Lights Flicker And Fade : Kol Mikaelson [3]

251: Behind The Black Horizon

a/n: Let's ignore how it would take 14 hours to get from New Orleans to Mystic Falls because the actual writers of TO clearly didn't care about that when they wrote a scene in a car, so I shan't either :D Remember to comment and vote x Bea

MJ stormed into The Compound, Kol seconds behind her, a growl in her throat at the sight of the four bodies. Eyes rolled back, no blood on their clothes but no beating in their chests either, just symbols on their hands making the sacrificial magic clear. Leaving Finn to sit on the sofa, coat wrapped around his body, hair oddly windswept, while Elijah paced behind him.

Everything was meant to be okay.

Marcel and Maci had gotten the white oak. MJ should have been able to focus on Kol –

She knelt by the nearest body, "How dare they."

It felt wrong not to consecrate them, but she couldn't. She refused to give the spirits what they wanted. Dialling Vincent on a loop, only to get no response, having to move to the elders instead.

Letting everyone know her speech had come to fruition. Their witches had been used. Some covens hadn't shown to Davina and Abigail's lesson the previous day, and now four people were dead.

"This is getting ridiculous."

"Do you know what spell they cast?" Elijah prompted.

MJ scanned the hands, "No, but at least these symbols aren't Aramaic."

Kol made a strained sound at the discovery she'd half-mentioned at the pub.

"Come here," She glared at Finn, "Reading time."

He didn't move.

"Are you really gonna be difficult about this?"

He rose to his feet.

"Hands..."

He lifted them.

"Gracias," MJ traced her nails across his palms, "Cabrón."

Letting her eyes flutter, starting to trace circles.

Hit with flashes of chanting, a tightening in her soul, skin burning into bone –

Air sucked forward –

"Well," MJ chuckled, "Ain't that something."

Smug bitterness swirling in her stomach.

"They bound you to your body."

Finn's eyes went wide.

"The ancestors," She waved a finger, "Heard you chatting shit about jumping to a witch and decided to do something about it."

Volume going up.

"Killing four innocents in the process!"

Glaring at the sky.

"Do you not see your own irony!?"

Por dios.

"This is the stuff you go to The Regent about!" Her gaze returned to the vampires, "They really don't wanna give me five minutes to breathe."

Turning back to the bodies.

"At least the covens can't blame me," She murmured, "They didn't want to admit the ancestors were the enemy, but here we are. Cattle to their power."

"I'm stuck?" Finn found his voice, "In this form?"

"Mhmmmm."

"And you expect me to believe you had no influence?" His rage grew, "These are your witches!"

"I don't want them dead!"

"If you're such a perfect match for him – "

"Drown in rat poison," Kol spat.

"I have done nothing!" Finn pulled at his hair, trembling, "Other than beg to leave this calamity!"

MJ's expression was dark, staring at the bodies.

"And her spirits have locked me here."

"They killed them," MJ argued, "Because you got loud."

Thinking he could just jump away.

"And if you stay that way? I'll give you a hell of a lot more to scream about."

Finn went to reach, Kol's hand whacking directly into his shoulder to force him back, poised for another fight.

Elijah inhaled slowly, "Leave us."

They all looked at him.

"Finn."

The eldest brother scoffed, storming away with the same ferocity his siblings always carried. The house was so used to its force on the stairs, almost comfortingly familiar to the part of MJ that missed Klaus...

She didn't.

He didn't deserve to be missed by her.

Elijah's expression was curious, "Do you know what caused his return?"

"It wasn't Freya?"

He shook his head.

MJ glanced at Kol, him equally surprised.

"An unknown force weaponised your Nexus Vorti," Elijah shook his head, "Bringing him back, only to bind to his body? It does not make any sense."

Four witches dead.

"It can make sense," MJ was quiet, "If the spirits brought him back? They brought him back as Finn Mikaelson."

Kol's jaw clenched.

"Only to listen to him talk about fleeing?"

"They lock him in," Kol's hands twitched, "Keep him as they want him."

"But why?" Elijah repeated, "They want our family dead. Why add a body to kill?"

"I mean," MJ's brow lifted, "While in Freya's necklace, she could use him to boost her power – he wasn't on the ancestral plane. He was a separate entity of strength."

"Weaken her support so she has to use them," Kol followed, "And create living dissonance so we can't focus on the real issues."

MJ straightened up.

"Darling?"

"If you built something to kill a Mikaelson," She pitched, "How would you test it?"

Stillness.

"Because I used Mikael."

The magic-sucking bullets.

"If I trialled it on Klaus, and it failed?"

"You would have revealed your hand," Elijah finished, "And you would not get a second attempt."

"Plus," She glanced up the stairs, "It's a lot easier to get a hit on a guy who hasn't lived than a hybrid with ten centuries of experience."

Silence.

"And if the test works?" She continued, "The fear that strikes?"

The confidence she'd had that night, talking to Katherine on the bench, knowing she had white oak.

"Letting you know there's something out there you can't control?"

Back then, her plan had been about security, not a message, but the thought process still checked out.

MJ just didn't think it was worth it.

Why resurrect a man just to kill him?

...To force Freya to watch him die. That was the obvious answer. The ancestors were trying to punish them, and they no longer wanted a potential Mikaelson spirit floating free. It was two birds with one stone.

"What did you test on Mikael?"

MJ looked from Kol to Elijah, her boyfriend sauntering to the drinks cabinet as nonchalantly as possible. Deliberately getting his face out of sight and trying to give his hands something to do as all the noise he'd briefly escaped filtered back in. 

"Weren't you..." She blinked, "You know...Following me in Mystic Falls?"

"I saw you in bursts," He revealed, "It was not a constant surveillance."

"It was just a spell," MJ covered, "A way to overpower an Original."

She'd hoped Elijah hadn't seen it all, but also?

Part of her had hoped he'd always known, too. That he trusted the white oak in her care. Knowing that it didn't make sense for him not to bring it up, but still hoping, he thought she was the safest place to leave it. Understanding enough to know why that scared seventeen-year-old would want it at all.  

For someone so against secrets, MJ's were really piling up...

"Make you easier to stake. Nothing too fancy."

THE WITCHES
Behind The Black Horizon

Once the bodies were picked up, MJ let herself fall into their bed, Kol kissing up her neck, too tired to do anything more. Taking an extra dose of the potion she'd made for him to kick the cravings down. Groaning when she pulled out of his hold the next morning, only stirring as her pyjamas were tugged off. Sighing in contentment as he watched her grab clothes from the cupboard, knowing she was trying to tease him up.

March was an odd one for the weather.

And for vampires with questionable temperature perception. While most undead shivered, MJ was overheating – in a way she hadn't since she'd been human. Power flickered in her fingers as her emotions were trapped in a cycle of reliving everything that had happened.

Pregnancy was making her spike?

Or maybe the Floare ritual had work, and her power was sorting itself out.

She knew that was too hopeful, the scars on her face as clear as ever.

Pushing that thought away, MJ opted for a high-waisted skirt, taken up entirely by flowers replicating watercolour paintings, pale orange and pink petals melting into each other, shades helping the red in her hair stand out. Tuning MJ into how much her summer tan had faded through the winter, looking more like her dad every day.

The longer hair was still her mother's; think strands and slight curls falling down her back...

Despite the slight chill, the skirt was short, edge against her upper thighs, a welcome reminder of reality. White tabby corset top tucked in and held perfectly in place, thin straps to leave her neck and shoulders to breathe. The slight ruffles along the top helped to shape her chest...styling herself again. Like she had time. Like Klaus, Hayley, and Hope weren't on the run, finally believing all the claims Pri had been making about Lucien for months.

Necklace with the Aonso stone on, charm bracelet back on her wrist.

Maybe it was the hair length, but when MJ looked at her reflection in the mirror, she felt more like her seventeen-year-old self than she had in years.

Kol's hands found her hips, not dressed, tracing down the material to reach her legs, scrunching up.

"Behave," She leant back, "Or I'll put tights on."

"More clothes is a problem for you," Kol wrapped his arms around her, "Not me."

MJ let herself laugh.

"You're the one who gets impatient."

"Kol Mikaelson!" She teased, "I'm not some quick toy you want to rush through?"

He snorted, kissing the top of her head.

"However, shall Lucien cope with the news?"

"It's disastrous, really," He nodded, "Terrible 'PR' on my end."

"Luckily," She elbowed back as he laughed, "Marketing is my day job."

One she'd been avoiding, claiming 'sick.'

"Can have you right back on track."

Turning to face him.

"And! My rate is very affordable."

"I think," He stepped closer, lowering his voice, "I can make a case for a discount."

"Stay like this," She trailed her eyes down his body, "And I might agree."

His hands returned to her waist, pulling her back as MJ pushed onto tiptoes, lips catching each other like second nature, arms landing on his shoulders to pull her up higher –

"We have a problem!"

Sam's voice rushed into the courtyard, Davina just behind him.

The couple sighed apart, MJ's head resting on his shoulder as Kol winced. Her silencing charms were still up, but she'd altered the spell to allow some noise in, not wanting to miss a crisis – but still...She'd hoped for a slightly slow morning before launching into the Lucien-Hunt and witch chaos.

"And that's our cue," MJ tapped him lightly.

Heading downstairs to greet them while Kol got dressed.

"What's happened?"

Finn was lingering by the stairs while Elijah appeared from the kitchen – still, no sign of Freya post-quest to hide white oak. A plan MJ didn't like learning about and was trying not to think about, knowing damn well she'd be finding that oak so it couldn't be used on Kol.

"Vincent never showed for the lessons this morning," Davina was holding her phone, "I tried calling. No response."

"Tracking?" Kol slid down the railing, lightly bashing into Finn as he joined MJ by the coffee table.

"Magic didn't get us anywhere."

"Tracking his phone," Sam countered, "Showed St James. Where we found this."

He lifted a tarot card stuck to Vincent's phone.

"Figured you guys," His eyes went to Elijah, "Might be interested."

Davina unlocked it, revealing a video.

"To whoever finds this first," Vincent was panting, "I need you to listen to me."

A grainy St James around him.

"We're in serious trouble."

MJ glanced at Kol as he crept closer to the screen.

"I'm recording this here because it's free from magic."

A plate of croissants was on the table, no extravagant catering for Finn...

