NOVA SCOTIA
"I hate sand." Buffy declared at the top of her lungs as Rebekah helped her out of the boat. The second her fabulous boots hit the wet sand, she wanted to burst into tears.
She may be a California girl at heart, but this stupid trip to possibly get The Cure had officially tainted sand for her.
There was a chance that she may never enjoy her beach days again.
She hated everything right now!
Grabbing her backpack out of the boat, which Stefan immediately took off her Buffy sighed. Stefan and Rebekah were playing bodyguards right now and acting like she was about to go into labor any second, however, all thoughts of the way were jumping on eggshells around her vanished as she saw the damage to her boots.
The sand was ruining them!
These shoes were not meant for sand!
She was going to kill Shane for not mentioning that little detail before she got on the boat.
"$300 boots people!"
Her stomach turned, causing her to groan swaying slightly. It was safe to say a rocky boat ride against rough terrain mixed with being 6 months pregnant with a supernatural baby was not a great combination.
Very bad combination.
"B?" Rebekah panicked, quickly rushing to her side just as Buffy kneeled over. Realizing what was about to happen, Rebekah quickly caught the brown paper bag as Stefan yanked it out of her bag and held it up for Buffy, rubbing her back as a mixture of nausea and sea sickness made her lose her lunch.
It was safe to say Rebekah and Stefan had come up with a game plan to help keep Buffy going, during this trip.
Neither one of them wanted to take any risks given that they still didn't trust Shane's whole declaration about the baby being the key to leading them to The Cure. Shane was sketchy and if so much as tried anything, they were killing him. Plus, there was also the fact that Buffy's powers were all over the place and given how high-risk her pregnancy was the fact that she hadn't already gone into early labor was a miracle.
Her father had literally been brutally murdered and delivered to her like a present from Santa, she had completely cut Elena out of her life, the father of her unborn child was trapped in her old house; most people in town planning to shove the cure down his throat and they had now dragged her to an island not 12 hours later.
That was enough stress to crack everyone and Buffy was hanging on by a thread.
What was more concerning though, was the fact that not once had she mentioned her father's death when she had shown up with Rebekah at the docks.
The only thing she had done was text Liz asking her to handle the coffin details then she had completely refused to further acknowledge any of it.
She had climbed onto the boat without another word.
As Buffy continued to throw up, Damon groaned in disgust before glaring over at Shane, just waiting for any tiny excuse to rip his damn head off "She wouldn't be throwing up if someone had had hidden the cure in Hawaii. Seriously, Buff a mint come on."
Rebekah shot him a vicious glare which had him quickly raising his hands in surrender "Geez barbie, just making a point."
Rolling her eyes, Rebekah just continued to rub Buffy's back as the shaking finally halted and she groaned in exhaustion "Come on B, we need to get some fluids in you." She declared soothingly as she led Buffy over to a small wooden log so she could have a second to compose herself.
If she tried to move around too fast with how little food she had been able to keep down, she was going to pass out.
Crouching down in front of her, Rebekah glanced over at Bonnie who quickly tossed her over the green smoothie-like potion that would be needed.
The second Rebekah pulled off the lid Shane tried to interject "Not all of it." He tried to step forward only for Rebekah to appear in his face, her eyes flashing dangerously as she resisted the urge to tear open his throat.
Gulping in utter terror Shane quickly stepped back "She can still have it. But the child is a supernatural beacon of power, the less Buffy drinks, the easier it will be to tap into the baby's magic to help guide us."
"Buffy love, drink up." Rebekah stated blandly, her eyes still glued to Shane's as a smug smile slowly started to form on her lips "Make sure to drink every last drop."
With that, Rebekah wrapped her hand around Shane's throat yanking him up "Let me make myself clear, you are here to get us to The Cure. You may claim that my darling niece and friend are the key, but I am not taking any risks with their safety. Buffy needs the potion so that she can survive, I am not putting her life at risk because you claim it will be easier. So I'd suggest you work a little harder while you still have air in your lungs."
With that, Rebekah flipped her hair over her shoulder and walked back over to Buffy who looked ready to combust into giggles "I kind of love you right now."
Rebekah just grinned brightly as she moved to sit next to Buffy "As you should. I am fabulous."
"You have a massive ego."
"It is a family trait." She teased before sighing in concern as she spotted the way Buffy's face turned a light green shade at the taste of the potion. The one thing that was currently keeping the baby from using too much magic and killing her from the inside out.
The mention of family caused Buffy to inhale sharply, her hand rubbing her stomach softly. Given that Klaus had barely been able to think about anything other than vengeance last night and Rebekah had been a heartbroken mess...she had ended up being the one to break the news to Elijah.
Given all of the objects she heard shatter into a million pieces, it was safe to say that finding out his youngest brother was dead had not gone down well.
There was also the Mary of it all.
Mary and Kol had always been the closest, Kol had been her favorite and she still didn't know the truth. Given she was still trapped in her trance, unable to break her concentration without risking the ancestors finding out she was hiding in their plane...she still had no idea that her brother had been murdered.
And she wouldn't know until the baby was born.
Elijah had warned her the reaction was going to go down one of two ways.
Either, Mary would disappear, hiding away in her own grief, completely cutting off contact for a few decades...or she was going to turn Mystic Falls into nothing but a crater like the Grand Canyon.
Honestly, that sounded like an improvement in Buffy's opinion.
Mystic Falls sucked and being a crater would just reflect how much it felt like a black pit of pain and death.
