After she spent her time trying to make up with Victor and repair their ruined relationship because of Sofia's accusations since Jerome's second and final death, Annabelle was now walking through the streets of Gotham and looking to see who she could make into her first victim of the day, only to stop when she heard footsteps quickly approaching her from behind her.
Without trying to be obvious about it, she looked out of the corner of her eyes to see who was following her and expected it to be a follower of Jerome's, only for her to frown when she heard no maniacal laughter.
The only thing she heard was the sound of the person's approaching footsteps becoming quicker and saw a small part of their dark blonde hair blowing in the wind.
It was only when their footsteps became even quicker that Annabelle's veins started to come onto display and she ignored all the sounds of rapid heartbeats from the citizens that saw her visible veins.
In an attempt to attack the person that dared to follow her, she walked into one of her closest alleyways and hid in one of her best hiding spots.
Not long after she got into her hiding spot, the man that was following her had also walked into the alleyway.
Since she was currently consumed in her rage and not seeing clearly that this man was one that was all too familiar to her, she didn't think twice before she sped towards the man and slammed his back into a brick wall and shoved her hand into his chest and quickly grabbed his heart.
Just as she was about to tear his heart out of his chest and rip his head off of the rest of his body, she suddenly stopped when she heard the man ask her, "And this is the greeting I get after not seeing you for almost three-hundred years, Annabelle? I thought you would've at least been much happier to see your brother."
Annabelle's eyebrows furrowed and it was only then that her anger subsided and she saw the one person she'd been trying to avoid since she ditched him, Elijah and Rebekah in 1718.
After removing her hand from his chest and taking a step back from him, she said, "Nik?" When he nodded his head, she asked him, "What are you doing here?"
Klaus chuckled as he asked her, "What, I can't choose to visit one of my little sisters? Do I really need to have a reason to pay a visit?"
She scoffed as she told him, "This is you we're talking about. You always need a reason for doing something. You don't just decide to visit one of your siblings out of the lack of the kindness that you have in your heart. And since this is you we're talking about, I can only imagine that you want to shove a dagger into my heart and take me with you."
With a shake of his head, Klaus replied, "Oh, on the contrary, little sister. I've heard quite a bit of what you've done during your fourteen years in this city. I want to congratulate you on everything you've done here."
Just as she was about to scoff and demand what he really wanted from her, her phone started to ring.
Instead of immediately answering the phone, she simply stared up at Klaus with narrowed eyes, which got him to ask her, "Are you going to answer that, or just leave it to go straight to voicemail?"
Annabelle didn't respond to him and simply stared up at him, even when the ringing stopped.
It wasn't until the phone started to ring once more that she pulled her phone out of her coat and said into it, "I'm fairly busy right now, so you better have a damn good reason for bothering me."
Then her face both lit up and fell the moment she heard Victor say to her, "Hey, Annabelle, I just got back to my apartment and you're not here."
While he eyed Annabelle, Klaus raised an eyebrow when he saw just how much happier she became the moment she heard Victor's voice.
While he started to wonder just who Victor was to Annabelle, she replied, "Yes, well, I needed to step out for a bit. You know, get some fresh air. That's all."
Then Victor asked her, "Are you regretting us trying to fix what Sofia had ruined between us? Because if that's the case, then we could try and do it a bit slower, if you want."
She sighed as she said to him, "No, Victor, that's not it. I'm just—" After she let out another sigh, she told him, "I went out to find myself someone else to kill, but instead found myself being visited by someone quite unexpected."
Victor asked her, "Is it someone you need me to join you with torturing and killing? Because if so, just say the word and I'm there."
She chuckled as she said to him, "No, that's not it. I swear, it isn't."
Victor asked her, "Well, if that's not the case, then what's the problem?"
She told him, "One of my brothers has come to Gotham and chose to visit me."
Victor was silent for a couple of seconds before he asked her, "Which one? I mean, you have so many. Is it your twin brother or one of your older ones?"
She replied, "One of my older ones." After a couple seconds of silence, she told him, "My half-brother, Niklaus, chose to come and see me."
Then Victor asked her, "Annabelle, are you okay? He hasn't hurt you or anything, has he?"
She replied, "No, he hasn't. The only thing he's done is refuse to tell me what he's really doing here."
Victor hesitated before he asked her, "Does this mean you'll be leaving again?"
She replied, "Not if I have anything to say about it."