"And magic is our enemy."

~Oh nooooo~

"The Ancestors got me on the hook," He was trembling, "Doing some pretty twisted magic, and I want no part it! But – but they're forcing me to help Lucien Castle."

Everyone tensed.

"And, if you don't help me," Vincent was covered in sweat, "Freya Mikaelson's gonna die."

One way to get Finn rushing over.

"Pause," MJ asked, Davina doing as so, "You – "

She pointed to Elijah.

"Said Klaus found evidence Lucien hired Levi Ajan," She'd had a catch-up, "Context?"

"He and Hayley were helping a young wolf girl," He expanded, "The pack's land had been decimated by Lucien's company, but the girl told a story of a hunter with yellow eyes."

"Meaning," MJ nodded, "We have proof of them being in New York, New Orleans and there together."

While the Philadelphia pack was a bonus link, they didn't have proof of Lucien's involvement, just Levi's.

"A trend of three."

COINCIDENCES DIDN'T EXIST.

"I'm texting Pri!"

"They're on their way to a secondary location," Elijah added.

"She can tell Hayley specifics to look for."

"Are you," Finn's eyes were raging, "Ignoring that Freya might be dying?"

"Can't save her if we're not all on the same page."

Kol just pressed play before Finn could say anything else.

"Before they forced me to take her, they had me put up a cloaking spell," Vincent looked like he expected to get jumped, "So we can't be tracked – Lucien's taking us out of town someplace, I don't know where."

MJ felt her gut sink.

"But there's a loophole," He grimaced, "Finn Mikaelson."

As all eyes landed on him, Finn frowned, "How am I the loophole?"

"Last year," Kol realised, "While Esther put me in a twit."

"A very pretty twit," MJ reasoned.

"A weak twit," He pouted at her, "You got housed in one of the most powerful witch bodies in the city."

Finn shifted.

"And, even after all this time," Kol could fill in the blanks, "They'll be an echo of a connection between you."

"It's slightly more complicated than that," Davina sent MJ a careful look, "Um..."

She let herself press play again.

"I need Davina Claire – I need a witch that's off the ancestor's radar."

MJ bobbed her head in acceptance.

She could use magic that pulled on different spirits, but Vincent was right to be cautious.

Plus, maybe he'd seen something about her?

"If she can find the thread between us, you'll be able to find me."

Elijah looked at her, "Have you ever done anything like this?"

"I don't even know if it's possible."

"It is," Kol answered, "But we need Vincent's blood."

"Thank god I'm a collector," MJ mused.

"And that I know a spell," Kol lorded, "What a team we are."

"Careful, Kol," Sam tutted, "It almost sounds like you enjoy helping people."

Kol made eyes, "Only you." 

"Guys," Davina was staring at Finn, "The topic?"

"I should have sensed something was wrong when Freya didn't call," Finn scolded, "Now Lucien has a head start."

MJ couldn't help but notice that he was already wearing a jacket.

"Go," His eyes jumped, "Witch. Tend to your spell."

Sam pushed his chin down, "She has a name?"

"An irrelevant one if Freya is not found," He scanned the room, "I assume you shall need my blood, too?"

"Behold the selfless martyr," Kol rolled his eyes, "First yelling at MJ for witch action, now demanding witch aid?"

Finn went to charge, Elijah appearing in the middle, the slight smugness in Kol's expression not unnoticed by his girlfriend. Happy to have gotten a reaction. To not be the one told to reign it in, for once. Glee that vanished the minute Elijah spoke.

"Finn and I shall go together," He addressed the room, "While you deal with the spell."

"You're going with him!?" Kol was gobsmacked, "The two people responsible for not destroying the white oak when they had the chance?"

MJ couldn't quite believe it.

"Thus putting us in this bloody mess!"

Was that her fault?

If they knew she had some hidden away, safe for three years, would they have burnt the bullet, making whatever scheme Lucien had going on with the ancestors null and void?

Hell! She had more than just one; she had two stakes and the remaining bullets!

"That's just marvellous."

She hated that she loved watching Kol insult people.

He just sounded so beautiful.

Or maybe she was just hormonal.

"I mean, what could possibly go wrong?"

"If we're being smart," MJ tensed, "Only you need to teach Davina the spell."

Kol straightened up, shaking his head, "Darling – "

"I can go."

"A snowball's chance in hell!" Kol was still in loud mode, "You're not allowed – "

"Allowed?"

Kol winced, taking in her stance.

How tight her shoulders were, scanning Elijah curiously, arms crossed.

Letting himself walk closer, volume dropping, "Mira."

"I know," She put her hands up, "But let's be logical here."

It wasn't like she wanted to be alone with Finn and Elijah.

"Lucien's got a deal with the ancestors," MJ reminded them, "How can we not send the siphoner."

"M," He pressed his hands into her shoulders, "A week ago, we were having this search party for you."

Palms smooth against her shoulders, moving down to rub her arms.

"The end of my sentence was 'not allowed out of my sight.'"

Not 'not allowed to go.'

"Please do not ask me to sit here," His eyes jumped around her face like he didn't already have it memorised, "And let you go off again."

MJ wasn't sure what to do. His big eyes were pleading, and she understood where he was coming from, but if MJ got hit in the heart by white oak? She wouldn't die. He would.

"I don't want to," MJ stressed, "But I'm the only one safe enough to go."

Finn's eyes shot daggers, "You must be jesting?"

Not looking at the couple, oddly enough. Instead, at Elijah, Sam, and Davina. As if staring at Kol and MJ's position wasn't allowed, MJ unsure if that was an era issue or something else.

"I will not sit here and take orders from any of you," He ranted, "Make no mistake. I do not look to you as allies or even family."

Sam sighed dramatically.

"The only reason I tolerate your presence is the hope of finding Freya. And if you intend to stop me from doing that – "

"Just give us your blood," Davina snapped, "No point arguing when we don't know where we're sending people."

"Fine."

MJ waved a hand, ingredients flying into the courtyard as the space rearranged. The sofa pushed back slightly so Davina could kneel on a cushion in front of the coffee table, looking over a map, fiddling with the vial of Vincent's blood as Finn slowly cut his palm and created his own.

"Make two," MJ instructed.

"Why?"

"You should make, like, five," She reasoned, "We don't know if we'll need to do this spell a few times to get an exact location."

"Most likely," Kol was flipping through a grimoire, "This is just a starting location."

Placing the book down for Davina to read.

"Then we focus on getting a more accurate point."

Finn handed Davina the first one, reluctantly making another.

"And who knows how many more."

"Plus," MJ leant against a chair, "Always good to have some spares knocking about."

Sam snorted, "Gotta add to the collection."

"The Strix and most of the wider world are under the impression he's my sire," MJ reminded them, "You'd think I'd have some of his blood to justify that cover story."

Finn shot her a look.

"What?"

"Why would I be your sire?"

"Because my true one is complicated," She forced a smile, "And would like to be left out of the drama."

Finn's eyes jumped between MJ and Kol, seeing how his younger brother was moving to sit, glaring at the blue sky.

"Okay," Davina poured the blood vials into a bowl, "Finding Vincent."

Taking a thick piece of brown string and dipping it into the mix.

"A tracking spell."

A complicated one

"I found the missing Strix," She breathed in, "This is fine."

Finn pulled a face, "You're stalling."

"She's not," Sam crossed his arms, "She's preparing."

Davina pulled the string out, staring at its now red colour and watching it drip back into the bowl.

She looked a bit sick.

MJ stood behind her, "It's okay if you're not sure, Davina."

"I did the other spells," She reasoned, "I've felt the difference."

Pulling on non-ancestral power.

"It should be fine."

MJ guided Davina's hair behind her shoulders, "Then it will be fine,"

Davina smiled at her, a familiar warmth from the positioning, dragging the string over the map.

"Inuestigandum Par Idem Animarum."

It was odd hearing Davina use Latin.

"Inuestigandum Par Idem Animarum."

There had to be a way to use the same spells without losing control. It felt wrong to think the city would have to lose its roots to stop innocent witches from becoming puppets.

"Inuestigandum Par Idem Animarum."

The drops started to form a line, travelling down a road.

"Inuestigandum Par Idem Animarum."

"That's northwest," Elijah noted.

Kol watched MJ lean back, "M?"

"Not to make an assumption," She pointed as the blood slowed, "But that's the exit I take when I'm heading to Mystic Falls."

Everyone groaned.

"It goes to other places!"

The blood didn't leave the state, Davina's hold flickering. Stilling at the exit. Blood starting to swim in a confused circle as she closed her eyes...

Jolting energy back into it, creeping past the exit - 

Snapping back to singular dots as she gasped in, losing the spell.

"But common sense?" She pitched it, "That town is at the centre of most messes."

"We could try boosting the spell with black cohosh," Davina suggested, "To be sure."

"There's a better idea," Kol's knuckles were white, "A blood rider."

MJ gave him a look.

"You know it is."

"It would get us the specifics," She admitted, "As much as I know every nook and cranny of Mystic Falls, no guidance still leaves a lot of places to hide."

"For those of us less fluent in witch?" Sam asked, "Blood Rider sounds sketchy?"

MJ made a noise, "It sounds like a sex position."

"I like names to have double meanings," Kol lip's twitched, "A Tibetan singing bowl I had cast into a dark object in the 1900s. It's like an echo chamber."

He'd used a version of the object to fix her magic in Italy.

"With Finn's blood, we can amplify his connection with Vincent."

"Then do it," Finn grabbed a coat, "We'll start driving."

"We're taking my car," MJ decided.

"You are not going," Kol repeated.

"Sam and I are the only people who safely can!"

"Then he's not going."

"I am not leaving my sister's fate," Finn bit back, "In the hands of anyone else."

"And I'm not leaving her with you,"

"Kol," MJ put a hand up, "If we do end up in Mystic Falls."

Since her assumption could always be wrong.

"That would place you," MJ poked his chest, "Mystic Falls and White Oak in a sentence together."

Something she did not want to happen ever again.

"The only combination worse than that?"

Spinning to point at Finn.

"You, Mystic Falls, White Oak, and Matt Donovan."

Sam and Davina were having a non-verbal discussion around the bickering family.

"You know, the guy who killed you," She stressed, "Who has literally just kicked every vampire out of town."

That gave the Mikaelson's an intrigued pause.