God, Buffy could not wait to get out of Mystic Falls.
"I handled Elijah, so you don't need to worry about that. Family and all."
Rebekah smiled sadly, water brimming her eyes as she entangled her hand with Buffy's "Thank you." She whispered gratefully. There had been no way that she would have been able to break the news about Kol's death to Elijah last night, she had barely been able to function. She had pretty much cried herself to sleep in Buffy's room only to wake up and panic when Buffy hadn't been anywhere in sight.
She had rushed through the town only to not only find Buffy at The Gilbert house, fast asleep with her head resting on Klaus's shoulder but she had finally been able to see the state her brother had been left in.
Bringing his body back to the mansion had left her once again, crying in Buffy's arms once Klaus had finally woken her up and told her to go home with Rebekah.
Swallowing the last of her potion, Buffy groaned again, smiling gratefully as Stefan quickly tossed her some Gatorade "Not the healthiest but it's blueberry, will wash the taste away."
Her favorite flavor.
"You're like a Gatorade vending machine." She teased glancing up at her ex-boyfriend, her mind drifting back to all of the times when he would surprise her after a long night of patrol with chocolate or depending on her mood curly fries.
Rolling his eyes, Stefan tried not to smile, but no matter how much he bit the inside of his cheek he couldn't help it. Reaching into his jacket pocket he tossed her a protein bar before moving to sit beside her as she happily started digging into the snack.
Rebekah quirked an eyebrow teasingly at Stefan who just rolled his eyes causing her to chuckle at the way he quickly looked away from her. It was adorable that he was trying to pretend that he wasn't still smitten with Buffy. It was beyond obvious to everyone. You would literally have to be blind not to notice it.
Clearly, this pregnancy had made Buffy blind given she had not noticed the looks one little bit.
All of the fun and teasing was brought to an abrupt halt as Rebekah spotted a familiar face approaching them, her brown eyes filled with concern as she focused on Buffy.
The second Elena tried to step closer, Rebekah blocked her path "Only one auntie needed, and you don't qualify anymore." She taunted purposely blocking Elena's view of Buffy.
Buffy cutting Elena out of her life was the best piece of news Rebekah had heard all year, and she was determined not to let Elena try and wiggle her way back in. In her mind, Elena was like a tumor, slowly eating away at Buffy's sense of sanity and ripping out any light.
Buffy was about to be a mother; that needed to be her focus. Not sacrificing her own happiness for Elena Gilbert which the banshee seemed not to be able to actually comprehend.
As Rebekah and Elena continued with their little stare-off, Buffy glanced at Stefan with a bored expression "Why do I feel like a pregnant yoyo right now?"
"Because you are." He teased nudging her shoulder slightly causing her to snort and punch his arm lightly.
Stefan grinned back at her before finally turning to the two women who had yet to stop glaring hatefully at each other. At this rate, Elena was going to try and blow Rebekah's eardrums off and Rebekah was going to rip her head off.
They looked ready to start going full girl-fight, with hair pulling, scratching like cats, the whole shebang.
"It's not helping." Stefan pipped up drawing Rebekah's attention slightly as he started tying knots into the ropes so they could pin the boats to the shore.
"You can hold a brown paper bag to Buffy's mouth while you two make googly eyes at each other all on your own." Rebekah quipped.
Buffy and Stefan rolled their eyes, though they did avoid eye contact for a second.
Sighing, Buffy took one last bite of her protein bar before focusing on her stomach, it was still so weird actually seeing the way her stomach moved when the baby kicked. It made it look like she had an alien inside of her that was trying to force its way out "She's kicking again Bex."
Given that Rebekah had yet to feel the baby kick, that certaintly got her attention. In a blink of an eye, she had lost all interest in her girl-power display with Elena and was by Buffy's side pressing a hand to her stomach, her smile growing brighter with every little kick she felt.
Her niece was definitely going to be a fighter, no doubt about it.
"You and Nik settled on a name yet?"
"Yep." Buffy admitted wincing slightly as she felt a sharp kick to her bladder "First and middle names all selected."
Elena froze at that announcement, her big eyes focusing on Buffy who had yet to even glance in her direction the entire trip.
How did she not know that the baby finally had a name?
When did Buffy decide on a name?
"You picked a name?"
Flinching slightly at the sound of Elena's voice, Buffy finally acknowledged her existence simply nodding sharply "Yes." She answered, not willing to elaborate.
Given Elena's more than happy jump to the murder train when it came to the name Mikaelson, she had no intention of letting Elena near her daughter, let alone giving her any piece of information.
Rebekah smirked smugly at the defeated look on Elena's face, immensely enjoying the doppelganger's misery. Honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if Elena was just hanging around waiting for Buffy to finally crack and give her another chance at sisterhood, to do what she had done in the past and hide her own feelings to make Elena feel better.
That wouldn't be happening this time around.
Plus, Buffy had just lost her father, and no one was allowed to guilt trip her into forgiving Elena.
No one.
Rebekah was going to make sure no one dared to even try.
Tearing his eyes away from where Buffy's stomach was moving around, little feet pressing against the inside of her stomach, Stefan focused over on Rebekah. While she had every right to be furious, and more than every right to want Elena dead, now was not the time for the two of them to be acting passively aggressive with their hatred of each other. They hated each other, everyone knew it but their focus had to be on ensuring that Shane didn't rush off to try and wake Silas and end the world.
They could kill each other later.
"Given Elena the evil eye is not helping."