He sighed before he said to her, "Good, because I was planning on cooking some chicken parmesan and pasta for dinner tonight before we talk some more about how we could ruin what Sofia had ruined."
She smiled as she stared at the ground before she replied, "I can't wait till then. I'll see you later, Victor."
He said to her, "Okay, I'll see you later. I love you, Annabelle."
Her smile grew a bit as she replied, "I love you, too."
Then the call ended.
Her smile fell when Klaus said to her, "Oh, well, would you look at that? After spending three-hundred years mourning over the loss of William, my dear sister has found herself someone else she could love. Isn't that sweet?"
Her veins came onto display as she said to him, "I'm serious, Niklaus. What are you doing here? I doubt you came here to catch up with and speak of my relationship with Victor."
He sighed as he told her, "Right, well, as you know, I've spent almost three-hundred years searching for you after you foiled the plan of having you daggered. I searched every single place I could possibly think of, but you weren't there. So about a week or two ago, I was beginning to lose hope of ever seeing you again, but as fate would have it, I got a call from some bloke saying that he knew exactly where you were and all of the directions I would need to get here."
She shook her head as she said to him, "That's not possible. Victor told me that he tortured and killed all those that planned to turn me in to you."
He replied, "Yes, well, apparently not, since he called me and told me where you were."
After she eyed him, she asked him, "Who told you where I was?"
He was silent for a couple of seconds before he replied, "His name escapes me at the moment. The only thing I can remember was that he kept referring to you as 'Anna' for some reason, which was odd, since you haven't been referred to by a nickname of any kind in over a thousand years."
Then her veins came onto display before she started to shake when she realized who had betrayed her.
It was Jerome Valeska, the only person that had ever called her that name.
As he watched her shaking increase, he said to her, "I was going to come and offer him the ward I said I would give to whoever sold you out, but apparently he'd been for a few days by the time I arrived."
She asked him through grit teeth, "Did he say why he was giving away my location to you?"
He nodded his head as he told her, "He did, actually. He said that, since he knew that the captain of the GCPD wouldn't let him live and terrorize the city once more, he would have had no more use for you and saw no harm in giving away your location. But if it wasn't for the fact that he would die, he would've had you involved in more of his future plans for Gotham. Another thing he mentioned was just how much you hated him and that you constantly threatened to have him killed, ever since he met you."
She told him, "He lied. I only threatened his life and almost killed him when he tried to frame me for the murder of his mother, when it was him that killed her." When Klaus didn't respond, she asked him, "Are you just going to stand around on ceremony, or do as you've wanted to do since I left and dagger me?"
He chuckled as he said to her, "Oh, that's where you're wrong, Annabelle. I have no interest in daggering you."
She scoffed as she said to him, "Don't lie to me, Niklaus. All I've heard from those that told me of your location when I hid from you was you saying just how much you wanted to dagger me for running from you."
He sighed as he told her, "Yes, that was then, but things have changed. I actually want to stick around for a bit and see how you do things and handle any dire situations that might unfold. I am especially interested in meeting this Victor Zsasz I've heard so much about."
Her shaking increased as she said to him, "And let me guess. Valeska told you all about me and Victor, didn't he?"
He nodded his head.
Just like that, Annabelle sped out of the alleyway and threw herself at the first person that started to walk past it.
While she quickly tore into the neck of her first victim of the day, Klaus simply shook his head as he listened to the screams of all of the passersby.
The screams, however, soon enough stopped because not long afterwards, Annabelle tore into their necks as well.
While she did that, the only thing that Klaus couldn't help but wonder was what it was about Victor Zsasz that made Annabelle go ballistic in the way she had.
* * *
Butch was in the midst of yelling at Oswald for his failure to procure the money from the safe and being double-crossed by Edward Nygma, only to stop when he heard the familiar laughter that he heard over a dozen times throughout the past fourteen years.
Once he quickly turned around, he saw Annabelle walking towards him with a grin on her face.
After she let out another laugh, she said to him, "Well, you sure don't look too happy right now."
Butch scoffed as he asked her, "What the hell are you doing here, Annabelle?"
She replied, "Well, right now I'm enjoying the annoyance and anger you're currently feeling towards Oswald but aside from that, not much." Then she turned to Oswald and said to him, "Hello, Oswald."
Oswald tried to respond to her, but could only let out a choking nose, due to the tight grip that Butch had on his neck.
Then she grabbed a nearby bottle of scotch and started to down it, only to stop when Butch grabbed the bottle and ripped it out of her hands before he tossed it at a wall.