"And will almost certainly shoot any of this family on sight!"

Caroline had asked her to talk to Matt...

"I am going!"

"Then," Kol crossed his arms, shirt tight, "I am going to."

"For my sanity," She grabbed his forearms, "Stay in the place where there isn't a weapon that can kill you."

Pulling at them.

"Kol – "

"You died more recently!"

"Matt is my friend."

"MJ – "

"Give me a real reason why I'm not the best choice here?"

"If my terror at your absence is not enough!" He'd been taunted with her scream, "May I remind you of my incredibly temperamental and murderous fracturing sanity!"

Volume peaking.

"Or!" He gestured out, "Perhaps remind you that you're pregnant!"

MJ swallowed.

He never really yelled at her. Not that loudly. The closest comparisons were when he'd been begging her to let him die or the screams when she'd trapped him in the library. It didn't scare her; all those moments were justifiable times to lose it with her, but it was still a new reality to adapt to. She was pregnant. He was being tormented by spirits.

Kol rubbed down his face in a rush, closing his eyes and trying to calm down.

"Technically," Sam spoke, "White oak wouldn't kill me either?"

Also a hybrid.

"I can go," He nodded to Kol, "I'd keep her safe."

"If Lucien is trying to experiment with wolves," Elijah intervened, "We shouldn't send any in his direction. I will keep Mira safe."

Kol's face filled with even more panic.

"You seem to forget, brother," Elijah spoke lightly, "We became quite the team in that town."

MJ let out a tired laugh.

"Perhaps it would do us some good to return to it."

She wasn't sure how to interpret that.

Was her bench buddy still in there?

Eyes jumping to Kol again, not entirely trusting it, then remembering that they were technically mid-argument. It was easy to forget. They so rarely fought – and Kol rarely showed his emotions so obviously in front of other people –

MJ took a step closer, placing his hands on the small of her back, fingers laced together. Chests together. Forever a ruler-length shorter than him, forced to tilt his head and look down at her adoring stare. Pretty brown eyes that could get away with anything.

"That's my trick," Kol complained.

"Ti amo."

"Not fair," He brushed his nose over hers, "You can't just say that and expect me to bend to you."

"Ti lascerò piegarmi su qualsiasi cosa quando torneró"

Kol couldn't stop his laugh, "Punizione sarà allettante."

"Not in my language," Sam whined, "You both speak enough to leave Italian alone."

"Puoi partecipare," Kol continued, "Se vuoi."

"No, non può," MJ pushed onto her tiptoes, "Sei mio, e solo mio."

Kol couldn't help but look at her softly, "You are evil."

"E tu sei bellissima," She squeezed his hands, "I'm trying to help save your sister."

He caved, "You are sharing your phone location."

"Happily," She kissed him properly.

Long and pressing, feeling his grip tighten, holding her against every part until MJ was half convinced he was just going to snatch her away. And maybe she wouldn't have minded. The shade of blue he wore made his eyes seem lighter; long sleeves not rolled up for once, brushing the material against her skin like it could mark it.

"I'll be safe," She pecked one last kiss, "Promise."

Kol just moved his hands to cup her face, kissing her forehead, glaring at his two older brothers over her shoulder. One good conversation with Elijah did not change history. But if at least one of them was with either team, the day might be a successful one...

~***~

Most of the drive was silent, MJ enjoying the fact she'd actually gotten Elijah to sit in the passenger of her blue bug. Vampire speed had limited its use within the city, but it still held such an essential place in her heart that she couldn't see herself ever getting rid of it.

It would need a deep clean after transporting the monster in the back, but –

Focus on the road!

Not on Finn. His entire demeaning screaming was 'brooding and upset.' From the long-sleeved grey...she couldn't tell if it was a top or a jumper, brain itching in irritation.

The way the fabric moved was too light to be a jumper.

But the shape of the –

"What are you staring at?" He was watching her right back.

MJ couldn't even pretend to be watching a car behind them as they drove past the 'Welcome to Mystic Falls' sign, the only people on the road.

Sam, Kol, and Davina had gone to Cami's for the dark object. While it would help, MJ hadn't wasted time thinking her assumption would be proved wrong, aiming to break every rule about highway speeds and get them to the town in half the regular time.

"Oh glorious," Finn rested back, "The birthplace of our sorrows."

She tightened her hold on the wheel.

"And we are simply going to drive around this pathetic place," He continued, "Hoping to run into my sister before Lucien – "

MJ flipped on the radio, the jazz station the default after the small road trips she and Kol started to take during the summer. Music cutting him off, causing Elijah's lips to twitch.

"Am I not pleasant enough company for you?"

MJ just started to whistle along, deliberately ignoring him.

"Kol has a plan," Elijah answered, "We will trust it."

"Kol and his ridiculous gambits."

"Nine hundred years in a box," Elijah commented, "Zero patience."

MJ tensed as Finn leaned forward.

"It's all a joke to you," His head between the seats, "Isn't it?"

MJ glanced to her side, seeing how Elijah sighed.

"'Nine hundred years in a box,'" He repeated, "Just rolls off your tongue as if the time passed without consequence."

She started to feel sick.

"I assure you," His voice too steady, "It did not."

"What are you suggesting?" Elijah faced him, "We never experienced anything, least the passage of time."

"Elijah."

The tension coming off MJ was enough to give him pause.

"You didn't."

The sound of jazz almost felt undeserved, fingers snapping off the wheel like a stone to flick it right back off and press harder into the gas. Trying to settle her natural defensiveness around the topic. Trying not to think about how Kol hadn't slept the night of The Mikaelson ball because he never let himself sleep for the first week or so following.

How, whenever he had a bad day or an incident, she'd hold him, watching how he didn't dare blink; the pattern of history, of ending up daggered, made any attempt to sleep a threat.

Elijah's eyes passed between the pair, confused.

"You literally wrote it in your journals, Elijah," She muttered, "You knew that each experience made Kol worse. You knew you might not be able to risk waking him up again – you knew it drove him madder – "

"With rage at us – "

"With literal insanity from agonising pain."

"What?"

"Did you not think it might?" Finn was staring at her, "That the tiny pinprick of light you might have seen would not grow bigger? Brighter?"

The man with long hair, stuck in a tunic, screaming at the air.

Who she'd left that way.

Who she'd assumed was another ghost seeking peace, who would not be kind to her.

"Year after year, a slow consciousness that I was paralysed, entombed in my own mind?"

She couldn't let herself be sympathetic.

Finn Mikaelson!

Cursed Kol to die in her arms! Feeling every second of the dark magic destroying him from the inside out.

"That despair," He hissed, "Utter loneliness."

The kind that made you feed on every servant in a house until you felt something close to the energy of life the rest of the family got to experience.

"Amplified and made endless."

MJ pulled over so sharply that they both jolted.

Stopping the car to steady her breathing, Elijah unsure where to focus. Guilt towards his brother or panic at what she must've sensed to make such a choice.

Turning in her seat to face Finn.

"And yet you sentenced the one sibling who might understand you to die?"

No engine, no music, no other cars speeding past.

"Kol didn't wanna jump back to his body because that meant Klaus could dagger him again," Her eyes furious, "If that's why you want out too, fair. I get it."

Still wouldn't let him take one of her witches, but it made more sense.

"But if you so clearly understand how awful that feels," Her tone cut, "How much you crave even a second of the opposite?"

Double standards drove her up the wall.

"Why the hell would you hex the one guy who went through it long enough to feel like that."

Since she knew they'd compared dates back in Mystic Falls.

"Why would you see him finally getting a second of happiness – back with magic, with someone he loved – and even consider taking that away?"

"Did you ever consider it was for your benefit?"

Her mouth opened, eyes wide.

Was she meant to laugh or spit on him?

The steadiness of his face showed how thoroughly he believed he'd been doing her a favour.

"Maybe you were right yesterday," Finn leaned an arm on Elijah's side of the car, "I don't know you. But I know my brother."

"You don't!"

His brows furrowed.

"You know a century," She loved numbers, "Ten per cent!"

Why did no one but Kol and she ever actually run the numbers?

"By the way! His humanity was off until the 1300s."

Finn looked at Elijah in confusion, only for him to stare at her too.

"So you don't even know him!" MJ ranted, "You know Emotionless-Kol. And you know Human-Kol. Who was planning to run away because none of you made him feel like he was worth knowing!"

Hearing Kol explain the story behind building his little magic hut in the woods hurt her.

It wasn't that he'd planned to live there; he'd planned to leave.

Explore the different types of magic, and see if there was a place out there that would actually like to have him.

Only to find himself sleeping there enough nights, trying to escape the arguments between Elijah and Klaus over Tatia, the exclusionary laughter of the 'golden trio,' Mikael's violence, and just a general need for space with so many family members. He hadn't felt safe or accepted in his house, so he'd made one. A temporary, hardly safe one. And instead of noticing and expressing concern at his absence, his siblings had assumed he'd been sleeping through Rebekah's friends.

Sure, Rebekah had known about the little hut and had been welcomed there if the engraving in the Prison World was anything to go off, but that didn't change its origins.

"So don't you dare talk to me about knowing him."

A long breath out.

Screw anyone talking bad about Kol to her.

Well, screw anyone he hadn't actually done anything wrong to.

Mary-Alice and the other dead victims could say what they liked, but his family?

Elijah spoke first, "Kol's humanity?"

"I assumed Klaus would have told you by now," She forced her shoulders to untense, "Or Rebekah."

"What are you talking about, Mira."

"You remember your mum's old journals?" She stared through the windscreen, "She wrote about all of you. All the time."

Finn followed her every word.

"Documented each of your reactions to turning."

Elijah's expression turned grimmer each second.

"How I knew about you and your bloodlust issue," She confirmed, "And a story about how Kol set himself on fire to try and deal with it before losing all emotion."

The reactions each sibling had to MJ's reveal was interesting.

Rebekah had protested for a second before accepting it without much hesitation.

Klaus had fully argued in the opposite before realising how much sense it made.

The two eldest brothers?

Neither said a thing. No fight. No telling MJ that she was wrong.

Elijah had literally written about giving up on Kol because he was so heartless, the most aware that something had been wrong. Part of MJ's journey to realising it was reading Elijah practically theorising that the humanity was gone, but without the knowledge of the switch to put it into words.