Rebekah just rolled her eyes at his statement "She killed my brother, turned her own brother into a catatonic mess..." Rebekah didn't actually blame Jeremy, plus she had seen the utter devastation on his face, even this morning when she had seen him at the docks, he had looked like a complete and utter mess. His own sister had manipulated him and tricked him into killing someone.
While yes, she couldn't see herself actually wanting to be around Jeremy, given it had still been his hand that delivered the final blow when it came down to it...Elena was the one that had organized all of the pieces.
Focusing on Buffy, she squeezed the blonde's shoulders softly while continuing to glare at Elena "Locked up the father of your baby, and I wouldn't have put it past her to dagger me again. She is lucky all she is getting is the evil eye. Though I do quite enjoy looking at her broken nose. It's an improvement."
Elena literally had a crooked nose that had tape all over it, as well as a massive purple-black eye courtesy of Buffy.
Buffy giggled without meaning to.
As Elena turned to glare at her, Buffy glared right back "I will give you another black eye if you keep looking at me with that stick up your butt." She warned before bringing her water to her lips. She didn't give a shit if Elena was upset right and she sure as hell didn't care if Rebekah was insulting her.
Every insult was earned and she in no way was going to jump to Elena's defense.
People always jumping to defend her is why she had become this person. Someone who couldn't see outside of her own bubble and Buffy had no intention of being around this version of Elena.
Plus, her father had just been murdered!
She was almost 7 months pregnant, with a very high chance of dying if even one thing went wrong with the delivery and she was being used as a magical compass. She literally hadn't been able to mourn her own father yet, nor start planning his funeral because she was needed here.
Elena had no reason to be acting like she was the one who should be upset. Elena had murdered a whole bunch of people, broken Jeremy, and been an absolute blind bitch.
Buffy didn't have the time or the patience for her attitude.
She had enough on her plate, more important things than Elena's little attitude shift.
Elena wasn't her problem anymore.
"Okay, someone help me up!" This baby bump was seriously weighing on her back, with every day that passed she dreaded sitting down because getting back up became a damn mission.
Given that Rebekah was now giddily smirking at Elena who looked ready to blow a gasket given that Buffy wasn't coming to her defense, Stefan wrapped an arm around Buffy's arm, carefully helping her up onto her feet.
Once she was sure she wasn't going to puke, Buffy made her way over to Damon but not without glancing back at the two girls who were still glaring at each other "Stef?"
"Keep them apart? On it."
Thank god for Stefan Salvatore.
Shooting him a grateful smile, she waddled over to Damon who snorted as he spotted the way she was walking "You're waddling."
She slapped his shoulder "I do not waddle."
"Waddle." He sang before throwing an arm around her shoulder, the pair of them walking along the beach closer to where Shane, Bonnie, and a still very quiet Jeremy were planning the next move so they could get this show on the road.
As the pair walked in silence, Damon glanced over his shoulder meeting the concerned gaze of his brother. The truth was, they were both worried about Buffy. Given all of the trauma of the past 12 hours, her denial state was concerning. Her father had been murdered and had his body horridly disfigured making him appear like the leftovers of a werewolf attack then dumped at her feet like a damn birthday present. Plus, in a way after last night, her relationship with Elena was pretty much dead.
So she wasn't just mourning her dead father, she was mourning her sister.
It was a lot.
She was going to crack.
If one more bad thing happened, she was going to snap, he could feel it in his bones. Buffy was clutching onto her last shred of sanity by a very thin piece of string for her daughter but one more crushing blow to her chest and she would crumble.
Honestly, he was surprised she hadn't turned her emotions off yet given everything.
If she could even turn them off.
The Demon Hybrid guidebook didn't exactly give them any details given that everything when it came to Buffy's transition had been more trial and error learning than anything.
"So..."
"If you mention my father I am tossing you in the ocean."
Damon's jaw clamped shut, his teeth clashing together almost painfully. He knew not to mess with the threat of her pushing him into the ocean. She had already done it once today and his clothes were still slightly damp so he had no desire to go for another swim "Got it Bubbles." He assured her before rolling his eyes as she spotted Elena and Rebekah still glaring at each other from the corner of his eyes.
Girls were so petty.
It was easier to punch each other and just move on.
"Looks like those two forgot their team-building exercises."
Understatement of the century.
Letting out an exhausted sigh, Buffy just shrugged "Elena should be grateful that she still has a spine right now." The fact that Rebekah hadn't killed her was a miracle, truthfully, Buffy wouldn't have had the strength to look at the person who had murdered her brother just 12 hours ago and not tear them to shreds "She murdered Rebekah's brother. They are gonna hate each other. But you can hate someone and still work with them."
Damon chuckled "Ah, fond memories of our early days."
Buffy shook her head in amusement, he was not wrong there. Even when she had hated him there was no doubt that when she and Damon had the same goal, they worked very well together "Man punching you in the face was so much more fun back then. You always got that surprise Pikachu face when you clicked I was kicking your ass." She hummed the fond memories of all of the times she had broken Damon's nose rifling through her brain.
However, as her attention fell on Shane, the smile vanished.
God, this guy was a buzzkill.
"I just want this trip over. This is a sucky-ass vacation."
"Vegas next time?" He offered causing her to laugh. While they would have to wait until after she had this kid, he totally planned to kidnap her for a few days so they could catch up on their drunk nights. It had been way too long since they had gotten hammered together and it was starting to feel real depressing drinking alone.