While she raised an eyebrow at him, he said to her, "I'm serious, Annabelle. I want to know what the hell it is you're doing here and you're going to tell me."
She slowly tilted her head as she replied, "Oh, am I now?"
Butch nodded his head as he said to her, "You are. Even if it means I go after Zsasz and hurt him, I'll have you tell me what you're doing here."
She replied, "Well, in that case, I'll have to go after Tabitha and rip her throat out, if we're going after the people we love." After she took a step closer to him, she said to him, "And the three of us know just how much I'd love tip her bloody throat out and use her torn off body parts as ornaments for each and every single one of my homes here in Gotham, so I'd use your next words very carefully, if I were you."
Instead of responding, Butch released Oswald and went to grab Annabelle by her neck, only to stop when he felt someone hit him and he felt his back hit a brick wall and the wall started to break from behind him.
It was only when he let out a groan that he heard an unfamiliar voice say to him, "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you, mate. If there's one person that would have even less trouble than Annabelle would have in tearing you apart, it'd be me."
While Butch slowly stood up and rubbed the back of his head, he heard Annabelle say, "I could've handled that on my own, you know."
While Butch walked through the hole and went back into the abandoned building, he heard the unfamiliar voice say with a chuckle, "Oh, I know, but I wanted to have at him. I didn't quite like the way he was talking to you. Besides, you and I both know that Kol would have done a lot worse than just that, if it were him standing here, instead of me."
It was only when he was looking between Annabelle and the dark-blonde haired man that he asked the man, "And who the hell are you?"
Annabelle sighed as she said, "Butch, Oswald, I believe you two remembering me mentioning my elder half-brother Niklaus?" When they nodded their heads, she gestured towards the man as she told them, "This is him."
While Oswald continued to slightly rub his sore neck, he asked as he eyed Klaus, "This is your brother? The one you've been hiding from for almost three-hundred years?"
Annabelle nodded her head as she said to him, "Yeah, that'd be him."
Oswald asked her, "How'd he even find you? I thought all of the people that knew of where you were and were planning on selling you out to him were dead. How'd he find out where you were?"
She sighed as she said to Oswald, "It's funny that you mention that. Apparently sometime before Jerome Valeska had died, the bloody bastard chose to call Niklaus and tell him about my current location, since he apparently knew that he was going to die before he actually did die."
Oswald silently stared down at her with wide eyes for a couple of moments before he asked her, "I-I'm sorry, what? Why would he do that?"
She forced a chuckle as she replied, "This is Jerome Valeska we're talking about, Oswald. This is the same Jerome Valeska that was bloody mental and always had some way to bother me. Who's to say that he actually had a reason for doing it?"
Klaus raised a finger as he said to her, "Well, actually, sister—"
She shook her head as she said to him, "I don't want to hear it. The last thing I want to do after what that bastard has done is mention that bloody lunatic or hear anything more about him."
Just as Klaus was about to say something more to her, her phone started to ring.
She raised a finger at Klaus before she took her phone out of her coat and accepted the incoming call.
However, before she could try and say anything into her phone, she heard a voice say to her, "Annabelle, I was hoping we could talk."
She sighed as she said into her phone, "Well, well, well, if it isn't my least favorite captain of the Gotham City Police Department."
James also sighed before he told her, "Annabelle, this is about Jerome." While Annabelle pinched the bridge of her nose, James told her, "Jerome's followers are outside of the GCPD, apparently for some wake for Jerome that he planned for them before he died. I need to know if you know anything about their plans for Gotham, since their attempt to do this is an obvious distraction from what they're really trying to do."
She scoffed as she asked him, "You're joking, right?" When he didn't respond, she asked him, "What makes you think I'd even know anything about whatever it is they're planning? It's not like I'm with them or have even seen them since Jerome's death."
He replied, "Because from what I saw after your second time of being broken out of Arkham, you and Jerome were pretty close. I need to know if he told you anything about any plans he could've left behind after his death."
She sighed before she said to him, "Gordon, I'm going to say this in a way that I think you'll understand me and while I say this, I want you to be completely silent and not interrupt me in the slightest bit. Can you do that for me?" When she didn't hear a response, she told him, "I hated Jerome. I hated him since the moment you brought me into the precinct for questioning in regard to the murder of his mother three years ago and even after his second death, I still hate him now. Oh, and let's not forget the bit where about a year ago, I spent my time killing many of his followers so that he couldn't have any followers that he could use to harm Victor, until he called me and told me what would happen to Victor if I continued to do just that. So, what could possibly make you think that I'd either go to them, or that they'd come to me and tell me whatever plan they're acting out for the sake of their dead leader?"