And, Finn?

Well, MJ didn't know Finn.

Because he'd been locked in a box for nine hundred years.

Kol's worst period, multiplied by nine.

"If you don't choose to turn the switch back on," She explained to Finn, "You lose the capacity to feel properly."

He was scanning her.

"Stuff can come back. If you end up feeling strongly enough to reteach your brain, but...yeah. Please, go ahead and tell me all about how Kol deserved what you did to him."

Cussing him out that first day hadn't been enough.

"Tell me how you're actually the hero of my story?"

Finn didn't speak instantly.

Leaning back slowly, still just watching her.

"You didn't flinch when he yelled at you?"

"Sometimes couples fight!" Her hands came up, "I was missing, for what? Practically four days?"

Ish.

"I went to Mystic Falls, went no contact, reappeared for five minutes, told you all my heart was the key to destroying the sire line, then was kidnapped and untrackable for two days."

And he'd then been out for a further three.

"The only reason your hex didn't kill him is because I slit my throat."

Finn hadn't known that part.

"In front of him," She understood why Kol was so upset, "Then! I got turned because I went to a wedding without him. He found out I'd died over the phone!"

MJ didn't want to know how he'd reacted to Cami's voicemail.

The city was lucky she'd phoned Klaus.

Making damn sure The Original Hybrid would be there to stop him losing it.

"Kol has every right to be freaking out," She defended, "His girlfriend has just driven off to the town he died in with the brother who tried to kill him with no remorse."

Finn was yet to apologise!

"The brother technically responsible for that time he had to watch me kill myself."

Her breathing was picking up.

"But he's still mature enough to put Freya's life above his fears."

Because he also knew MJ had a point.

She was the safest bet.

Not only for the hybrid bonuses but because she was the only one he fully trusted.

"While you sit there like a whiny bitch, trying to justify what you did to him, without even trying to apologise, or make amends, or think about anything from his point of view."

Finn was just letting her talk, and it kinda freaked MJ out.

Only just realising that he'd asked it as a question. Not a statement.

Why had his tone been like that? Why wasn't it overconfident? Why wasn't it something he was trying to use as proof?

"He's your baby brother, and you tried to kill him!"

Like she could talk.

Murderer of her older brother.

But it was different. And MJ was allowed to point it out. In fact, there was no better time to remember how guilty she felt than looking at someone who should have felt that way.

"For picking the woman he loves over the mother who manipulated him."

"Our mother – "

"Oh," Her consonants were sharp, "We are not getting into her right now."

Silence.

Somewhat accepting that declaration.

Probably because Finn knew it would just be MJ talking more while his brain tried to keep up, clearly trying to work something out.

She huffed back into her seat, "Just say what you wanna say."

Battered fake leather that she'd spent many nights sleeping in while growing up. So comforting, yet in dire need of an upgrade. Holding as many bad memories as good ones. Nights drunk people had tried to bash her window down to get in while she could do nothing but rock back and forth and hum them away.

The pretty blue exterior buried beneath so much snow she hadn't been able to open the doors.

"Who says I want to say anything at all?"

"Your face," She didn't want to think about Chicago, "Your body language."

Half-turning her head back

"Your eyes."

Holding his look.

"Your family all have some of the same tells," Her volume dropped, "Not all the time. But when you're curious?"

MJ hated herself for noticing.

"You all get the same light."

"He said you were pregnant."

She exhaled.

She hated her brain.

She hated her thoughts.

"With his child?"

"It's complicated," MJ returned to staring forward, "But yes. His vampirism has been tampered with. We had sex, not realising that was going on..."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her pause.

"...And I was drawing magic forward..."

Maybe they hadn't had a one-chance wonder pregnancy?

It wasn't the first time they'd had sex while MJ had used magical suspension for the entire time to get him that extra kick. Touching every inch of each other until no spot of his body would forget what it was like to use magic again.

Was it that combined with -

"Floare heretics seem to be the origin of the Balkan vampire myth where vampires have children," She added, "I still get a period – or, well, like, monthly bleeding?"

MJ had no clue where Finn's terminology was at.

"A siphoner nurse noticed it literally two days after it happened," She was slightly baffled, "So I'm like a week and a half in."

"The child is very much welcome, Mira," Elijah spoke, "Wherever we all stand."

She let herself look at him.

"The ancestral involvement is concerning, but if you want it – "

"I don't know."

Talking about it the previous night had felt so good.

"It will grow up with my family legacy as much as yours," She restarted the engine, "And, in a way, that's worse."

Finn's eyes were on his window, "How can that be worse?"

"Trust me," She let her body enter autopilot, "My house of blood goes back longer than yours."

Her ancestor and Bonnie's leaving Qetisyah to be killed.

Three siblings forced to turn their backs or face death themselves. 

Trickling down to the amount of death immediately surrounding Ana Ruiz and ending with Ryos and MJ, all tied back to the original immortality spell and the banishment of Travellers.

"And that doesn't even get into my supernatural celebrity status," She put the car into gear, "The Strix stalking me is one thing. I earned their obsession."

She'd practically asked for it by building a mysterious reputation.

"My kid? The child of MiMi Pasare?"

"Almost as notorious," Elijah mused, "As being the child of Klaus Mikaelson."

"Exactly," She picked up the pace again, "A baby is a whole ass life."

That would rely on her.

"It's not a thing to try out, and just hope for the best."

Her only hesitation with Kol's answers the previous day.

Though, if his reaction that morning was anything to go off, he was well aware it affected their whole lives, while she acted like it didn't change anything. Because it was too early for her to let it change anything.

Her one goal was eliminating child sacrifice in New Orleans, which she hadn't done yet. MJ couldn't just sit on the bench for nine months. She had to make sure her kid was born into a better city. A better world. Only then was she gonna be able to promise she wouldn't do something stupid to save other kids.

"I refuse to make my mother's mistakes like that."

Parking up in the centre of town, MJ was grateful to have a second to take the place in. People were back. No car races in the centre, no compelled townsfolk waiting to be drunk. Just standard milling about. Cars parked in lines, people doing shopping, some sitting on the grass of the main town square, wrapped in coats, children laughing, running as their siblings chased them, parents watching on with ease.

"How will we know," Finn shut the car door, "When or if this magic trick of Kol's works?"

"You'll feel it," MJ clicked her keys to lock the vehicle, "You should see glimpses of where Vincent is."

She sat on the hood, a long, beige, thickly knitted cardigan between her bare legs and the metal, puff sleeves so long they covered half of her hands. Fingers fiddling with a metal bottle. Letting herself look over the town square, Mystic Grill on her left, Elijah on her right.

He had a black coat over his suit, Finn tugging on a hoodie, confirming that the first layer was just a shirt, then a coat, before finally coming to the front of the car to join them.

MJ lifted the bottle up reluctantly, "Here."

He just stared at it.

"Coffee plus blood. You looked cold yesterday."

All the layers he'd been wearing.

"And somehow, you look colder now."

"And you look ready for the sea."

"Floare perk," She unscrewed the lid, "If you don't want it."

He glanced away.

MJ just swigged back, letting the heat wash through her body.

Quiet.

All just taking the place in again.

"It is strange," Elijah leaned on the hood with her, "The birthplace of our very misfortune."

MJ still refused to believe the creation of vampires was a bad thing.

"Beyond that hill," He gestured towards a road that would've taken them to the forest, "Do you recall the first time we fled together?"

Looking at his brother.

"Finn?"

MJ stuck between them, taking another slow sip of the perfect mix in her flask.

"We were but children."

Something in MJ's stomach flipped.

"Nothing but the clothes on our back, desire we had no idea how to control, and a father hellbent on erasing us from the earth."

Finn exhaled, the mist of his breath showing how cold it was. Coolness was always the most significant difference for MJ. She'd lived in New York, Chicago, and New Orleans, used to drastic weather conditions, meaning Virginia was almost normal in comparison. Adapted. Still.

"No comment?"

Finn just started walking.

Right past them onto the faded grass, forcing Elijah to follow, MJ staying on the car.

She'd got her first rant out, but this wasn't just about her, Kol, and their beef with Finn. This was two brothers whose last run-in had involved an exploding house, then the near death of Kol, and then Freya sapping his spirit into a necklace.

"The first of many times we ran together over the next one hundred years," Finn tried to stare directly ahead, "'Til you all left me entombed for nine centuries."

"You were a danger."

"Danger?"

"Yes."

"Klaus and Kol killed everything that moved," Finn let Elijah level with him, "Yet I was the one considered too dangerous to undagger?"

"Despite their bloodlust, you were the poison that crippled – "

Finn yanked his arm, "Poison?"

Forcing Elijah to face him.

"I anchored us!"

"Oh no!" MJ couldn't stop the jazz hands, "Family feuding!"

"You despised us," Elijah started strong, "You despised yourself."

Stepping closer to him.

"Terrified of everything that we became," He wasn't blinking, "You threatened our very survival, Finn."

Siding with their mother to kill them all.

"Just as you have every time we made the mistake of freeing you from that box."

"I was made that way because of that box!"

"Okay!" MJ appeared in the middle, "Members of the public!"

They clocked the odd glances being sent their way. The phrase wasn't that exposing, but it wasn't normal, and Finn had yelled it at the top of his lungs. They weren't in New York. People would question things.

"Either say what you wanna say calmly or get back in the car."

Finn clicked his cheek, shaking his head.

"Do you have something you wanna say?"

"Because we don't know how long we'll be here, so better out than in."

"So you can lecture me on it?"

"Quite possibly."

"I don't need a child to tell me how I feel," His volume was lower, "Or why I feel. Or how I should handle it."

MJ finally noticed that Finn was the same height as Kol.

"I acknowledge the misplacing of my anger, and I understand why you wish to challenge it," He spoke clearly and quickly, "But that does not change the fact that every time I close my eyes, I go back to that black horizon."

The place she'd found in Kol's head.

The place he hadn't let her fall into.

Fuck the voice in her head that felt bad for him!

"That place where I was abandoned and forgotten by my own family."

Kol. Kol. Kol.

Every story he'd told her.

Every night, she'd ever wished for Ryos to remember to call her.

"So, I came out mad," He watched Elijah's face drop, "And I will remain so."

He turned to walk, not wanting Elijah to have a chance to respond, only for MJ's voice to happen.

