will we do when we reach the town that she is currently taking residence in?" She rephrased, turning to look at her blonde friend, "Better?"
"Meh, it could use some work."
Charlotte rolled her eyes once again and turned to Paulina for an answer when she made no move to speak, the Bernard turned down the radio, successfully catching her attention. "So?"
"I don't know, Charlotte, what do you want to hear?" Lina huffed out, pressing a button by her car door to slide down the window, "Make her life miserable probably."
She sighed, running a hand over her exposed knees, "I don't get the thrill of revenge plans really."
"What? So you have never wanted anyone to pay for hurting you? Ever?" Angie questioned, furrowing her eyebrows together as Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know whether that's sweet or depressing."
"It's depressing," Lina claimed.
The Bernard vampire ran a hand over her face, exhaling sharply, "Okay, yeah, I hated people when they hurt me but...I just couldn't bring myself to be that person. Karma will come for them one day."
"Well, Karma is taking too long. I am taking matters into my own hands," Lina smirked, tilting her head slightly as Charlotte scratched the back of her head, not liking where that conversation was heading, "If revenge sounds mean, just know we are returning the favor."
Angie laughed out suddenly and the two brunettes turned to her as she revealed, "I just can't wait to see that bitch's face." Charlotte laughed at that too, shaking her head.
✵ ✵ ✵
"We are seriously going to look everywhere until we just find them?" Charlotte questioned, finding the plan a little impractical. Extremely impractical.
The Gilbert shrugged her shoulders, closing the door of another restaurant after her, "Any better ideas?"
She rubbed the back of her neck, "We could always split up, cover more ground and find them quicker."
"And leave you to set Katherine free?" Angelina chuckled, shaking her head, "I don't think so."
Charlotte folded her arms together, "You guys don't trust me at all."
Angie slung an arm around her petite friend's shoulders, "For good reasons, Char."
Paulina smiled, digging her hands into her leather jacket's pockets, "Search party is over," She walked into the diner and the two of them followed her, "Oh, it's a good day to be undead."
Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows together, finding Katherine and Rebekah seated in the very last booth. She was wondering how Lina even managed to pick them out. Angelina slid in the seat opposite to them and Charlotte followed suit as the Gilbert smiled, greeting.
"Hello, girls."
Rebekah sighed, replying, "Lina, nice seeing you here."
"You too, Bex," Lina returned the greeting smile before turning to Katherine, "Hello, Katherine."
"Hello, Paulina."
She sat down next to them as Charlotte looked down at Katherine's hand, finding a fork stabbed into her knuckles. She reached over and pulled the fork out as the doppelganger groaned in pain, "Hi."
Angelina and Paulina exchanged a look, taking in Charlotte's change of attitude; they almost had proud smiles on their faces as the Bernard asked, "How has it been? Or should we skip that and get to where is the cure and where is Elena?"
"No, I am here to avenge Jeremy moment?" Katherine asked, raising an eyebrow with a smug smirk before Charlotte stabbed the fork back into her knuckles, making her groan out in pain again.
"I was actually going to skip that but keep that attitude of yours and I might change my mind," She responded, faking a smile onto her pink lips, "Where is the cure?"
The brunette doppelganger didn't speak up as Rebekah shared, "Did you hear the funny story of how we found Katherine?" The trio shook their heads and she continued, "Our dearest here had to compel the town into being friends with her. To forget who she is unless she is speaking to them. I bet she didn't count on her doppelganger to be out looking for her."
"Ouch," Charlotte feigned hurt, "Is that how things worked back in Mystic Falls?" Katherine pursed her lips together as Charlotte's jaw dropped in a comical way, mocking her, "Oh, my, is that why I would pity you?"
"Nah, I think it's just because you are a good person," Angelina shook her head, following up, "Although I think it explains why they saw her as a poor fragile orphan...why the Salvatores were smitten with her."
"It's sad really," Lina's lips formed a pout, "Almost makes me want to pity you but then again, you are you. You are a bitch, you deserve everything you get."