James asked her, "Well, if you don't know what they're trying to do, then do you know who would?"
She scoffed as she asked him, "Were you not listening to a word I just said to you? Those bloody imbeciles wouldn't come anywhere near me, especially after all of their fellow followers that I murdered after Jerome had gotten sent back to Arkham." When he didn't respond, she said to him, "Now, if you don't mind, I have to get back to my current problem at the moment."
Then she hung up on him.
Oswald eyed her before he asked her, "What's going on with Jerome's followers?"
She sighed as she told him, "Apparently they're trying to have a wake for Jerome inside of the GCPD, and Gordon is trying— while also failing— to find out who their actual target is." After she let out another sigh, she said, "I swear, if I hear his name mentioned to me one more time, I'm going to—"
Klaus sighed as he lightly patted her back before he said to Oswald and Butch, "Don't mind her. She just doesn't know how to properly handle her anger."
Butch and Oswald simultaneously replied, "Yeah, I know."
Then Oswald looked over at Annabelle before he asked her, "What are you going to do? Are you going to try and help with stopping them?"
She scoffed as she shook her head and said to him, "No, I don't care enough about them to even bother. As long as they don't try and go after Victor, everything will be fine."
Then she turned her back on them and started to walk away, only to stop when Oswald asked her, "Hey, Annabelle, where are you going?"
She told him, "I'm leaving, so I can try and mend my relationship with Victor. I don't much care for the havoc that Jerome's followers could unleash on Gotham. They could burn this damn city down, for all I care."
Before the three of them could say anything more to her, she was gone.
Then Oswald and Butch looked over at Klaus, only to find that he was also gone.
* * *
In the streets of Gotham, all was silent.
There were no deaths occurring in the alleyways, there was no maniacal laughter that belonged to either Jerome or his followers.
There wasn't even the sound of those screaming in terror or horror because of Jonathan Crane spraying them with his fear gas.
The only thing that was heard was the occasional conversations between those that walked past Annabelle, while she walked towards where Victor Zsasz's apartment would be, with Klaus not far behind her.
That was it.
James Gordon wasn't yelling 'GCPD' and Edward Nygma wasn't trying to break into another bank.
It was all silent.
To Annabelle, the streets were too silent for her liking.
During her fourteen years inside of Gotham, there had never been a time where the streets were as silent as they were now.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that Jerome was dead and his followers were apparently having a wake at the GCPD, or the fact that none of Annabelle's temporary allies had been seen since the day Jerome was killed.
No matter the reason, she couldn't help but be cautious.
Aside from the occasional conversations of those that walked past her and Klaus, the only other thing she would hear was the questions Klaus would be asking her about her time in Gotham.
One of the questions was why she chose to remain inside of Gotham for almost twenty years, when it was known that she never stayed in one place for nearly two decades.
Another being how she kept her bloodlust under control and hadn't ever outed her location to Klaus or Mikael during her time there.
She didn't answer either of them.
As a matter of fact, she didn't answer any of his questions until he asked her one more.
One that was about Victor Zsasz, the infamous hitman that she hated when she first met him.
After she clenched her jaw once she heard Klaus say Victor's name, she asked him, "What about him?"
Klaus said to her, "Well, sister, I can't help but wonder what it is about this one that has caused you to remain in this city. From what I heard, you were quite adamant on leaving this city and killing Mikael. Why haven't you left already?"
She replied, "I did leave. Three years ago, I left at the same time as a dead friend of mine. I was out of this city for a month, until Tabitha Galavan had come for me when I was in Mystic Falls and captured me and brought me back here."
Klaus asked her, "Then why didn't you just leave again? You could've just left and not had to deal with this Jerome bloke I've heard so much about. You could've killed the lot of them and went off to kill Mikael."
She told him, "Because believe it or not, sometime before I left Gotham, I became aware of the fact that I actually cared about Victor and Tabitha and her brother were holding Victor's life over my head. If I tried to leave or kill either of them, they would've had him killed. I couldn't let that happen, so I stayed. After Theo's death, I would have killed him and left but while he was in Blackgate before his first death, Tabitha sent some of their men after Victor and tried to have him killed. The moment I returned after beating Theo with a bat and breaking nearly all of his bones, I made a vow that I wouldn't leave Gotham until Tabitha Galavan was dead, that way I wouldn't have to worry about her ever trying to have him killed ever again. Victor and I had gotten together. Well, not right away, anyways. I kissed him, then he joined me, while I went about killing any humans I saw and during that six month period where the entire city was searching for Fish Mooney and Hugo Strange's other experiments, Victor and I had actually gotten together. We became a couple."