"Can I ask what happened?"

Finn looked back at her.

"I automatically assume you did nothing," She added, "But I still want to ask?"

"I wanted to leave."

"We needed to stick together," Elijah defended.

"You misspoke earlier."

Both men hesitated.

"You called yourself kids, Elijah, but you weren't," She shook her head, "I mean, how old are you two?"

Thinking through the math.

"If Freya was five when Dahlia took her, and that was 977 AD, you're a year younger?" She checked, receiving a nod, "Meaning four. Meaning twenty-eight."

One thousand and forty-eight years old, only living around a century of it.

Still more than most, but like?

Seriously?

"You guys were adults."

The tiny teenager waiting for Ryos...

"And I get the point you're trying to make Elijah, but is it really that hard to say sorry?"

If she was going to complain about Finn not apologising to Kol, she would complain about all of them.

It wasn't like MJ had anything left to lose with the family.

And they used to like it when she was blunt.

"To your twenty-eight-year-old brother, who was maybe a little less desperate to stay with family than the eighteen-year-old Rebekah?"

Despite how much the situation reminded her of Ryos.

Of him forgetting her.

It was also tied to the other side of it. The justification MJ had always given Ryos before she'd known about the lies. He was older. He'd had a life. He'd made a life. That didn't have to be a bad thing. Obviously, his stance was different to hers. Obviously, he'd needed – 

MJ hated herself, but she snapped her fingers.

A leather journal appeared in her hands, lifted to the older man.

"Take it."

Finn looked at it like it was a weapon.

She had used a grimoire to hit him, so fair enough.

But still...

"Before I change my mind."

"What is it?"

"Your mum's journal."

His eyes jumped back to hers.

"Documents your entire childhood until turning," She pushed it into his hands, "I've read the thing front to back."

Starting to walk herself.

"You'll get a hell of a lot more out of it than me."

The book was the thing that reminded MJ that Esther had just been a mother. One who'd once loved her kids so much, she'd changed the world. Journalling about every small thing they did and all her ideas of ways to care for them. No matter how bitter and twisted she'd ended up.

...She'd died saving them...

MJ hated it. But it was true.

"Not to feed your delusions about her – "

"Why?" Finn called after her that time, "Why give them to me? Why keep them at all?"

"Because," MJ slowly turned, "I may have hated your mum."

Letting herself shrug.

"But you didn't."

She clung to her mother's journals like her life depended on it, even if she still wasn't brave enough to read the parts featuring Marcel. Part of MJ was still that innocent teenager. The one who curled up while the ghost of Ana Ruiz sang her to sleep, imagining her dad's hugs to get her through the night.

"And," She lifted her arms, "I'm being hit with the wonderful realisation that the first time I ever saw you was right there."

Pointing towards her old apartment.

"And knowing that I could have ended all of your suffering months earlier isn't a nice feeling."

Finn just looked confused.

"You never saw me back," She admitted, "But while the coffins were in the city...sometimes I see ghosts. And I saw you. And I left you there. Screaming for a way to live."

A will to live.

An expression she now recognised too well.

An expression she'd worn for too long.

"Because I was too scared to do the right thing."

"You see ghosts?"

Before MJ could respond, her phone rang.

Kol's ID.

"I'm gonna take this," She decided, "You two keep 'bonding.'"

Elijah's lips twitched again.

"I'll catch up."

Elijah forced Finn to leave her by walking on without him, both taking note of the fact he'd lingered, clutching the journal like it was made of gold.

"Hello, gorgeous-gorgeous man who I love and adore and am so grateful to have in my life."

"Ha," Kol mused, "Careful, darling, I might make you stick to that title."

"Bit of a mouthful."

"Am I not worthy of the effort?"

"I just think there's something hotter I could use."

He laughed.

"Calling to check I'm still alive or because something's happened?"

"Cami's coming to us with the Blood Rider," He revealed, "So Finn will start to feel the magic shortly."

"Will not be giving him a head's up."

"That's my girl."

She felt like a traitor.

"How is being stuck with the dullard?"

MJ made a series of noises, face attempting to form a word, stuck cycling through expressions instead.

"I know we joke about how I'm your translator," Kol mused, "But you've finally got me stumped."

"I think you're gonna be mad at me."

"...Why?"

She lowered her voice, "I feel bad for him."

Kol made a sound.

"I've already yelled at him once, but he started talking to Elijah about how painful daggering actually is – "

"And you're a beautiful soul sensitive to the topic."

"I'm sorry."

"Mira," He shook his head, letting the initial irritation slip away, "That part of you is why you can put up with me."

How she'd seen straight through him so quickly.

"I'm not about to complain about it."

She let herself smile.

"I'm just going to remind you," He lightened up, "That he'd call you a whore without blinking."

Mikael had.

"And let your feminist rage do the rest."

Her turn to laugh.

Then, a beat.

Glancing at how Elijah and Finn headed down the side path of The Mystic Grill rather than into it.

"And he hexed you to die," She sobered up, "And hasn't even apologised."

"You yelled at him?"

"Intensely," She admitted, "Very therapeutic for me."

He snorted.

"Though...I might have let it slip that your humanity was off?"

Kol shrugged, "If it means they keep you safer out of guilt."

MJ noticed a police car pulling up in a rush, driving bolting out.

"Where are they now?"

"About to be in trouble," MJ grimaced, "I see Matt."

"Keep texting."

She hung up and jogged over. Vampire speed would have been faster, but hey, maybe MJ was in the mood to watch Matt try shooting them.

"Let us simply tear this town apart," Finn declared, "And find her."

"Yeah," Matt was at the top of the stairs, "That's not gonna happen."

Lifting up a gun, fully loaded and ready to go, magic marking the side of it.

"See," He walked steadily, "I just ran every vampire out of this town."

Elijah just sighed.

"So, visiting hours are, well," He pretended to think about it, "Never."

Cocking the gun.

"Now, now, Matty-Blue," MJ put her hands on her hips, "Is that any way to greet your tourists?"

He spun to face her, eyes lighting up.

"I'm about to leave you a nasty little TripAdvisor review."

"MJ!"

She practically jumped down the two stairs he'd dropped as Matt's arms came out to catch her in a hug, spinning her around.

"I wasn't expecting a check-in for months?"

"Yeah, well," She squeezed, "Can't let Originals wander in without security."

Giggling as she pulled away.

"Oh my god!" She took in his face, "Are you wearing eyeliner?"

His eyes had a new shape to them, his cheeks flaring red.

"No!" MJ cupped his face, "It looks so good!"

Yanking his head down to look at her, losing the pep.

"You know what's not good?"

"Mikaelson's coming into a no-vampire zone?"

"Finding out you made the town where vampires were created a no-vampire zone!"

Letting go to smack him on the back of the head.

"I've been gone a week! What's happened?"

He rubbed his neck, looking back to The Mikaelson's.

"As much as you're enjoying this adorable inconvenience, Mira," Elijah murmured, "Time is of the essence."

Eyeing up the gilbert ring on his finger.

"We don't have time to play right now."

"We'll tell Rebekah you said hi," MJ joked, "Oh my god! Rebekah not only became besties with Kol's killer but slept with yours."

She hadn't realised that before.

"You guys really have no decorum – "

Her hand slammed over her mouth as she realised she probably shouldn't have said that thought out loud.

Too late to take it back!

Why did Kol and Finn have to have so much in common?

Was that why Finn hated Kol so much?

Because he didn't want to think that his blood relative could understand him?

"Anyway!" She removed the hand, "Now that we're all lovely and reunited..."

Matt was just eyeing him up.

Seeing how a vein in Finn's neck was suddenly visible, hands clenched.

There was just something so Mikaelson about his posture now it wasn't in Vincent's body.

"...Machismo contest over yet?"

"I killed him right over there," Matt nodded his head to the town square, "Can see why they'd want your protection before waltzing back in here."

"Matt."

"No need to chime in," Finn almost smiled at the gun, "I'm hardly scared of that crude little toy."

"It's heavily enchanted," He held it up, "Wolf venom bullets and everything to keep you knocked out and in pain."

MJ waved her hand, and the gun flew straight into it, Matt's mouth dropping.

"Don't use weapons I made for you to threaten people I come to town with," She waved it in his face, "This is from my 2010 collection."

That realisation slowed her.

"...It shouldn't still work."

"You left notes on how to top up magic, without magic, in Ty's house."

"Yeah, but my notes aren't easy to follow."

"It wasn't."

But he'd done it.

Should MJ be impressed or concerned with the dedication?

"Okay," She kept the gun, "I would lecture you on how to run a supernatural town, but Elijah has a point."

She needed to get a read of him first.

"Their sister has been taken."

Matt tensed.

"Not Rebekah," She assured him, "The lost witch sister I told Ty about. And she needs our help."

Matt was still glaring at the brothers.

"Are you gonna make this harder for us or help us?"

"And if you chose the first option," Elijah felt the need to chime in, "I cannot promise it won't end with violent disembowelment."

"Oh my god," MJ sighed, "This is why I had to come."

Deliberately stepping to force Matt to look at her.

"Any chance we can look at security feeds from the past few hours?"

"You can."

"And can my two tag-a-longs sit in the front of the prescient like school kids on a trip until they learn to behave?"

Matt finally cracked a smile again, "Sure."

Finn stumbled before they could even make it up the stairs, the blue sky oddly bright that day, puffs of clouds like perfectly made candy floss. Crashing directly into the red brick walls for support, Elijah froze. Finn tried to push away, only to audibly groan, MJ remembering Kol's reason for phoning.

"Oh! Shit, yeah," She winced, "Totally meant to flag that."

Finn gasped in pain.

"No more security feeds needed. They've got the spell working."

Elijah glanced between them, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is," She hopped down the stairs as Finn pressed his forehead into the brick.

"Lespri Mente Ostende Mentem."

Flashes of his mind opened to hers.

"Lespri Mente Ostende Mentem."

Finn finally pushed back entirely, eyes wide open towards the sky, inhaling sharply.

"I know where they are."

"And I should've been able to guess," MJ grimaced, "The same spot your mother once used as a base."

The trio instantly speedwalking, Matt rushing after, somewhat surprising her.

"We'll be fine, Donovan."

"Something supernatural is going down," He reminded her, "That's my jurisdiction."