Katherine tilted her head, "I didn't compel my way into Elijah's head."
"That's probably why he is still not fawning over you," Charlotte shrugged her shoulders.
"Or is he?"
Lina's face turned stoic at that as Charlotte reached over and turned the fork stabbed in Katherine's knuckles, probably breaking a bone or two, "Ah, uh, you have had your time to speak. Now, you just listen and be grateful none of us killed you. Yet."
"You actually think you could kill me?" She raised an eyebrow, "You? Defenseless, sweet, naive you? Yeah, right."
"I wouldn't put it past her," Angie grinned, crossing her arms over the table, "That is if we don't kill you first."
"Isn't this just fun?" Lina questioned, shrugging her shoulders, "Four girls who despise you coming back to make things right."
Rebekah smiled, speaking up, "I like the sound of it."
Katherine looked between them and raised her eyebrows, "You know you two can't split the cure with Elena, right?" She didn't say it but Rebekah and Charlotte knew she meant them.
"She doesn't want it."
"Oh, no? But you two do, you want to take it? Are you really that dumb?" Katherine asked, looking from Charlotte to Rebekah, "I mean, I can understand where Charlotte is coming from, she thinks sleeping for 145 years is her free pass for things to be normal again but you..."
Rebekah clenched her jaw as the Pierce girl continued, "You want a do-over. Well, guess what. You can't have it. The cure will only take away your immortality. Everything else you hate about yourself, you'll still wake up with that in the morning," She finished, laughing at the irony, "And you won't even be able to compel yourself a friend."
She reached for something on the table but Lina grabbed her hand, crushing her bones before someone spoke up, "Ladies, playing nice?"
Charlotte looked past her friend to see Stefan and Damon and the older Salvatore inquired, "How did you get here before us?"
"We didn't have to make a stop for the piece of junk you call a car," The Gilbert vampire answered, dropping Katherine's hand on the table.
"Hold up now, that's not nice."
"Aww, did I hurt poor Damon's feelings?" She turned to him, furrowing her eyebrows together, "Are you going to cry? Do you need a hug? A lollipop maybe?"
He ignored her, turning to the doppelganger teasingly, "You're losing your touch, evil one."
✵ ✵ ✵
"Now, where's Elena?"
Damon and Stefan got two extra chairs and were sitting in front of their table, blocking the exit as Rebekah concluded, "So let me get this straight: I tell you where Elena is, you shove the cure down her throat, and then I end up in a box, right?" She scoffed, "I don't think so."
Damon turned to Katherine, "What about you over there, smiley? Do you know where she is?"
"I can give you a hint. Start by looking at the town morgue. She's probably dead," Katherine stated, smiling knowingly as they waited for her to elaborate, "She went to meet up with a friend of mine. You may know him...an Original brother, impeccable taste."
Lina looked up at that, "What the hell does Elijah have to do with you?"
"Elijah's here?"
Stefan furrowed his eyebrows together, commenting, "Well, you sort of have to question Elijah's impeccable taste if he's friends with you."
Katherine turned to the Gilbert sitting across her as she drawled out, "Oh, when I say friend, I mean friend."
Damon and Rebekah groaned out in disgust as Charlotte tightened her hold on Lina's arm, preventing her from reaching out and ripping the doppelganger's heart out of her chest right then and there, "Not now. We need her. We get what we want and I will even help you burn her alive if you want."
"It probably took him about ten seconds to realize that she wasn't me, at which point he probably yanked her heart right out of her chest."
"Alright. Where are they?" Stefan asked again but Katherine only smiled and said nothing, making him turn to the Original vampire, "Rebekah, you do realize if something should happen to Elena, you have no chance of finding the cure, right?"
"Fine. They were supposed to meet at the gazebo by the park."
Stefan rose to his feet, "I'll go talk to Elijah."
Charlotte nudged Lina as if telling her to go with him but the Gilbert spoke up with something different, "Charlotte is coming with you."
