"Where is she?"
Damon's question gave Elena pause.
For the past few days, she had narrowly managed to avoid having to explain why Buffy was suddenly not answering calls and texts. It was easy with some of their friends except for maybe Bonnie who had been more worried than most. After a Facetime call with Buffy though, where the Slayer had explained that she had gone to see Angel, the witch had calmed down a little.
Angel and Buffy had spent the past few days just the pair of them bar-hopping in Chicago while he helped her deal with her upgrade. Making their way through to some of his demon contacts who had some theories about her new abilities.
At least that was what Buffy had told Elena during their catch-up call when Buffy had confirmed she would return the following day.
Yep, it was almost mid-day and Buffy had yet to make her appearance.
And as expected after three days of radio silence, Damon and Stefan were no longer buying her tale that Buffy just needed a couple of days of peace at the lake house.
With the brothers' eyes still glued to her, Elena rubbed her hands together nervously, trying to avoid their stares as she continued to eye the front door. Praying for Buffy to finally walk in and save her from having to deal with this conversation "She said she would be here by now."
"Why did she leave town anyway?" Stefan asked curiously.
He and Damon had been left completely in the dark when it came to Buffy's sudden disappearance. Only having learned of it the morning after when they had come over intent on talking through their plan to deal with Klaus and Mikael.
It just didn't make sense.
No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what would have driven Buffy to just take off. Especially with her friends from Sunnydale in town, normally when she used to disappear it was because of Sunnydale drama.
Yet they were here...and she wasn't.
Knowing that she couldn't hold off much longer given that Damon looked ready to rip her throat out and Stefan looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown, Elena gulped nervously.
She was seriously cursing her sister in her mind right now.
Buffy so owed her for this.
"She got a phone call the other night and next thing we knew she was heading out of town."
Damon frowned at the weak explanation. Elena really wasn't the best liar. Anyone who knew Buffy, knew that she wasn't the type to just drop everything and run off without a good reason "Who called her?" He pushed.
Elena rolled her eyes slightly under Damon's glare. Glancing once more at the front door, she finally sighed in defeat "Angel. She went to see Angel."
That was certainly one way to get the Salvatore brothers to shut up.
The pair of them glanced at each other, blinking rapidly as though they had misheard before turning back to the brunette with wide eyes.
"What?!"
Instead of her plan of a night in bed with her fried chicken where she could digest the confusing emotions that had been awakened after her visit with Angel, Buffy had been summoned to the boarding house.
Adjusting the box of chicken in her arms as she pushed open the front door and found herself frozen in the entry.
Her feet refused to let her step further into the Salvatore home.
Her body was practically screaming at her to go home, screaming that she wasn't ready to face anyone after her emotional weekend.
It had been a strange and emotional experience, to say the least.
Neither of them had really spoken much, given that Buffy hadn't wanted to discuss how she felt about dying and being resurrected. They had simply enjoyed each other's company, the pair of them trying to figure out how they stood as friends now that all of their memories were back.
Mary had tied everyone's memories to Buffy's, so the second she had taken the cure, the truth came flooding back to anyone who had their mind altered.
Buffy was just the only one with two lives permanently living in her head.
Figuring out what aspects of their relationship had been and what had been an illusion was a strange experience.
As much as she wanted some peace to process everything, Buffy knew she didn't have a choice. She was expected to be here so they could go over the plan for Klaus.
She could rest and mourn her own death another time.
Though given how quickly she had been thrown back into the fray of Mystic Falls drama, she was starting to doubt that she would ever get a break. Or time to process the fact she had technically killed herself.
Her emotional damage and fragile state were problems for another day...or century.
Inhaling tightly, she summoned her courage and prepared to face the music before strolling into the parlor room a bright false smile plastered on her face "I come bearing chicken pieces." She announced only to be met by a tense atmosphere in the air.
Everything had gotten awkward despite the fact she hadn't done anything yet, she hadn't even cracked a joke.
It was a Gilbert vs Salvatore glare-off.
Elena was glaring at both brothers, a pointed look on her face as she tried to silently tell them not to bring up the elephant in the room, while the brothers were ignoring her heated glares. Both of them were focused on the very confused Buffy, with their arms crossed over their chests.
Of course, the one time the Salvatore brothers were actually getting along was when they were pissed at her.
Somehow they had made it a bonding opportunity.