Stefan was no fun sometimes and wouldn't day drink with him unless he was plotting all the ways he wanted Klaus to die or mopping about Buffy.
"You're tolerance is already pitiful so we gotta build it back up."
He would compel a damn babysitter for her if he had to, given that to this day, Buffy had never been able to stomach actually compelling someone.
She literally freaked out every time she even moved to try out.
But, given how many times her mind had been messed with, it was understandable that she was resistant to actually being in complete control of someone else's mind.
Buffy let out a loud laugh, the first real laugh since her father's body had shown up "You're on." She promised, bumping his fist with her own before sighing as she spotted the look on his face.
It was his worried face.
She hated it when he looked at her like that.
"Damon-"
"12 hours Bubbles." He replied strongly as he tightened his grip around her shoulders "I get you guys weren't talking. And trust me, I know all about hating your dad and then finding out their dead. It's complicated and annoying."
He and Giuseppe hadn't exactly had the best relationship, honestly, still to do this day, Damon was surprised it took so long for his father to kill him.
"So come on-"
"I don't want to talk about Hank Damon!" Buffy finally snapped cueing everyone to glance in her direction for a second only to quickly look away as she narrowed her eyes.
Once no one was staring at her like the pitiful little girl who had just lost her father, Buffy clenched her eyes shut and swallowed the conflicting emotions.
How she felt about her father's murder was complicated and she didn't really understand how to process it yet. The man had broken her heart time and time again, yet the second she had seen his blood-soaked torn apart corpse, she had wanted nothing more than to tear Caleb apart as her heart cracked into a billion pieces.
Yet, she had been angry too.
Because now, she couldn't be angry at her father, she couldn't be questioning that his motives to see her were sketchy at best because he was dead!
It sucked!
"My dad is dead Damon." She breathed, forcing her voice to remain steady, though her hands betrayed her as they started shaking at her sides, her fingers twitching as the idea of cutting Caleb in half rushed through her brain.
She wanted Caleb to suffer, she wanted him scared like her father probably was before she ended his miserable existence "But I don't have time for it."
She didn't have time to mourn, hell she didn't even have time to plan the funeral!
Rudy had offered to do it because he knew how stressed out she already was.
"I don't have time to be sad. I have The Cure to worry about, I have to worry about Silas and keeping Shane away from him so he doesn't start to apocalypse and I have to worry about possibly dying in childbirth in less than three months and never getting to see my daughter grow up! I don't have time!"
Feeling tears starting to brim her eyes, tears that were desperately trying to force themselves out, Buffy shut them down.
She didn't have time to cry, she could cry another time.
She could mourn later.
There would be no later.
There would always be another problem.
Spotting her about to complete blow Damon quickly placed both hands on her shoulders, squeezing them softly "Hey, it's okay. Just breathe-"
"There is too much to do-" She whispered.
Damon didn't let her finish "Hey, you are not gonna die!" He still didn't buy the apocalypse thing but clearly now was not the time to start that fight again "So just focus on creepy Shane for now. No dying for you. If you die, I am going to track your ass down in heaven and drag you back."
Buffy snorted "Yeah, like you could get into heaven."
Damon just dramatically placed a hand to his chest stepping back like he had been physically struck cueing her to roll her eyes, he was such a drama queen "You have no heart woman."
"Oh bite me."
"If you offering-"
She punched his arm.
Ruffling her hair, Damon groaned as he spotted Shane closely followed by Bonnie and Jeremy headed right for them. It was time to get moving and right now, maybe Buffy could use the distraction.
Focus on one problem at a time.
If he tried to push her...she would explode.
"Another time then looks like we're ready to move anyway."
Focusing her attention on Shane, Buffy clenched her jaw tightly and before he could try and move past her she roughly grabbed his arm "What's my point in being here?" Despite the fact he had claimed she was basically a magical compass right now, she still didn't buy it.
She was searching for any cracks in his story.
Shane let out an exasperated sigh "I have explained-"
"Explain it again." She snarled "Pregnancy brain and all. I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm cranky carrying around a little creature. So explain again."
When he kept quiet, she tightened her grip on his arm. This man had poisoned her, he had manipulated Bonnie, organized two mass sacrifices, and was working with that psycho Caleb.
That last detail had her ready to rip him apart.
He worked with Caleb and Caleb had tortured and murdered her father like it was a freaking game.
The second she clicked if The Cure would end up waking Silas, she was killing Shane.
He was not leaving this island alive.
Wincing as his bones started to crush in on each other, Shane finally relented "You're baby is a Mikaelson witch. And has parts of your Slayer abilities. She can sense power. Your baby will lead us there. Just follow the feeling in your gut."
So far, he was keeping to his story.
Buffy had to admit, the guy was determined.
A very determined soon-to-be-corpse.
Buffy clenched her jaw before nodding "Fine. But first gut feeling." Without another word, she sucker punched Shane across the face effectively breaking his nose and as he dropped to the ground she kicked him in the gut "That was for my dad. Warning, when I find out what you are keeping from me and I will... I will rip you limb from limb. Okay?" She said in a voice that seemed so sweet and innocent that it made everyone watching slightly unnerved.
Well, everyone except Rebekah who was grinning like a Cheshire cat
She loved it when Buffy reminded everyone that if she wanted, she could tear them all apart without breaking a sweat.
It was a very Mikaelson move.
Stepping away from Shane, Buffy flipped her hair only for her eyes to widen as she glanced down at her hand.