Klaus asked her, "So why not just kill her, then? Once she's dead, you can leave Gotham and get back to hunting down Mikael."
She sighed before she told him, "Because she's not mine to kill. Despite the fact that she nearly had killed Victor three years ago, she killed Oswald's mother and I feel that it's only right for him to have her killed and not the other way around."
Klaus also sighed before he said to her, "Well, you certainly have changed since I last saw you, Annabelle. Over two-hundred years ago, you wouldn't have hesitated before killing her. You would've done it without so much as a second thought."
She replied, "Yes, well, you have my dead friend to thank for that. It was him who helped me with controlling my bloodlust and working on me bettering myself. If it wasn't for him, I'd still be the same person I was when I first came to Gotham."
He tilted his head as he asked her, "Do you mean Carmine Falcone?"
Annabelle's hands clenched into fists as she clenched her jaw before she nodded her head and said to him, "Yes. Him. I have many things that I'd like to thank him for but since his own daughter had him killed shortly before my forced return to Arkham, it's not very likely to happen."
Klaus silently eyed her and watched as her body slowly started to lose some tension before he asked her, "How many humans have you even grown fond of during your time here, anyways?"
She replied, "Not many. There's been a few. That's all." When she turned to look at him and saw that he had an eyebrow raised at her, she told him, "I happen to care about five humans. There I worked with at one point or another during my past four years, and the other two were ones I helped with protecting or helped aid in a rescue mission. There were seven, but one was killed before I was forced to return to Arkham and the other was killed by Tabitha two years ago. It doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is that I need to ensure that the same doesn't happen to Victor. I might care about the others, but they're nothing compared to Victor. He's my top priority and I'd kill anyone, if it meant he was safe."
In turn, Klaus said, "Hmm. And what about that Jerome Valeska bloke I've heard a lot about?"
She shrugged as she replied, "What's there to tell? I'd hated him since I met him three years ago and I still hate him now, even if he is dead for a second time. Besides, from what you said, he betrayed me and told you about where I've been hiding from you. Why would I want to talk about him?" When Klaus opened his mouth to respond, she said to him, "Now hurry up. We're almost at Victor's apartment."
Klaus merely raised his eyebrows and silently watched, while Annabelle quickened her pace and didn't pay him another glance.
It was evident to him that Annabelle had changed a lot more than he would have thought possible— which was a lot for her, since she used to loathe humans and wanted nothing more than to tear into all of their necks.
* * *
The moment Annabelle arrived at Victor's apartment, all was quiet.
Too quiet.
Instead of hearing Victor's usual greeting when she came to his apartment, she heard nothing but silence.
After she eyed his splintered front door, she slowly walked into his home and ignored Klaus asking her what the problem was, while she took in the mess of Victor's apartment.
Some chairs and tables were overturned, glass was everywhere, vases were broken, and not to mention the fact that there was blood scattered across the floor.
She wouldn't have been worried and believed he got away, if it wasn't for the fact that his guns and other weapons he kept on himself at all times were scattered throughout his apartment.
To her, it looked as if Victor was fighting against whoever had entered his apartment, so she couldn't help but wonder who it was that had chosen to go into his apartment and attack him.
After eyeing her surroundings, she walked into his bedroom and saw Victor's phone flipped open and lying in the middle of the room with something scrawled on the screen of it.
After picking it up and looking at the screen for his phone, she saw half of her phone number on it, which made her realize that he was trying to call her.
Whether he was trying to call her in an attempt to have her come to his apartment earlier than discussed or to help him with whoever he was fighting against, she was unsure.
What she was sure of, though, was that for the sake of whoever had attacked him, he'd better be alive.
If he wasn't, then she would find the person responsible for it and kill all those that they held dear before killing them herself.
Just as she started to think about where Victor could have been taken to, Victor's phone started to ring.
After she eyed the phone for a couple of moments, she accepted the call and said into it, "I swear whoever this is, you better not have had Victor killed because if you had, I'll make you regret the day you chose to come against me like this."