Oblivious to what she could have possibly done in the space of five seconds, Buffy rolled her eyes "What? I was hungry. Helps with the wanting to remove everyone's heads thing." She ignored their angry glares and jumped over the back of the couch, settling into the seat, her box of chicken on her lap "I brought enough to share."
Biting into the fried food Buffy turned to Elena who had given up on dealing with the stoic brothers, flopping down into the chair by the bookcase "What's with the misery?"
Elena gulped quickly avoiding Buffy's eyes but her silence just caused Buffy to grumble in annoyance. There was only one reason that she could think of that had set off Salvatore's angry brooding bonding, and given the timing, it made perfect sense.
Elena had snitched on her.
"You told them?"
Elena winced guiltily before leaning forward in her seat, ignoring the brothers and their petty attitudes as she focused on her sister "How—how was it? Seeing him, him seeing you?"
It was a complicated question, to say the least.
One she didn't want to answer, one she didn't have to answer. This weekend had been the first time since her resurrection that she had been able to actually think about how she felt about her new life.
She needed this weekend to be her memory alone.
"I don't wanna talk about it." She mumbled biting into a piece of chicken, purposely looking away from Elena's pointed gaze. She knew Elena wanted to know every detail, but this wasn't something Buffy was going to spill.
Plus, it had been proven that clearly, Elena sucked at lying and keeping secrets!
"I will say heightened emotions aren't that bad. Chicken is so much better now." She deflected, a blissful moan escaping her lips as she swallowed. One benefit of her new abilities, food was so much better now, though milk was kind of icky for her taste buds now. The texture just tasted different, hence why her coffee order had switched to plain black for the time being.
Despite wanting to push about Angel, Elena forced herself to focus on the joy in Buffy's eyes as she munched away on a family-size bucket of chicken.
However, as she reached to grab a piece her hand was quickly slapped away, the blonde pulling the box out of reach protectively.
Elena snorted in amusement "What happened to sharing?"
"I burn more calories now?" Buffy tried, her voice coming out like a small innocent child who had been caught sneaking candy. She was clutching the bucket to her chest as an adorable pout filled her eyes causing Elena to laugh, tapping her sister's head "Okay, sweetie, you eat all the chicken you want."
The condescending kidding tone didn't bother Buffy, she was too hungry to care about the fact that she probably sounded like a child.
Continuing to devour her food Buffy folded her knees under her so she was more comfortable before reluctantly turning her focus to the brothers.
Back to the Mystic Falls drama.
"So wanna tell me why I had to get take out?"
The two brothers shared a small look of dread before finally, Stefan turned to Buffy, revealing the reason they had called her over "You need to call Klaus."
The bucket of chicken hit the floor with a thud, Buffy's jaw hanging up as she stared at the pair with wide eyes of horror "Huh?"
**
16:00 PM
Buffy Anne Summers was in hell.
The fact that she was the one currently dialing Klaus's number was not bringing joy to her life. It was kind of ironic how quickly the group switched between two different mentalities when it came to her and Klaus.
One second, they were all for keeping her the hell away from him, then the next second they were actively pushing her toward him, making her the Klaus bait when the situation suited their plans.
"Hello, love... " She could practically feel his smug grin through the flirty tone "...To what do I owe the pleasure."
Buffy rolled her eyes, she was going to kill Stefan and Damon for this.
"Looking for a chat with my least favorite hybrid." She replied flatly before glancing up at the others who shot her a pointed look. They wanted her to play nice, again having momentarily switched their opinions on her speaking to Klaus.
Biting into her cheek she sighed deeply "Actually I hear you left town."
"Missing me?"
"Hardly." She hated the fact that his taunting voice was incredibly sexy "More annoyed by the lack of you keeping your promise to help me."
"Don't worry love, I'll be back soon to fulfill that promise. I'd rather not stay here too long. Portland is fantastic once you can get over all the whiny music and all the healthy people, it's literally a breeding ground for werewolves. However, a certain Slayer's presence is missing, so trust me I'll be back."
If there was one thing to give her pause about killing him, other than the obvious problem of Mikael it was that Klaus could help her.
Though Rebekah had agreed to help her the best she could once Buffy helped avenge her mother's death.
Rebekah would have to be enough because even if she was slightly hesitant mainly due to the fact she was worried about taking on Mikael alone, one way or another Klaus would be dead.
Or at least that's what her friends thought, Buffy had a sliver of doubt in her heart.
Klaus was going to come out on top.
She could feel it.