She turned to her friend but said nothing as Rebekah said, "You go deal with Elijah. Katherine will take us to the cure."
"No, she won't," The doppelganger shook her head, claiming, "The cure is my one chance to win my freedom back from Klaus."
"You're gonna broker a deal with Klaus?"
"No, she won't," Angelina spoke up, "Elijah will, that's the only reason you need him," She chuckled humorlessly, continuing, "Just like you don't push yourself on a taken man. No, you ruin his relationship and come in to act all innocent. Your tricks are getting old."
Charlotte chuckled, clasping her hands together, "Some things never change, Katherine."
"Nope."
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte and Stefan took Katherine's phone with them before heading to the Gazebo. The brunette rang the Original's phone number and waited for a few seconds before he answered, "Katerina?"
"Nope, it's Charlotte," She answered, shifting from one foot to another.
"Where is Katherine?"
"Back to her official name basis, I see," Charlotte sighed, shooting back, "Where's Elena?"
"Safe," Elijah responded, adding, "How long she remains so depends upon you."
"Same goes with Katherine then," The brunette replied, shoving a hand in her cardigan's pocket.
"Oh, Katherine can take care of herself against you and the Salvatores."
Charlotte smiled shortly before replying, "Maybe. I don't think she can deal well with Lina and Rebekah though. Especially Lina," She ran a hand through her hair, "Your ex is angry and I have heard that anger levels out the field. It explains why she can stand her ground with any vampire."
"Put her on the phone."
"Sorry, direct orders that the horrible ex can't be put on the phone," Charlotte lowered her voice, whispering, "Small note, you are the horrible ex."
She pursed her lips together, elaborating, "Toxicity of the situation and all at that. And she is not even here right now. I left her with Rebekah and the others."
Elijah held his breath, fighting to keep his tone under control, "Tell me where they are."
The Bernard huffed out, "Relax, Elijah. No one's planning on hurting her before we get the cure," She chuckled, shrugging, "I mean, I would say we don't want to hurt her at all but Lina seems against that and I see where she is coming from."
"Do you understand how much my sister and Lina despise Katherine? I assure you, they will end her the moment she ceases to be of use."
"That doesn't sound so bad," Charlotte shot back as Stefan turned to her, warning her that she was taking it too far. He tried to take the phone from her but she stepped back, sighing, "Fine, we will make sure she is fine. So long as we see Elena is, too."
"Charlotte, I gave my word to Katherine that I would protect her," He stated, inhaling sharply, "I suppose you understand how valuable that is."
"Lina is my best friend and she is heartbroken, I suppose you can understand where I stand in this."
"Nothing is happening between me and Katherine, we just have a deal but if anything whatsoever happens to Katherine, I will descend upon Elena."
"Well, Elena could use a lesson," She finished, hanging up.
Stefan shook his head, "What are you doing, Charlotte?"
She rolled her eyes, reassuring, "Relax, he likes Elena, he won't hurt her."
"You are literally betting on Elena's life."
"I am just making him have a bad day, he could use one, okay? Lina doesn't deserve this bullshit," Charlotte pushed past him, shoving Katherine's phone into her purse.
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte and Stefan arrived at the open front door to find Damon on the floor groaning in pain and Rebekah tossing the cure into her mouth. Stefan screeched out, "No!" But he was too late.
Rebekah gasped for a few seconds and fell down onto the sofa as Damon rested his head on the floor. Charlotte sighed, shaking her head, "Woah."
Later on, Damon made it to his feet and filled them in on what happened. Stefan seemed unconvinced, looking at the fish tank before turning to Damon, "Did you even try to stop her?"
"You forgot the part where I was bobbing for boxes in vervain water."
"All you had to do was stall her, Damon."
"Where's Angie and Lina?" Charlotte got back downstairs after looking through the house, "How did Katherine get past all of you?"
Angie walked into the house after that, "She didn't," The blonde cracked her neck, groaning, "Lina followed her. I went after them and when she noticed me, she said something about handling things alone and snapped my neck."