Instead of hearing the voices of either Barbara Kean or Tabitha Galavan— like she would have expected to hear— she heard the voice of Jerome Valeska say one word.
His name for her.
Anna.
After she frowned to herself, she said, "Jerome? I thought you were dead."
Jerome chuckled as he asked her, "Oh, Anna, did you really think that I would stay dead like that? I mean, I've been brought back to life before. What's to stop it from happening again?"
She retorted, "And what's to stop me from finding you and tearing you into tiny, little pieces for what you've done?"
Jerome replied, "Well, for one, I have Zsaszy, who I hear you're trying to fix your relationship with, even though you hated him when we were still in Arkham. I think it would be a damn shame if something happened to Zsaszy before you got the chance to fix your ruined relationship, don't you?"
She sighed before she asked him, "What do you want, Jerome? I did as you asked after we broke out of Arkham. What more do you want from me?"
He chuckled as he told her, "Well, just for old time's sake, I want you to meet me at where I was buried. Jeremiah and Brucie dear are supposed to be there. Only after you meet me and don't try and kill me again— or any of my followers— will I give Zsaszy back to you unharmed."
She scoffed as she said to him, "Yeah, right. I've known you for three years now, Jerome. You always have something else in mind, even after your demands are met. What do you really want from me?"
He chuckled as he said to her, "Scout's honor, Anna. I have no ulterior motive. I just want to see you one last time, that's all."
She was silent for a couple of moments before she said to him, "Just know that if I find out that you're lying, I won't hesitate to rip out the throats of you and all of your followers."
Before he could say anything more to her, she ended the call and sped out of Victor's apartment, which got Klaus to quickly go after her.
* * *
Similarly to how he fought against the followers' grips when they first took him from his apartment, Victor Zsasz fought just as much— maybe even harder— as he watched Jeremiah wipe the rest of his face with his handkerchief.
After Jeremiah finished wiping his face, he said as he turned to look at the young billionaire, "Look Bruce... Like everything Jerome set his mind to, his insanity gas failed. Other than some mild cosmetic effects, he might as well have sprayed me with water." Then he said to them all, "You all need to see Jerome for the utter dud that he was. So, I donned the mask of madness to show you how feeble that is compared to actual greatness. Behold, the face of true sanity. But looks aren't everything."
While Victor only sighed in response, Jeremiah pulled a book out of his coat as he said, "I have a compendium of Jerome's obsessions and goals. I will outdo every one of them. Jerome wanted to turn Gotham into a madhouse. But to truly build something, you must first tear down what is already there."
After Victor let out another sigh, he looked around at the other followers and started to wonder if he could fight his way out of this mess without being killed in the process, only to stop when he saw Annabelle Mikaelson quickly disappearing and reappearing to get closer and closer to where he was standing.
It was only when she saw him looking at her that she brought a finger up to her mouth before she disappeared once more.
While he did just as she silently urged him to do and turned to look back at Jeremiah, Bruce said to him, "Jeremiah, the gas worked. Think about it. You want to carry out Jerome's crazy plans sanely? What could be madder than that?"
Before he opened Jerome's book, Jeremiah replied, "'Madder'? Let's see. Ah, here, for example. Jerome wanted to slather you in honey and have you eaten alive by corpse beetles. Now that's mad." Then he pointed over at Victor as he said, "As for Victor Zsasz, however— or as Jerome liked to call him, 'Zsaszy'— he was orchestrating a whole plan of how to use Victor and hold him hostage to make sure that Annabelle Mikaelson would help him with any future plans of his. He even planned to resort to torturing him, or killing him, if it meant that Annabelle didn't go against his plans. I personally don't see the point in having him here at all."
It was then that Annabelle appeared from behind Jeremiah and wrapped an arm around his neck as she asked him, "If that's the case, then why not release him and let Victor and I go on our merry way?"
Jeremiah replied, "I don't want to kill him, but if holding his life over your head keeps you from killing me, then I'll do just that if it comes to it."
Annabelle silently eyed him and didn't bother to move away from him, until Jeremiah pointed his gun over at Victor and cocked it once more.
She quickly released him and started to head over towards Victor, only to stop when she heard a gunshot and fell onto her knees after she felt the familiar burning sensation that came with vervain.