Glancing over at Stefan he gave her an encouraging smile, though she could see the anger in his eyes. He was literally being forced to listen to Klaus flirt with her, encouraging her to play along.
It was a special kind of torture.
"Klaus..." She whispered softly, the Hybrid instantly going silent at the change in her voice "...something happened."
"What is it?" He hissed automatically, he actually sounded concerned which threw Buffy for a slight loop "Are you okay? Do I need to kill a Salvatore?"
Gulping nervously, Buffy's eyes drifted over to Rebekah who forced a smile onto her face, a very clear 'I told you so' smile.
"Your father is dead."
Silence.
Buffy was met with nothing but the sound of Klaus's heavy breathing as he processed her words, clearly waiting for the butt of the joke.
A joke she never finished.
At the 60-second mark, Buffy frowned in confusion, Klaus was never this quiet, she quickly glanced down at her phone to make sure he hadn't hung up, and sure enough, he was still there.
His words caught in his throat, clearly struggling with how to respond to her declaration.
"Klaus, you still there?"
"What did you say to me?"
The flirty tone was long gone as he spoke, his voice harsh and cold.
"The thing about your dad or me not missing you?"
Buffy could only roll her eyes as she was met by a growl from his end of the line, clearly, the flirty nature of their chat had dramatically switched.
This was now a serious conversation.
One she couldn't use jokes to avoid.
Though she would probably still try.
"Okay, geez! No need to get all wolfy. Mikael. He's dead. Well daggered, so temporarily dead. But I don't see myself pulling that thing out anytime soon. Guy gives me the hibby-gibbys."
Slowly her eyes drifted down to the daggered desiccated figure laid out in the center of the parlor room.
Mikael.
"Yeah this body doesn't exactly match my carpet and I don't plan on redecorating because of your dad. So are you gonna come pick up the body? I killed him my work here is done."
"Well darling, as much as I would love to spend the day with you when I come to collect his body, I will need you to tell me exactly what happened first."
15:00 PM
"All right, we'll say that Mikael followed Elena in here..." Stefan explained to the group as he lead them through the Boarding House, coming to a halt in the parlor room "He tried to grab her so he could use her as bait."
As usual, Elena Gilbert had been demoted to bait, which just made the brunette groan in annoyance "Why am I always the bait?"
All three sets of supernatural eyes quickly shot to the brunette with raised eyebrows. Elena may be learning to protect herself but it didn't change the facts. She was the human doppelganger that got kidnapped every other week, until that changed she would always be the bait.
Damon snorted slightly, enjoying Elena's obvious frustration.
Ignoring the harsh glare being thrown in his direction the vampire moved to stand beside Buffy throwing an arm over her shoulder as he smirked "Because you're the human."
As Buffy shoved his arm off her, Elena rolled her eyes at the childish antics before turning her attention back to Stefan "And then what? You vervained him?"
"No, we vervained him." Damon corrected gesturing to himself and his brother.
This time it was Elena's time to snort.
Damon seemed to forget that even with Stefan, the two of them were no match for Mikael.
There was technically only one person that may stand a chance given that she couldn't be daggered like Rebekah.
Slowly her eyes shifted over to Buffy who sighed and turned to both brothers. Clearing her throat she eyed them both unimpressed by their plan. If they were really going to risk having to deal with Mikael once Klaus was dead they were going to need a better plan. Or at least a better story to tell Klaus, because there was no way he would buy the idea of two baby vampires taking on The Original Hunter.
Just because Stefan and Damon had managed to beat Elijah once, mainly because of luck didn't mean they were invincible...she on the other hand was the definition of unkillable right now.
"Please, let's be realistic about this guys."
"Correction Buffy vervained him." Damon reluctantly agreed while Stefan stifled a laugh at the hurt on Damon's face, Buffy and Elena had fractured his fragile ego with their lack of faith "And then in the process, she discovered he had a dagger."
The further they got into the plan, the more dread-filled Buffy's gut.
She still didn't trust Mikael not to kill them all but more importantly, she had a horrible feeling in her stomach. Something in her was screaming at her, trying to tell her that all this planning was for nothing.
Her worries were quickly shoved to the back of her mind though as Elena's voice cut through the air, refocusing her.
"Which he planned to use on Rebekah. But instead—"
"You drove it through his heart." Buffy finished as she moved to stand beside her sister, already planning how to stick the dagger back into Mikael the second Klaus was dead "See being the damsel isn't always that bad."