She moved to sit on the couch beside an unconscious Rebekah, huffing out, "I would punch her if I didn't love her so much."
"She went after her alone?" Charlotte shook her head, getting to the door, "Why did you even come back? You could have just sent a message."
The blonde vampire looked up, "You wanted me to search up this town for two brunettes breaking everything in sight?"
"Yes! Lina could get hurt."
"Lina is putting herself in this mess."
The Bernard shook her head, "I am not dealing with any of you right now," She pulled her purse off the couch, "I am going to find them. Even if I have to turn this town upside down alone."
"Charlotte, wait," Stefan called after her as she walked out the door, "Charlotte!"
"My friend could be hurt, whatever it is doesn't matter right now, Stefan."
He shook his head, stating, "I am coming with you."
She furrowed her eyebrows together, tilting her head before shrugging her shoulders, there was no time for this. He was probably feeling bad for Lina or something.
✵ ✵ ✵
"Lina, you can do whatever you want to her. I don't care and it doesn't change the way I see you but I am worried about you so please just call me, even if you don't want to tell me where you are or what you are doing, just tell me you are okay," Charlotte left what could have been the sixth voicemail to Lina as she picked up her steps, looking through alleys and small shops.
"Charlotte, you need to calm down, you are not thinking straight," Stefan said, reaching out for her wrist.
She shook her head, trying to pull away, "She is not answering her phone and she couldn't have left town. They are somewhere around here. I know. I just...I need to find her."
Charlotte looked up at him, cowering under his gaze before admitting, "You are right. I am not thinking straight. We can't both be looking for her. You need to go find Elena."
"That's not what I meant. Damon will find her."
"I should have listened, Katherine does deserve anything she gets," Charlotte nodded to herself, claiming, "And it's true that I don't want to hurt her for what she did to me but I would kill her if she hurts the ones I love. That's just how I am now."
"You don't want to kill her, Charlotte."
She shrugged her shoulders, "You are probably right. I want to do worse, that won't be enough."
Stefan's eyes hardened as he took her words in, failing to recognize the estranged look in her doe brown eyes but before he could speak up, her phone rang, "Lina—Oh, it's you."
She sucked in a deep breath, answering the Original, "What did you do, Elijah?"
✵ ✵ ✵
Charlotte was sprinting through the parking lot. Well, as fast as she could in high heels, "Oh, thank God. You are fine," She sighed in relief before taking a good look at her friend. Her eyes widened, "What the hell happened?"
Her right was a little bruised but it was healing, her bottom lip was sliced up on the side with dried blood covering her chin. Charlotte placed her palm over her mouth, "Oh my God."
"Charlotte, it's fine—"
She scoffed, cutting her off, "This is fine? This is not okay, Lina, you should have never gone alone. We let this get too far," She shook her head again, "She hurt you! It's nowhere near fine."
Lina shook her head, clearing her throat, "It's nothing that I didn't let get through."
Charlotte stepped back, "You wanted this?"
"I am tired. And I want to go back to Mystic Falls," Lina wrapped her arms around herself, "Will you drive?"
"You let her do this to you?" She repeated as the Gilbert walked around the car to the passenger's side, "Lina, answer me!"
"Yes," The brunette vampire spoke up, "Yeah. I let her do this to me. I am tired and I wanted to get hurt. I wanted anything else to hurt. I don't want to feel like this," She shook her head, claiming as tears gathered in her eyes, "I am helpless and stupid, and worse of all, I still care."
Charlotte walked around the car to stand in front of Lina who sniffled back, attempting to hold her tears as the petite brunette stated, "He doesn't deserve you," She looked up at that, shaking her head, "No one does. You care and he is stupid and she is a snake."
She pulled Lina into her arms and ran her hand along her back soothingly, "Hey, you are going to be okay. It doesn't stop here."
Lina smiled through her tears, pulling back, "How ironic is this?" Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "We are here again. A girl who cares, a stupid boy, and a snake."
Charlotte shook her head, smiling sadly.
✵ ✵ ✵