MJ's sharp look at him caused a raised eyebrow.

"You're not leaving me behind."

"Fine," She accepted, "But we're moving at my speed."

Grabbing his hand and yanking, letting Matt drop in the middle of the Mystic Falls forest, the brothers a moment behind. While MJ knew exactly which path to take, no one else did. Finn had barely been around, and Elijah hadn't spent his time in Mystic Falls refamiliarising himself with how the forest had changed since their childhood.

Somehow, MJ's brain had refused to unlearn it.

The only reason she wasn't ditching them was because of the ancestral involvement. Splitting up could end badly. She'd had one too many magical breakdowns between those trees.

Stepping down the path, the biggest difference between it and the trails in the Bayou was the dryness. Yes, the end of winter left many crunchy red leaves and tiny sprouts of green, creating some semblance of colour and life among the dark cold, but it just was less. The Bayou felt softer. Even when your shoes didn't end up covered in mud, there was a bounce to each step, while now, rushing through the copper colour scape just felt dead.

Empty.

Painted into existence like an artist trying to prove that colours on opposite sides of the colour spectrum were complimentary. Which was a style MJ usually loved. The towering dark browns of trunks, branches of all different sizes, mixed between entirely bare, orange, and evergreen, fighting with the blue in the sky to be the brightest colour. The thing the eye couldn't look away from.

MJ's pastel clothes one side of that spectrum, the Mikaelson's in their black coats on the other. Matt's ugly brown uniform was so aligned with the forest's pallet he was practically lost in it. One with the image. The story. A story where he walked alone, frowning, wondering where all his friends went. 

Drawing a rune on her hand, MJ masked any sound they might make.

"This is how it is now?"

"What do you mean?"

She and Matt were ahead, Finn and Elijah behind them, eyes constantly scanning for any sign of their sister, Lucien, or Vincent.

Ears pricking in case they could get a hint of direction beyond MJ's memory.

"No more supernatural in Mystic Falls, or every supernatural in the world gets outed?"

He bit his cheek, "They told you."

"Caroline told me."

"If it means people stop dying – "

"It means you'll die," MJ corrected, "A vampire will wander into town. You'll meet him, and I won't always be here to swoop in and play peacekeeper."

"I'm not on my own MJ."

She gave him a look.

"You remember Penny?"

"The officer I compelled?"

He nodded, "I told her everything."

MJ pursed her lips. If they were dating, she was happy he hadn't lied to her, but still...she was a stranger, and their lives were very complicated.

"And she pointed out some stuff."

"Such as?"

"How much my life has been ruined by vampires," He seemed surprised she didn't assume, "Reminding me I didn't actually have to help any of them."

"Okay," MJ bobbed her head, "So why are you helping me?"

"You're my friend."

"And I'm a vampire," She rebutted, "And I told you to work with Damon last week."

Matt just stared ahead.

"Which isn't my typical advice, but – "

"This is my town, MJ," He cut her off, "You're not here to save the day anymore."

Her stance double-downed on after picking him up from jail.

"So I'm gonna do whatever makes sure everyone gets to live."

"Matt," She winced, "That's too much responsibility."

"It's what you do."

"I'm the most powerful creature on the planet."

Stuck walking through a forest.

"You're a twenty-one-year-old human with an enchanted gun."

His steps became heavier.

"I'm always gonna agree that you've had it rough," MJ stressed, "Rougher than most."

Beyond the supernatural, his home life had been hell, and unlike the rest of their friends, he didn't really have an inheritance to fall back on. He wasn't a founding member. He was just a guy working a job who'd lost his sister and had no parental support.

Matt, Bonnie, and MJ's bond had always been slightly different than the others.

There were certain things Founding Families didn't understand.

"But do you really hate all vampires that much?"

"Is ruining my life not a good enough reason for you?"

"All vampires?" MJ repeated, "Or just those who end in Salvatore?"

Matt almost scoffed, gesturing to the pair behind them.

"What did a Mikaelson actually do to you?" She challenged, "I got locked in an apartment, knocked out, threatened, stalked and harassed – you got a private trip around the world."

Matt pushed his shoulders back.

"And the stuff they did to Elena does not count as being done to you."

Silence.

"Yes, fearing for her life sucked, but directly to you?"

He always pulled his lip in when he was thinking.

"Okay," MJ nodded falsely, "Different question. You're hunting all vampires who pass through – what happens when you find a Caroline?"

"Caroline's in Dallas."

"I said 'a' Caroline."

"And I'm not following," He sighed.

"Is now really the time?" Finn complained.

"Yes," She ignored him, "Tell me, Matt."

It had been a week since they'd last spoken.

What had happened after she'd left the baby shower?

What had he been up to while Caroline had been giving birth?

"You meet a seventeen-year-old who's just been turned," She recited, "Who didn't ask to be turned. And who is desperately trying to move forward with her life."

Because Caroline had been so scared those first few weeks.

"Would you stake her?"

Stopping her march forward to step in his path, forcing him to look at her.

"Would you threaten her to leave? Put all that hate on to a stranger?"

Nothing but the wind blew through the trees as his eyes refused to still.

"You know she fed on you by accident," MJ remembered, "Because she was new."

And the transition was hard.

"You know she wiped your memories."

"I do."

"Because you weren't exactly in the loop, you wanna know what happened?"

While he'd pretended to forget some of it, there were parts he'd never gotten back. Parts before the vervain. Or, maybe he had? He'd technically died to become a medium, so?

"How she survived a car crash," MJ poked his chest, "Only to be smothered to death by someone wearing one of her best friend's faces."

Elijah shot MJ a slightly impatient look.

"Manipulated by that person – knowing that her home wasn't safe. Almost getting killed by the guy who compelled her into being his sex blood doll!"

Seeing her witch best friend control the same man like a puppet.

Caroline's first big experience with magic was one of MJ's darkest spells.

It was probably traumatising.

"Getting all the memories he'd removed during that time back – reliving what it was like to be a puppet, and all your skin becomes so sensitive the only thing your body wants to do is feed."

While MJ had been greeted by the rush of Kol's touch, Caroline had been smacked in the face with torture, only to have that same man grab her to kill.

"Only to have her other best friend openly detest her for the species she didn't ask to become."

Matt averted his eyes.

"Wolves kidnapped her – she was locked in a cage and shot at – tased."

Regardless of compulsion, he hadn't known.

"Listening to her mum tell her that she wasn't her daughter anymore after killing a man to save her life – locked in a basement as a potential sacrifice for Klaus Mikaelson!"

Something everyone seemed to forget he did to her.

"That was the first two months of Caroline's undead life."

It was ridiculous.

"And that doesn't even get into her boyfriend working with her mother, lying to her face, blaming her for his sister's death, which she had nothing to do with."

All the memories were hitting her anger hard.

She'd forgotten the levels of shit Matt had put Caroline through.

Everyone liked to talk about Tyler's unintentional werewolf traitor moment with Jules as if his uncle hadn't just been murdered, no clue what was really going on, while Matt had been pulling all that?

"It took you until she was about to be a sacrifice to get over your hate back then, so what's it gonna be now?"

He finally met her look.

"You gonna need to meet another seventeen-year-old who didn't ask for it? See them tremble in fear because they don't know what they've done, and they've already had to leave their old life behind, and now some guy's trying to shoot them?"

To her core, MJ hated guns, handing his back.

"Because that's almost everyone we know! Name one person who wanted this."

And yet he could stand there and think all vampires deserved to die?

"Which doesn't even get into the future hypocrisy."

"Future hypocrisy?"

"What happens when Bonnie wakes Elena up?"

He blinked rapidly, "What do you mean?"

"You loved her first, Matt," MJ stressed, "And I'm not talking about the romance, B.S. I'm talking about the fact you were her best friend."

"What about it?"

"She chose Damon," MJ wanted to shake sense into him, "Bonnie wakes her up."

Because MJ had full faith in Bonnie to do it.

"She still chooses him – and you know damn well Elena's gonna live in Mystic Falls, and you're gonna love Elena, so you're gonna let her come home, meaning he does too."

It was ridiculous to think Matt's grudge would stop just because he took the cure.

"I've always believed friendship is the most important thing in the world," MJ knew her eyes showed pain, "It hurts just as much as love. Sometimes worse."

Elijah, over his shoulder.

"Friends can cut in a way no one else can, and then you're just left there," Her voice hoarse, "Hating yourself. And them. And everything that broke you apart."

The original vampire didn't dare blink, either.

MJ didn't know if she was talking about them, Klaus, or a million other relationships. One of the worst friendship deaths she'd ever experienced was between herself and Elena. Even if they'd managed a decent final chat, thinking about the speed and levels it had fallen created such a unique sting in her soul.

But now, MJ was just with the man she'd sat on a bench with. Knowing he'd misread her so thoroughly, he'd snapped her neck.

"Which is why it's so important," She returned to Matt, "To have them in your life."

And he was now officially the only one in town.

"Don't let your hate control you, Matty."

It was so tiring.

"You'll just end up alone."

Whether Penny stuck around or not.

"And no one deserves to be alone."

Elijah watched his older brother look away.

"Not when you don't have to be."

"I ended up alone," Matt spoke quietly, "Because of vampires."

"And your very mature response is to declare war on them?" She called out, "Which will just end with more people dying."

Did people not realise that's how wars went?

"You wanna run this town? You need balance – "

"How often do you and Tyler talk?"

MJ paused, "We send each other selfies every other day."

His eyebrows lifted.

"We call when we can and do weekly text check-ins."

"Seriously?"

"He's my family," She shrugged, "And one of my favourite people in the world, even with the anger issues and drama."

She didn't get why it was surprising.

"When you care about people, you put in the work."

Matt looked at the trees, "You changed the world for him over the years."

"Not just him," Elijah finally spoke, "I'd say all of you benefitted."

"What can I say?" She ran her fingers through her hair, "Everyone deserves to have heaven and earth moved for them at least once in their life."

A hill MJ would die on.

"Or, I don't know, know there's someone out there willing to try."

"Not everyone does have that, though," Finn murmured, "Not everyone deserves that."

She smiled almost cruelly, "I can make this about you if you want."

"Your lack of haste," He lifted his hands, "While my sister is in – "

"Ohhh," MJ straightened up, "I've got you defensive?"

Gleaming as she pointed.