Instantly, her lip pursed sadly "I broke a nail."
"Satellite phone lost its signal."
Shane seemed to be a constant barrier of bad news today. Honestly, at this rate Buffy wanted to kill him just so that he would stop bumming her out.
Inhaling tightly, Buffy swallowed her murderous rage as she continued to glare at the back of Shane's head while they trudged through the woods.
Happy thoughts.
Shoes, Thai food, shiny weapons that she could use to cut Shane's head off the second today was over with.
Happy thoughts.
"Will clicking my heels together three times send me home?" She moaned as she continued to walk with Rebekah, their arms looped together as they strolled at the back of the group.
"Another pop culture reference?" Rebekah queried.
Buffy just grinned nodding her head sharply "Wizard of Oz. It's on your movie list."
Honestly, despite being pissed at him for helping Elena set her stupid Kol plan into motion, Buffy totally missed Xander right now. As of 5 this morning he was on a flight back to Sunnydale so she was currently the only one complaining about exhaustion.
Xander would be complaining way more than her!
Rebekah quirked a curious brow "Wizard of Oz? This isn't going to be another film in a language I don't speak is it?"
Buffy nudged her playfully, a small chuckle escaping her "How you can't speak every language after a thousand of years is upsetting. And it was Stark Trek, not a wizard movie. The language was Klingon."
"Trekkie!" Damon shouted over his shoulder from further ahead.
Buffy rolled her eyes "Says the Powerpuff Girl lover!"
Ignoring the sharp glare he threw back at her for revealing his oh-so-precious secret, Buffy leveled her own glare causing him to roll his eyes as he started walking backward so he could face her. With a sly grin starting to take form, he pointed at her stomach which was still obvious despite how baggy her UC Sunnydale Sweatshirt was "Sorry, Dorothy, but you're not exactly a pure little girl anymore."
The emphasis on the word pure, as he gestured to her stomach, had her rolling her eyes.
Damon was the biggest man whore on the planet, he so did not get to criticize her right now. At least she could still count everyone she had slept with. He had lost count years ago!
It was icky.
Then again, thinking about any vampire's sexual history was kind of gross. She so did not want to imagine how many people the vampires she had been with had been with prior to her.
It would make her skin crawl.
"Is anyone else a little creeped out?" Elena pipped up, her eyes scanning the surrounding woods nervously.
"So then leave." Rebekah suggested blandly as she continued to walk alongside Buffy, practically acting as a wall to keep Elena from even trying to speak to the mother-to-be.
Buffy didn't need any unnecessary stress right now and Elena was nothing but a walking stress canon.
"Out of everyone, your presence is the least necessary."
Rebekah wasn't wrong.
Groaning as he continued to walk behind the two blondes, Stefan glanced over at Buffy for help but she just shrugged.
She had been dead serious; she was not getting involved.
Not a chance.
She already knew that in a few weeks, everyone would start forgetting what Elena had done and they would expect her to go back to normal. To pretend that Elena was still the innocent girl who wouldn't hurt a fly.
Honestly, Buffy was full-on prepared for Caroline to start begging her to forgive Elena so it wouldn't affect their friend group.
Bonnie would probably be the only way out of her non-vampire friends who wouldn't push her to just pretend nothing had happened.
Just because they shared the same friend group, didn't mean that she had to change her stance on Elena. She could play nice around their friends, but that was as far as she was willing to tolerate her.
"Please don't start." Stefan practically begged Rebekah, he was so not in the mood for all of this bickering, it was giving him a damn headache.
"I'm merely stating facts." Rebekah argued, "Jeremy has the spell on his body." She gestured to where Bonnie and Jeremy were walking side by side, their hands entangled together, the Bennett girl acting as a shield between him and Elena "Bonnie's the witch that unseals The Cure."
Buffy raised her hand "Technically she unlocks a key to the caves. Where The Cure is and where Silas is going to kill us all. Yay!"
Rebekah bit the inside of her cheek as she tightened her grip around Buffy's arm. Honestly, she was terrified of finding out that they couldn't take The Cure without waking Silas and ending the world, or at least reigning down hell, one or the other.
"Silas is a hunk of rock!" Damon added.
"For now." Buffy mumbled under her breath as she took a bite of her apple.
Sighing Rebekah focused back on Elena, continuing with her: 'Why Elena is useless' monologue, which was making her feel a little better every second "Buffy is the magical sensing compass thanks to being pregnant with a witch and also has her supernatural sense for danger as the Slayer-"
"It's the spider tingle!" Jeremy and Buffy corrected.
Rebekah rolled her eyes, pinching Buffy's side playfully cueing her to laugh and tap Rebekah's arm "Hey, I am also hilarious. I'm the entertainment."
"Sure you are sweetie." Bonnie pipped up cueing Buffy to throw a marshmallow at her which the witch quickly caught, tossing it straight into her mouth.
Shaking her head in amusement, Rebekah stole one of the marshmallows tossing it into her own mouth as she continued "Shane is the human compass to the caves..." Once he had done that, he was no longer of use and she was going to rip his throat out "Stefan and I have the tombstone, which does God knows what."
"I'm sure it will look great being bashed into Shane's skull." Buffy shrugged causing Shane to immediately pick up his pace, trying to get as much distance from the pregnant Slayer as possible.
Though, he shouldn't have to worry about her for long.
Now that they were on the island, she would start to be drawn to what Caleb was hiding from her.