After she was also grabbed by a couple of the followers, Jeremiah said to her, "You know, Annabelle, it's a good thing you came when you did. I was just talking about Jerome's goals and obsessions. I mentioned his plan for Bruce, the plan he had for Victor Zsasz, and now I'm going to move onto the plans he had for you, the one person he repeatedly bothered from the moment you were brought back here to Gotham three years ago. He wrote about you quite a bit in here." As he flipped through the pages of the book, he said to her, "As a matter of fact, he wrote more plans involving you than anyone else."
After he glanced over at her, he said to her, "He had reason to believe that you weren't angry with Victor anymore, so he planned on secretly taking him away and seeing how you'd react once you found out about his disappearance. If you still cared about Victor and were no longer angry with him, Jerome would've kept him locked away and tortured him on a daily basis. If you, however, were still angry with Victor, he'd leave it up to you. Either he would kill Victor Zsasz himself, or you would do it."
Annabelle scoffed as she asked him, "Why the bloody hell would he have cared about whether or not I was still angry with Victor? I hated Jerome. Even before his death, he gave away my location to my brother. Why would he care about who I was angry with?"
Jeremiah slightly tilted his head as he replied, "Now, why would he do that? He might have enjoyed annoying you and seeing you get so angry with him, but he saw no point in telling Klaus where you were. He needed you by his side, doing anything he wanted, and the only way he could do that was by keeping you hidden from Klaus. He had no interest in giving away your presence here in Gotham."
Annabelle frowned before she looked up at Jeremiah as she said to him, "I don't understand. If not him, then who did it? Was it Basil Karlo, the same person that helped with getting me sent back to Arkham?"
Jeremiah chuckled before he cleared his throat and said to her, "Oh, Anna, you really aren't the brightest vampire out there, are you?"
Annabelle's frown deepened as she said to him, "I don't understand. Why would you want to give away my location to my brother? I haven't even done anything to you."
Jeremiah told her, "Because, Annabelle, my brother had some sort of obsession with you and wanted you by his side, no matter what he had to do. What better way to rid this city of this constant obsession he had with you than by giving your brother a call and telling him where you've been hiding from him for the past fourteen years?"
Annabelle scoffed as she said to him, "That's not it. Jerome cared about no one but himself. Whether it was in a morbid way or whatever other way he could have possibly had, he never would have had a sick care for me as you say he had."
In turn, Jeremiah said, "Hmm. Did you know that he actually did plan on getting Victor killed anyways, even after the deal you two made? You know, the one where he said he would leave Victor alone if you stopped killing his followers and informants for his followers? He would have done it too, but there was just something about you that got you to keep him from doing it. No matter if it was your ability to kill someone without blinking or maybe your constant anger with him didn't matter. Either way, he still stopped and never went through it. Not even he knew the reason for it."
Annabelle simply shook her head before she glanced over at Victor, who was now frowning to himself.
After he glanced at the murderous couple, Bruce said to Jeremiah, "If you're going to kill me, just kill me, but leave them out of it."
Jeremiah chuckled and looked over at Bruce as he said, "That's the difference between me and Jerome, Bruce. He would make himself some entertainment out of it, make it into some show before doing it. Me, if I wanna kill you, I'll just do it. I'll shoot you in the head." After he took out his gun and pointed it at Bruce, he said, "Simply and sanely."
Bruce said to Jeremiah, "Jeremiah..."
As he lowered his gun, Jeremiah told him, "But I don't want to kill you."
It was that Jerome's followers started to boo him, which got him to ask them, "Are you gonna listen or are you gonna behave like children?" When he only received silence in response, he turned to look back at Bruce and told him, "See, I don't want to kill you because I wanna show you how much I've changed things. Because I could not have done any of this without your help."
Bruce's eyebrows furrowed as he said, "My help?"
After she was moved towards the back and closer to where Victor was being held, Annabelle tried to grab Victor's hand with her own, while Jeremiah said to Bruce with a nod of his head, "I feel very indebted to you, Bruce. See, those generators that we built with your money, they work even better as bombs."
It was then that an explosion was heard, which got Bruce to quickly look over in the direction of the sound, while Annabelle managed to grab Victor's hand and lightly squeezed it with her own.
Victor looked over at Annabelle and saw just how worried she was for him before he also squeezed her hand.
Then Jeremiah slightly raised Jeremiah's book and said to them, "That's one down. Jim Gordon is dead."
While the followers started to cheer about the GCPD captain's death, Bruce yelled as he tried to run towards Jeremiah, "No! No!"
Jeremiah replied, "Yes, Bruce. Sorry, but progress requires sacrifice."
Bruce said to him, "I'm going to stop you."