"Save it for the drive back," She honed in on Matt, "Leaving town was the best thing Ty ever did."

His once bright eyes were pale.

"Jeremy, too."

"And your boyfriend's just happy with Jer being out there?"

"Jer has spent every minute since Bonnie brought him back trying to make Kol's death up to me," She reminded him, "Hell, you know he came to New Orleans. He stayed with me."

Jeremy benefitted from Kol blaming Elena, Klaus, and himself.

"That's what happens when you let yourself be happy," She pleaded, "All the anger and resentment? It starts to slip away, and one day, you can't even remember that thing that used to keep you up at night – you have no need to."

Marcel Gerard.

"What you have isn't happiness, Matt. It's playing guard. And it's not healthy."

He was craving power, if she was being honest.

"It won't end well. And I want you to get a happy ending, Matt."

"And," His gaze hardened, "How many people lost their happy endings because of Damon?"

Her eyes closed, shoulders dropping as he walked past her.

Losing him was like a gut punch.

And she was not in the headspace to have her shrinking hope for humanity punched.

"And how many people have died," She didn't turn after him, "Because of police brutality?"

The speed at which he stopped was comical.

"How many of those deaths are people of colour?"

Finally facing him, Mikaelson's now behind her.

"But yeah, you're the good guy," MJ walked closer, "Marching around in a uniform."

Detesting tone growing.

"Waving a gun."

She flicked his badge.

"I know exactly how many classes you failed and how little training you got." Her look was unforgiving. "Now able to dictate what is lawful and good to a town."

His face didn't know what to do. He was trying to speak, but MJ was not letting him. She'd always been the person to believe in him. To help him pass without judgment. Meaning that hearing her talk down on it was like experiencing his limbs being pulled off.

"Here's a real-life police multiple choice question," She lorded, "A child phones you crying."

Matt tried to slow his heartbeat.

"Tells you she's just dug herself out of a grave because a high schooler pinned her to a bench, ripped half her clothes off, then thought she died before he got to finish the assault."

He froze.

"What do you do?"

She could feel the wind picking up between her fingers.

"You chase after the vampire?" She offered, "You shoot her and tell her to leave town because she's a witch?"

Matt started to connect the dots.

"Not only a witch but a siphoner!"

Finn, about to complain about relevancy, also connected the dots.

"Or! Do you tell her," MJ almost laughed, "The best thing to do is let the guy believe he succeeded. That he will never be caught?"

Now she was older, MJ understood what the woman had been trying to tell her. She'd phrased it terribly, and MJ disagreed with the advice, but she finally understood it.

There hadn't been enough evidence.

Ignoring that he was a vampire, so could compel himself free, she'd burnt the clothes, there were no security cameras or witnesses, and she was a minor. A woman of colour. And entirely broke. One day, there might be a world where it would've ended differently. Where she would've gotten the proper support. She might've gone to Maci that night instead of after the incident, and the vampire would've been dead.

"Because that's the only thing the police have contributed to my life."

"MJ..."

"But you go ahead," She wasn't blinking, "You run a supernatural-aware police force and think that makes a fucking difference without other supernaturals having your back."

Added to her to-do list?

Restructure the vampire moles in the police.

Reaccess Vincent's role in the force.

"You ignore my advice? The person who has always been in this world – who has jumped from supernatural hub to supernatural hub – You think you know better than me?"

The person who'd tutored them all through school.

"Because, of course, you do!" She goaded, "You're a white man waving a gun."

After so many years of being one of the few people who always had her back – the audacity –

How dare he speak like he knew her world – her life –

The conversation was over.

"You can catch up."

Vamping off, landing straight in the Lockwood cellar clearing, she found Vincent writhing on the floor, Lucien hiking Freya up. He spun to face MJ, shoving the Mikaelson sister into a headlock as she screamed – MJ deactivating the run so the boys could hear them.

"Hello, Lucien."

He went to snap Freya's neck, only for MJ to snap her fingers faster. Shooting Lucien into the sky like he'd been fired like a canon, second hand shoving forward to catch Freya as she hunched to the floor. Vincent's eyes flooded with relief as MJ waved at the tiny vampire dot in the sky.

"Bye-bye, Lucien."

He smashed down through the trees as Elijah, Finn, and Matt sprinted in, a flurry of animals scuttling away as MJ inspected the massive tree stump in the centre.

A series of bottles across it.

"Oh," Lucien pushed up, panting, "Just in time for the party!"

His shirt was also torn from the attack, tie loose.

"Something I will never understand," She lifted her chin, "Why dress for a board meeting when you know you're gonna end up punched in the face?"

He smirked, "Could say the same about your skirt."

"It's a distract tactic."

"Could same the same, love," He grabbed the nearest bottle, "Fancy a drink?"

"Would rather some white oak," MJ scanned, "But to wash it down?"

"A gentleman's game," He tossed her what seemed to be a vial of blood, "At least start the fight on an even playing field."

"No chance," MJ tipped it on the floor as he swigged back –

Freya screamed, so MJ twisted her wrists, every inch of glass shattering, sending the liquid across his hands, watching his eyes widen, desperately licking his fingers.

"And I'm guessing that's a potion?"

His eyes snapped to her, entirely black, "If you've cost me this."

"I'm going to cost you everything, Lucien."

As he charged, Matt fired a shot, hitting him in the shoulder, only for the vampire's hands to find Freya, yanking her into a human shield. Her throat was bruised and bloody, showing that he'd been crushing it prior to their arrival, only able to whimper in agony and exhaustion.

Finn did not hesitate, behind Matt, hand on the trigger, firing two shots.

The magic amplifying the gun drove the wood through Freya's shoulder, directly into Lucien's heart.

MJ was almost impressed.

Freya was dropped, eyes rolling, blood spreading across her black jacket as thick lines of grey travelled out of Lucien's chest, skin turning marble white.

"Oh," He almost smiled, "You clever bastard."

~MJ didn't like that~

Body thumping to the floor, neither Mikaelson paying him a second thought, rushing to Freya's side, Elijah biting into his wrist.

"Hold her!" He instructed, "Hold her head."

Finn cradled her like he might cry, brushing her hair back, chucking the cloth to the side and listening to her heartbeat. MJ walked to Vincent, not letting herself look at Matt. His body was arching back and forth, power shaking across his spine.

MJ knelt down, blowing over her hands, then placing them on his cheeks.

His jolted up, taking in the forest, The Mikaelson's, arms latching around MJ's neck in gratitude, eyes closed and shaking.

"Hey," MJ spoke gently, "We're all gonna be okay."

"We're not, MJ," He whispered, "I'm so sorry."

Matt looked away awkwardly, moving to stand by Lucien's body, scanning it.

"I thought I'd be strong enough – "

"What are you talking about?" MJ pushed him back from the hug, "Vincent?"

He couldn't stand up, trying to. MJ, about to cast another spell, only to feel fleeting instead of a rush. Since she'd broken the sire line, her power had been leaking – where was it?

How long had it been gone?

She was meant to be past inaccurate readings!

Except, Clio's recent attempt hadn't changed anything. She knew that. The power under her skin as she walked through New Orleans –

Freya gasped awake like she'd simply been knocked out rather than shot.

"Where is he?!"

"That guy?" Matt nodded down to the body, "Dead."

She could barely talk, "No."

"Freya," Elijah rubbed her shoulders, "It's done. It's over."

"You don't understand," She begged, "He drank the serum."

MJ's eyes went wide, "What type of serum?"

"A spell to make him a new type of Original," Vincent finally had enough strength to speak, "The ancestors..."

Back to swaying, forcing MJ to bite her wrist. Feeding him blood while returning to her feet. Trying to think. Trying to remember every thought her eighteen-year-old self had when Esther did the same to Ric.

"He wanted you to kill him," Freya continued, "Help him take the final step."

Both Vincent and she were too weak, leaving them all to face the body.

Able to watch as colour returned to Lucien's skin, the two bullets popping out of his heart. Sitting up like a vampire in a cartoon, more poised than ever.

Eyes burning bright red.

Not the whites of his eyes, but the irises – a ring of chemical red, mouth opening to reveal two layers of fangs. The face of a hybrid. Darker and thicker veins danced across his cheeks, no yellow in his eyes. No Levi Ajan part two – but the same principals. The same taking of one thing and mixing in with another, leaving MJ to argue with her brain.

She needed to fight.

She needed to focus.

She couldn't let him get away because she was wrapped up in theories –

Matt instantly shot.

Every bullet was pushed back out by the speed of a healing factor only she and Kai had ever demonstrated. The brave human walking closer, changing angle, hitting him in the head, the legs, the eye – only the last baiting Lucien into catching it.

Crushing the wood between his fingers.

No enchantments keeping it safe.

Finn went to lunge, Lucien punching him in the chin, flying into the ground hard enough to sink.

"Poor show!" Lucien mocked, "Is that the best you can do?"

MJ played smart.

She'd always played smart –

He kicked Finn's side, shooting him at a tree, MJ forcing herself into the action. Intercepting the steps he'd taken towards Matt, her own hand around his throat, burning bright red.

Scream rippling out.

Drawing the fangs right back out to play, only to find MJ's scream joining his.

Fizzing and popping.

Blasts of power she didn't understand like bubblewrap over her brain, peeling back to find pieces of Lego being smashed against her limbs. Dents of negative energy chipping away at her very being the longer she held on – magic reforming beneath her touch. Not like dark objects. Something different.

The voices of her spirits screamed through her ear.

Ripping her apart for trying to take their power –

Elijah yanked MJ back as everyone stilled in confusion, Vincent desperately trying to use the tree stump to pull himself up. Her arms were on literal fire. Actual red flames.

MJ instantly put herself out, meeting Lucien's look.

He was as surprised as her.

A laugh fell out, panting from the pain she'd caused, the magic rushing to fill him right back up. Siphoning had done damage. The spirits were trying to make it seem like it hadn't. The spirits were on his side!

But – but –

The fire –

"That's even better than I expected," He laughed more, "What do you think, Elijah?"

The vampire in question released MJ to charge, Lucien's kick sending him to the opposite side of the clearing.

"I think this new power suits me."

"I think you shouldn't get so cocky," MJ lifted her fingers to create a shape, "I'm not the ancestral puppet here."