One of two things would happen when she found it, she would take it...or the bringers would lock her up until Silas was awake.
Damon chuckled, a bright grin covering his lips as he glanced back over at Buffy "You're so evil now. I like it."
Buffy scoffed "Funny given I have the second lowest kill count here." The only person who had killed fewer people or vampires than her was Bonnie.
Elena flinched at that but Buffy didn't care.
If she couldn't handle the truth, she shouldn't have done it in the first place.
Spotting the way Elena was now staring down at her feet, hurt washing across her face at the way Buffy was refusing to acknowledge her, Rebekah just grinned "Pretty sure we don't need a screaming banshee here. Toddles."
"What about me?" Damon asked only to jump as Buffy tapped the massive stick she was using to help trudge through the mud against his backside.
Rebekah giggled.
"Rebekah likes to look at your ass."
It was a great ass, despite the fact it belonged to a massive jackass half of the time.
"Like you don't." Rebekah snarked, cueing Damon's grin to get bigger by the second.
His ego starting to fill up like a balloon ready to pop.
Buffy rolled her eyes, if there was one thing Damon didn't need it was something adding to his already massive ego when it came to his good looks "You have a nice ass, you are also a pain in the ass so don't get smug."
**
MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA
While Kol's body had been moved by Rebekah and Buffy the previous evening, it didn't mean that Klaus couldn't still picture his brother's burnt body in his mind. Staring at the burnt scorch marks on the floorboards where his brother had perished, Klaus clenched his jaw as the echo of Kol's blood-curdling screams continued to play on a loop in his mind.
Like a broken record, determined to haunt him for eternity.
The click of a lock, caused Klaus to finally tear his eyes away from the burnt floorboards only to clench his jaw as he spotted Tyler Lockwood stroll into the house like he owned the place.
The shit-eating grin on Tyler's face had Klaus wanting to rip his spleen out and shove it down his own throat till he choked to death on his own blood and vomit.
"Morning, sunshine. You look pathetic."
Klaus just started strolling around the living room he was entrapped in, his eyes quickly falling on one of Buffy's weapons cases "Only until Bonnie's spell locking me in here wears off."
Locking him in a room with access to weapons was an idiotic idea.
"Then I'll look different. Angrier, perhaps." Leaning against the fireplace, Klaus shifted his focus to Tyler, smirking viciously "Or I won't look like anything because I'll have gouged your eyeballs from their sockets."
Unbothered, Tyler just shrugged "My friends will be back with the cure by then. So, I could shove it down your throat and make you mortal."
A laugh cued Tyler to frown in confusion.
Why the hell was Klaus laughing?
Clearing his throat as he tried to compose himself, Klaus let out a small chuckle before grinning over at the very confused Tyler "And what do you think is going to happen if taking the cure risks the apocalypse? Do you honestly believe Buffy won't stop your friends?"
Sure enough, Tyler tensed up at that, his fists clenching tightly at his sides.
"She isn't there to get the cure mate, she is there to destroy it."
"And she won't have to." Tyler hissed out through gritted teeth "You're brother was a lunatic."
Klaus's eyes narrowed dangerously, that was not the statement to make around him right now. He could still smell Kol's burnt flesh and the screams were still torturing his every thought.
"I'm an Original." He stated sharply, veering the conversation away from Kol. He could let his anger simmer until the barrier dropped "What makes you think my entire vampire bloodline won't be cured along with me? I.e., you."
The Cure for a Hybrid would turn them back into nothing but a werewolf. Forced to turn every full moon, with no control over their abilities. Once again the target of vampires, unable to defend themselves except for one night a month.
Not letting Klaus's words deter him, Tyler just grinned smugly, raising a challenging brow at his sire "You know what I think? I think that's impossible. I think the moment you stop being a vampire, our whole blood connection to you is broken and your sire line ceases to exist. So, whatever happens to you, happens to only you, which means I can kill your ass and no one else has to die. Although, I am still debating just how to do it."
On instinct, Klaus sped forward, unable to rip Tyler's head off thanks to the barrier between them.
Clicking his tongue for a second, slowly Klaus smirked "I recommend drowning. There's nothing quite like the feeling of someone fighting for something as basic as human breath. And let me tell you, your mother was a fight."
**
NOVA SCOTIA
Buffy was beyond exhausted.
For hours they have been hiking through the woods with no current sign of stopping. Given that her stamina wasn't as good as it normally was, it had only taken about a mile before the rotation began.
Each vampire and Jeremy took turns carrying Buffy on their backs.
Half asleep on her brother's back, her head rested on his shoulder, Buffy couldn't help but squeeze his shoulder lightly, smiling as she spotted him un-tense slightly. He had been tense and barely speaking since last night, which she couldn't blame him for.
"You will get through this." She assured him softly "It will take time, but you take it day by day and you continue to strengthen your control so you can keep moving forward."
With his hands under her thighs, as he continued to carry her, Jeremy smiled back softly "Thanks, Buff. For everything...I just don't know-"
"Hey, none of that mushy stuff." She teased quickly kissing his cheek before climbing off his back, instead moving along beside him "Getting mushy is what deathbed confessions are for."
Jeremy laughed nudging her slightly with his shoulder before both of them groaned, rolling their eyes in sync as they heard Shane's creepy voice from ahead of them.
God, this guy got creepier with every second that passing second.
"Centuries after Qetsiyah died..."Shane monologued as he continued to tell them the apparent tale of Silas, or at least his version of the story. Given this story was over 2000 years old, there was no way that he actually had all of the right details.