Jeremiah replied, "I really hope you don't try. I would hate to have to kill you." As he slowly walked towards Bruce, he said, "In fact, I can honestly say... You are my very best friend."
Then he hit Bruce on the head, which got the followers to cheer before they threw Bruce into Jerome's grave.
It was only when they were about to do the same to Victor that the followers that were holding Annabelle and Victor were suddenly killed by mere snaps of their necks before Jeremiah and the other followers looked at the newcomer.
While the followers looked confused and Jeremiah tilted his head, Annabelle sighed to herself when she heard a voice say from behind her, "Sorry about that. I just needed to let off a little steam."
Before any of them could say anything as a response to Klaus's actions, Victor and Annabelle were gone.
* * *
During Klaus Mikaelson's one-thousand and one years as a vampire, there were many things that annoyed him.
Whether it was one of his siblings doing something that he didn't like, or some potential enemy trying to pull one over on him, it didn't matter.
No matter who the person was, he would find a way to make them regret ever choosing to piss him off or annoy him in some way.
But for the first time in eighty-eight years, he couldn't bring himself to do that to his little sister.
Despite how much her constant worrying and doting over Victor Zsasz had annoyed him ever since he saved them both from Jeremiah Valeska, he just couldn't bring himself to do it.
For the first time in two-hundred and eighty-four years, he saw her be happy once more.
As a matter of fact, seeing her with Victor Zsasz was the happiest he ever saw her be, despite the apparent problem they faced at the hands of Sofia Falcone.
She might not be aware of it now, but Klaus could see that her face practically lit up every time she saw the infamous hitman, or even when she talked to him.
He never saw her be so happy with someone like she was with Victor Zsasz, and he didn't want to be the one to take it from her.
Even after seeing her repeatedly check the same spots for any injuries and hearing her ask Victor for about a million times now if he was okay, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
There was just something about seeing his damaged and incessantly angry sister being happy for once— ever since the death of William and her own near-death experience by the hands of their father— that kept him from doing just that.
He knew he should do something to teach her a lesson about what would happen the next time she chose to run off from her own siblings, but after hearing about all of the things she did with Victor Zsasz for the past fourteen years— which involved the several times in which the hitman had saved his sister— he just couldn't do it.
After watching Annabelle do the same exact things she was doing for the past ten minutes, he let out a sigh and looked away from them.
While he eyed the hideout they were currently inside of, he heard Victor chuckle as he said, "Annabelle, I've already told you that I'm fine. I'm not hurt." When she ignored him and continued to look him over for any more injuries, he said to her, "Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but you did heal me with your blood the moment we got here. It's not like you'll be finding any more injuries, Annabelle."
Annabelle sighed as she replied, "Yes, I know, but it doesn't stop me from worrying about you, Victor. They could have injected you with something, for all I know." When Victor only chuckled in response, Annabelle's eyebrows furrowed as she asked him, "What? What's so funny?"
Just as Victor was about to respond to her words, he suddenly stopped when she said to him, "Victor, I swear, if you repeat one of your past phrases to me, I will hit you."
Then Victor started to laugh, which got Annabelle to narrow her eyes at him as she said to him, "It's not funny."
Victor replied, "Of course it's not."
Annabelle frowned before she asked him, "Why does it feel like you're mocking me right now?"
Victor opened his mouth to respond, only to stop when he heard Klaus say, "Bloody hell. Are you two always like this whenever you're by yourselves?"
Annabelle turned to each other and shared a look before they both looked back at Klaus.
Klaus silently looked between them and started to wonder what they were going to say before he started to groan and let out a sigh when they simultaneously replied, "No, of course not. We're like this anywhere we go. Why do you ask?"
Klaus let out another sigh as he said, "I don't know what's worse. The fact that you both said the exact same thing at the same time, or the fact that you two apparently act quite similarly to one another."
Annabelle looked over at Victor with furrowed eyebrows as she asked him, "Do we really do that?"
Victor shrugged as he said, "I don't know. I'm mostly spending my time with you, or going out and taking care of some people that I have unfinished business with. I don't really pay attention to anything other than that."
Annabelle opened her mouth to respond, only to stop when her phone started to ring from inside of her coat.
Without even looking to see who was calling her, she declined the call.
After she did that, she started to pace and began wondering if she and Victor really did act similarly to one another.
While she did that, Klaus simply crossed his arms over his chest and Victor started to hum to himself as he checked his gun to see if they were all filled with ammo.