Moving them forward, a rush of air slicing out, Lucien's scream echoing as a million paper cuts appeared in tandem across his body.

"Crescedo Arbor."

The ground beneath them started to shake.

"Crescedo Arbor."

The roots of the trees unearthing in a snap, trunks shifting like in quicksand, arching back to let their bases move, rapidly growing and whipping into the man like an octopus. Slamming him down, twisting around his wrists and neck until he couldn't make another sound.

MJ walked straight towards him as the brothers picked themselves up.

She crossed two fingers on both hands, tapping the top one onto the nail of the bottom.

"Dǎ Suì."

The roots spun before exploding into a million splitters, cutting through his blue shirt and across his neck, blood pouring from his wrists and down his legs.

Lucien's eyes turned from red to black as he took the momentary freedom.

Fist aimed for her face, MJ speaking as knuckles touched skin.

"Uila."

He was hiked up, shaking as orange electricity bounced through his body. MJ was still knocked back, but barely, catching herself by turning her feet, one hand on the ground, hair flicking back to watch as he writhed.

"How do we kill him?" Matt asked.

"Head or the heart."

"It won't be enough," Freya was trembling, "We need to run."

"No chance," MJ refused, "He doesn't get to walk away from this."

Standing in the centre of the clearing, Matt behind her, guarding Vincent, Freya trembling, Finn and Elijah on either side. Not sure where to look. Especially as MJ tilted her head, eyes turning orange, necklace beginning to glow, a slight purple aura to her being.

"Lihednat Dolchitni."

Lucien's pain turned garbled, hands flinching to his throat, pads of his fingers dragging down the flesh like he was trying to create new airwaves as she closed the rest.

"Magia Tollox De Terras."

A chill spread through MJ's spine.

A grunt as Matt fell to the floor choking too, Vincent rising, eyes entirely white, hand forward, Freya caught in the spell too. Elijah's mouth hung open as he lost the ability to breathe – Finn turning, like stepping away or averting his eyes would save him, only to be left in the same state as the rest.

MJ refused to believe the dryness of her throat.

Staring her possessed friend down.

"You are not loyal to the cause,"

His voice had the undercurrent of three more.

"Your doubt will not cost us everything."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"You are still too young to understand."

The wind raced out from them in a circle, wiping all of MJ's magic, Lucien's body hitting the ground with a thud, the rest of her side still begging for air. Every stick or free leaf ripped into the flow – the never-ending circle as Vincent met her in the eye of the storm.

"Too afraid to look into the light."

His movements were that of a zombie. Not the sharp demon-like energy of the woman from The Cauldron, not the empty chanting of the witches surrounding Finn before dropping dead, but a puppet trying to fight back.

Pulling at his soul.

Begging his mind to be strong enough, eyes watering as he looked at her.

"And realise what we are sparing you from."

Lucien found his feet, all the injuries she'd given fading into dust.

The smell and stains the only proof she'd done anything at all.

The trees started to catch – the forest so used to her hurricanes, but this time? This – this wasn't MJ. This was pure power, once dripping off her, the city lacing her in gunpowder, now taking it back. Funnelling it into Vincent as evergreen leaves were snatched into a torrent vacuum of power.

"You do not believe in us."

"You're killing people."

"These deaths will be on you."

"Then tell me what to do!" MJ begged, "Tell me why this is worth it!"

"You could be the thing that saves us all."

"You created the monster this time!"

No more screaming at her about changing nature.

"I will destroy it."

"But the sacrifice will clearly be too great."

"Stop sacrificing people!"

"Sacrifice is necessary."

Blood poured down Vincent's face, cutting off the chorus.

Forcing it into the wind, too.

Encircling them. Epicentre shrinking. Everyone but Lucien was forced to scream – it wasn't just wind. It was debris, blood, glass – cutting through them. Skin ripped from bone and muscle, the magic staining the land making the spirits that much stronger. Not New Orleans spirits, but Esther had been consecrated to their plane. That action gave them a door to history.

"Please."

MJ spun, a crying voice in the tornado of pain.

"Nou pa ka rete jan nou te ye a."

"Is someone there?"

"Li pral detwi nou tout."

"Are you here to save me?"

"Ti bebe a ka pran li."

"You," Lucien grabbed her, "Put up a good fight."

She tried to get free, only for the pressure to lock her joints.

"Enjoy."

His teeth scraped up her neck, Vincent lunging too, hands slamming into her right shoulder, MJ's scream so intense that everything was blasted to the edges of the clearing. Leaving her in the centre. Free of the hurricane and the voices, Vincent uncurious in a heap.

The Mikaelson's and Matt free.

MJ's eyes scanned each body, waiting for anyone to move.

Daring them to as she sick raced up her throat.

Hand on her neck, siphoning the wound faster than she'd ever before. 

Elijah stupidly took Lucien's fixation on her as an opening, slamming him into the nearest tree and punching, only for Lucien to entirely overpower him. He flipped Elijah over his shoulder, twisting his arm out of its socket to switch their positions. Leaving him pressed into the tree as the fangs came back out, cut off by Finn.

Finn Mikaelson smashed the useless gun against Lucien's temples, dropping Elijah from the disorientation, only to turn and tear right through Finn's neck, too.

"Ahhh," He flinched back, Elijah catching him before he could fall to the ground.

Coating Lucien's lips in red.

As he stepped, Freya and MJ moved in tandem, a protective barrier going up, built from their combined power. While MJ hadn't wanted to give him a chance to run only seconds earlier, a lot had happened in those seconds.

Vincent had happened.

Those voices...

His bite.

"A barrier spell?" He was still unphased, "How delicious."

Running his fancy shoes along the line while Finn twisted in pain, catching MJ's eyes.

"I do appreciate a bit of spice being thrown into the hunt," He let his hands rise, "It isn't very fun if the quarry just rolls over and offers its neck, is it?"

"I can keep this up," Freya sneered, "As long as it needs to be here."

He crouched down to her, "I don't doubt it."

Taking them all in one at a time.

All but MJ torn up from the mock hurricane, bruised from his punches, Finn's neck developing a rash of red boils around the bite.

"I have waited a thousand years," He smiled, "I can wait a tad longer."

Doing up his coat.

"I'm going to enjoy making this last a long time."

Elijah matched his glare, staring into his soul.

Try to see a trace of the man who'd once helped them. Who he'd compelled. Who'd lived a thousand years without them, plotting and scheming, finally getting what he wanted.

MJ forced herself to stand by Elijah's side, slightly worried the ancestors would pop back up to help Lucien push through. The man smiling at her. Looking over her healed neck almost gleefully before vanishing into nothingness.

"I'm going after him."

"No."

"His power boost came from this spot," MJ reasoned, "Elsewhere – "

"No," Elijah looked at her, "Mira."

Kol had let her leave that morning to show trust and respect. If she vanished after a creature upgraded and aimed to kill?

She rubbed over where she'd been bitten.

Watching as Elijah dropped, turning Finn to expose the scope of Lucien's bite, Matt also groaning on the floor.

MJ caving, hand lifting to project out.

"Zhìsan Yùar Todsuǒ Asyǒu."

It would be a lie if MJ pretended she wasn't starting to feel tired.

"Las Cica Bāhén Trices."

Firing that much magic, with the intensity needed to hold down whatever Lucien had turned himself into while in a screaming match with the ancestors?

It took a toll.

She was starving, desperate for food, missing Kol, and uncomfortable seeing Matt and Vincent in such states.

"Zhìsan Yùar Todsuǒ Asyǒu."

The ground around them became softer, water pooling from the depths of dryness, leaves crumbling to dust as the last specs of life left in them were gifted out. Gifted to her. Pushed into their bodies, stitching everything up.

"Las Cica Bāhén Trices."

MJ collapsed to her knees as everyone, but Finn blinked with energy.

Vincent rubbed his forehead like he thought he was hungover; Matt, not wasting a second, by her side to check on her like they weren't in a fight, Freya looking between them all in confusion. Meeting Elijah's gaze.

Then, watching the still heavily injured Finn.

"I guess," MJ forced herself to her feet, "It's good I came along after all."

Finn wheezed, inching away like he thought she would hurt him when Elijah stepped back to give her the best vantage point.

It wasn't just a bite.

It was like something had been embedded in him, latched into the muscle lining of his neck until different shades of pink and red were all she could see.

"I'm so sorry," Vincent crept closer, "I – I'm gonna find a way to stop this."

MJ didn't look at him.

"Whatever they're doing."

"Vin," She shook her head, "Later."

The shivers left Finn a mess.

"This will hurt," She briefed, "But it'll also heal you."

Freya wrapped his hand in hers so he could squeeze away – quite the choice when he had vampire strength and she didn't. But who was MJ to judge. She'd made far more questionable choices in her past.

"If you think about it as a gift, it hurts left."

Starting gently, MJ's hand hovered over the gash, slowing into the glowing red. Finn forced to let the pain sink in as his legs jolted before she risked touching it. Resting over the wound and breathing in.

MJ was tired, but she was taking in magic.

And everything would be –

Her face contorted as her stomach lurched, fingers catching fire.

"MJ," Matt panicked, "Stop."

She powered through, watching as the bite started to shrink, Finn's scream only getting louder.

Her airwaves started to close up!

Cold – nothing but cold. Any power MJ thought she'd been getting a masquerade to infiltrate her mind, rip the rug out and send her spiralling down the soaking wet and icy well. Back cracking on impact. Staring up at a shining white light stabbed into her eyes like a knitting needle. It was not a tiny thread. It was not a sewing machine creating life but a sharp pin primed to blind.

Her entire body flinched back, panting on the floor.

Everyone was incredibly still as MJ's hands trembled, staring at the blood, the bite, and the fact that it hadn't worked.

Instantly patting down her neck.

She'd healed herself.

It had worked –

Why wasn't it working?

"I – I – " She couldn't look at Freya, "We need to call Klaus."

Matt stared at her in concern, "You got – "

"We're calling Klaus," She rushed to her feet, "I can keep trying in the car – "

Desparelty holding her own neck, MJ waited for the boils to reappear – but they weren't. Why weren't they? Why could she siphon herself but not him? Was it a dark magic hallucination? Was it a test? What was that emptiness?

"I..."

Why did it claw at her memories?

"I don't know! It's just..."

Why did it sit in her stomach so heavily?

"It's not working."