Stories were twisted by the victors.
The question was who was the victor?
Silas or Qetsiyah?
"There were these miners who were excavating as well on the island. They suddenly went mad. They bled themselves dry for no apparent reason. So, the legend spread that these minors in exchange for a drop of their blood saw visions of their lost loved ones in the well they were digging. The world travelers and explorers sought out the well to see if the legend was true."
Buffy froze, tensing up beside Jeremy who quickly wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Yet, she could barely process the fact that her brother was trying to comfort her.
All Buffy could think about was how many dead loved ones she wanted to see. Maybe her dad to say goodbye but more importantly she wanted to see her mom.
Months of wanting her mother and with a drop of blood she could do that?
The last time she had seen her mother's face it had been The Hunter's curse but maybe...
NO.
No, that was not why she was here. She was here to stop her friends from setting off the apocalypse, even if it meant destroying The Cure and then she was done with that.
She was not giving in to this hoax. Her mother was dead, whatever she did see if this was true would not actually be her mom.
Probably, just one of the tricks to try and get her to free Silas.
Not happening!
"So the well was magic?" Bonnie pipped up effectively shaking Buffy from her inner turmoil about seeing her mother.
"Oh yeah." Shane confirmed as they all came to a halt, allowing Buffy to get a much-needed breather. Despite the fact Jeremy had literally been carrying her, she was still exhausted, every movement feeling like she had just run a marathon "Some people believe voices of lost souls were just a wind vortex whipping through the caves. And visions were caused by inhaling the island's poisonous soils."
Buffy couldn't help but groan, posionous plant life, that sounded so healthy for an unborn child "Just was a 6-month pregnant gal needs to hear. Poison whoopie."
"If it's any help...I believe in magic."
Buffy narrowed her eyes into slits dangerously "And your word matters why?" His opinion unless he was volunteering options of how she should kill him did not mean shit to her.
Shane just sighed under her harsh glare before glancing around the group, it was time to tell them one honest thing, which would hopefully lesson the way all of them looked ready to wring his neck the second The Cure was found "My wife and son died within months of each other. And so, I decided to try the well out for myself. I offered up my blood and I waited. I saw my wife...I saw her eyes...her smile. My blood let me see her again."
Once again, Buffy found herself thinking about her mother.
All of the questions she had been dying to ask in preparation for being a mom herself, all of the apologies she wanted to make for not coming to visit more often at the graveyard, for how their last conversation went. To get her advice on how the hell she was supposed to feel about her dad's murder. If it was okay to be angry just as much as she was heartbroken.
She wanted to hug her mom more than anything in this world.
With a little bit of blood, she could see her mom, she could see her dad, she could see Jenna.
With a little blood, she could get all those lost goodbyes.
Feeling Damon approach her, Buffy snorted as she spotted him begrudgingly bend down so he could take over his shift of carrying the pregnant slayer.
"Remind me why I need to carry you." Damon grunted as he jumped slightly making sure she was secure on his back.
Buffy chuckled softly "Because you're oh so strong." She snarked before shrugging "Plus, you were the one dumb enough to offer first."
"I hate myself." He mumbled while she merely smiled. Damon in no way hated himself, if anything he was a little bit in love with himself. She swore she had caught him smiling at his own reflection way too many times to count.
If he had a doppelganger, he would marry him.
No doubt about it, he would marry his own reflection if he could.
"Wait!" Shane exclaimed suddenly as he rushed over to Buffy and Damon "Stop. Stop! Stop."
As he continued to frantically point at the grass, Buffy raised a brow before hopping off Damon's back. Quickly picking up a small rock, she threw it right by Shane's head, snorting loudly when he jumped back with a scream to avoid the hidden net now flying up.
A snare trap.
Not a good sign for them.
Spotting Shane now staring at her with a wide-eyed expression like a child, Buffy shrugged "What? My dad used to force me to go camping. So gross. But traps are easy to spot when you see good in the dark. Ah that rhymed."
As Damon took his chance to bolt so he didn't have to carry her around, Jeremy quickly moved to her side, pulling her away from Shane's vicinity. He in no way wanted that creep anyway near his sister.
Holding her protectively to his side, Jeremy grabbed his water bottle only to groan at the single drop he was able to get "Uh! I'm out of water."
Buffy snorted "You gotta drink like a camel dude."
"I'll remember that." He chuckled only to tense up as he spotted a bottle of water being held out toward him.
Elena's water bottle.
"I'm gonna go get some water off Bonnie." He told Buffy before making his way over to Bonnie without a single glance in Elena's direction.
Not wanting to be around Elena for another second, Buffy turned on her heels and headed right back over to Jeremy only to groan as Elena started following after her.
"Buffy seriously, you can't ignore me forever."
Clenching her jaw tightly, Buffy turned to glance at Elena blankly "Hmm, sounds like a plan to me. Bye."
"Buffy come on! We just need to talk about this-"
"Nah, I'm good." Buffy shrugged before making her way over to Jeremy. She had no intention of having a conversation with Elena. It always went the same way, Elena would use some lame excuse, she would cry, she would apologize and then she would do it all over again a few months later.
It was the same cycle over and over again.
Buffy was done with it.
She would always love Elena, but she was done letting things go only to be disappointed again or being made to feel bad about herself.
There was a slight crunch of leaves from her left.
The hairs on the back of Buffy's neck stood up straight.
Instantly, she pulled out a knife "Jer down!"
Without hesitation, he ducked and she launched the blade through the air causing a scream to erupt from the woods before there was a loud grunt.
As both Buffy and Elena rushed over to him, Buffy clenched her jaw as she spotted the body peeking out of the bushes. Stepping forward, she gulped as she spotted the axe in the dead guy's back.
"Pretty sure that wasn't me." She huffed before glancing around the forest, her knuckles cracking as she felt her body start to tense up, ready for a fight to come.
There was definitely something off about this place.
"We're not alone here. Just great."
**
MYSTIC FALLS, VIRGINIA
"What are you still here? What are you doing?"
Caroline's declaration as she entered the Gilbert house, drawing Tyler's attention cued Klaus a moment to crouch down in front of Buffy's weapons case, quickly slipping a pair of her throwing stars out of one of the draws before focusing back on the couple.
He fully intended to slice open Tyler's throat just to shut him up.
If Tyler thought that he was safe because of a temporary barrier, then he was more of an idiot than Klaus had originally thought.
Tyler just shifted his focus back to Klaus "Gloating."
Rolling his eyes, Klaus leaned against the doorway, eyeing the couple closely "Do you think it is right to keep me from the mother of my unborn child?" Sure enough, Caroline hesitated slightly, subtly glancing at him for a brief second only for Tyler to interrupt.
"Given you've been stalking Buffy's ass for centuries, she is probably jumping for Joy at the prospect of not having to deal with you anymore."
There was a brief pause of silence.
Unknown to him, Tyler's phrasing was getting to Caroline.
Joy.
The baby girl that Tyler was determined to leave without a father. Even if he had every reason to want Klaus dead, could he really go through with tearing away the chance for a little girl to ever know her father?
It would be doing to this baby what Klaus had done to him.
Swallowing, she grabbed his arm desperate to get him out of this house "Why don't we just go home-"
"No." Tyler said stubbornly as he crossed his arms over his chest and focused back on Klaus "He destroyed my life. I plan on being present for every second of his misery until I can kill him."
Spotting the way Klaus actually went quiet at the name of his daughter being uttered into the air, Caroline started pulling Tyler into the kitchen. While Tyler didn't know what the baby was to be called, she did, and uttering the word Joy in the same taunting comment of never seeing Buffy and the baby again was a sure way to get Tyler torn to shreds.
"Fine, you can gloat and multitask." She gestured to the mess of the house which was driving her crazy.
She literally wanted to claw her own hair out at the sight of the mess.
Maybe her mom was right, she was a little OCD.
"This place is a disaster. Starting with the burn marks on the floorboards."
As Caroline started grabbing the cleaning supplies from the cupboard, Klaus's eyes drifted back to the scorch marks on the ground, a tortured expression washing through his eyes.
"Tyler's mother is dead." He pipped up drawing Caroline's attention, he knew she was the best chance given her attachment and love for the mother of his child "So is my brother. We're even. Call Bonnie. Get her to let me out of here."
Caroline clenched her jaw tightly.
Just because Klaus was the father of Buffy's baby, it didn't mean that she was going to forget all of the horrible things he had done.
He had murdered her boyfriend's mother!
"I will never, ever, help you." She hissed.
Klaus just narrowed his glare at her "So you are set to let Buffy and our child perise when the witches arrive to kill them?"
That comment finally cued Caroline to snap, he did not get to use that against her! Buffy was one of her best friends! Her freaking God-sister!
Of course, she cared and she would do what she had to do to help make sure Buffy made it through this labor.
"How delusional are you? You killed his mother. And let's not forget we're standing in a house where the mother of your unborn child's Aunt Jenna used to live. What about the fact that you took Buffy away from Elena and Jeremy for a year?! Or about the fact that your sister is the one that sped up Buffy's mom's cancer. Or how about the fact that because you were too obsessed to think about the woman carrying your child and her safety, her father was brutally tortured and delivered to her like it was Christmas morning because you didn't bother to care about Caleb coming after her, you cared about getting the damn cure."
Stepping forward until he was right next to Caroline, his face only a few inches from the barrier, Tyler leveled his murderous glare at the now-steaming Klaus "It's funny isn't it? I mean, I guess I'm just another one of your failures. Just like how you failed at making hybrids, failed to protect Buffy, like you failed your family!"
Klaus snapped, in less than a second he was right against the barrier, eyes glowing gold as he banged his fists against the wall.
The mother of his child had almost died and was in constant danger. She had been dragged to an island without anyone but his sister to keep her safe while he was trapped in here.
And his brother was dead!
He had been murdered not 2 feet away from where he was standing and he could still smell the burnt flesh.
Tyler just smirked at the reaction, knowing he had gotten to him. He had cracked into Klaus Mikaelson's shell and he was loving every minute of it.
"And now, you're even going to fail your own kid."
Klaus growled, "I will tear you apart."
"Enjoy the fact, Klaus, that while you wither away, I will be the one Buffy talks to. That your kid talks to!"
"I will rip your spine-"
"Uncle Tyler has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
The second the question left his lips, Tyler found himself choking on his own blood as a throwing star was launched at his throat. As he collapsed to the ground, Klaus smirked before grabbing the lamp to his side and shoving it out of the barrier.
Stabbing it right through Caroline's stomach.
As she gasped in pain Tyler's eyes widened "No!" He screamed through the blood only for all of the energy to rush out of his body as Klaus yanked her past the barrier and bit into her neck.
Infecting her with werewolf venom.