Nudging Buffy's side playfully, Elena chuckled softly before frowning as another thought occurred to her. Another one of the many problems with Stefan and Damon's plan "And what happens when he asks to see Mikael's body?"
"Excellent point."
Instantly, Buffy clenched her jaw at the sound of Mikael's voice. Her Slayer instincts practically screamed at her to dagger him and run. And that was without even having spared a glance in his direction.
His entire presence screamed danger and betrayal.
Gritting her teeth, Buffy forced her feet to turn as she tried to keep her facial expressions neutral.
She refused to show this man fear.
However, the figure standing next to him did cause her to falter. Marianna Von Swartzchild was standing beside Mikael, that familiar wicked grin on her face. A grin that just made Buffy want to pummel her face in.
It was funny, she could feel for Mary given what happened to the witch's husband, but she still have to fight the urge to set her on fire for everything she had done.
"It's not like we're compelled." Damon pointed out as he crossed his arms over his chest, a smug grin on his face.
His grin was quickly wiped away though as Mary rolled her eyes "No, but you do possibly have a tongue-tied Slayer, and given that plan rests on her, we need to be careful."
The comment had Buffy momentarily frozen.
She was practically an expert in lying, she had been doing it most of her life, especially as a teenager. Teenage girls were probably the most skilled when it came to manipulating the truth and on top of that she had been hiding the fact she was a superhero from her parents.
She was the Queen of lying!
Well, technically she was the queen of deflecting the truth, but still!
"What the hell does that mean?"
"You see Buffy, this tether between you and Niklaus is rather complicated, depending on how strong it is will determine the effects it has on both of you." Mikael explained his eyes finally shifting over to the blonde for the first time.
The way he was looking at her had all the hairs on the back of Buffy's neck standing up straight.
His eyes were practically screaming murder and planning.
She was next on his kill list after Klaus she could feel it.
Not willing to wither under his gaze, Buffy just shrugged, playing up her innocent clueless blonde persona "Can you explain with simple terms cause all I'm getting is a whole lot of huh now?"
Mikael sighed as he moved to lean against one of the reading chairs, his eyes still glued to Buffy "You two know each other on a separate level, it's what causes the attraction."
All eyes in the room fell on Buffy at the announcement.
Instantly, Buffy grew panicked, her eyes widening in horror. She was not attracted to Klaus!
Nope!
Not a chance!
Never!
"What-no-there is no attraction-no feeling-no nothing!"
Her panicked babble did not help her case. At least not in Mikael's eyes nor the rest of the Originals in the room. While her friends believed her words completely, Marianna and Rebekah shared a small look.
Buffy was in a state of denial but it was all over her eyes.
She was intrigued by Klaus.
"It's possible that the tether is strong enough that it will allow him to know if you are lying. You have to be careful with your words."
Buffy let out an annoyed breath at Mikael's words, she really needed to find out what this tether was and what it meant...though if Klaus was dead after tonight none of that would matter anyway "Wait so this tether has freaking child locks?"
As he listened closely, Damon groaned, this new information they were getting on this tether between Buffy and Klaus was not exactly good news. If somehow Klaus did survive it could turn into a massive problem in the future.
But Klaus was going to die...he was sure of it.
Turning to Mikael he attempted to change the subject before Buffy went into a full-on ramble breakdown "Okay new focus if you're dead, he's gonna wanna see the body, and say he can tell Buffy is lying, she'll need to see it too."
"Then I shall be dead." With a swift nod toward Mary, the witch sighed before waving her hand causing a purple mist to form on the table. As the mist evaporated left in its place was a familiar silver dagger and the white oak ash.
The dagger that could temporarily kill an Original.
"What if he wants to see you in person?" Elena asked curiously as she slowly approached to stand beside Buffy again. The Slayer had been surprisingly silent after her little babble fest, her green eyes focused on the dagger rather than the conversation happening around her.
"Well, it means our plan is working." Mikael answered his eyes shifting back to Buffy "Klaus will absolutely want to see my body. You lure him here, and I will kill him."
The plan sounded simple enough... except for one person.
Mary cleared her throat drawing her father's attention, a dark look filled her eyes as she glared at him.
If anyone was going to finally kill Niklaus, it would be her.
Klaus had killed her husband, tortured her for centuries, and almost beat her to death in the 13th century. She deserved to be the one to deliver the final blow.
"We discussed with Mari."
"No, you discussed I blatantly ignored." Mary snapped at her father, taking slow steps toward him as her gaze grew darker "You are not killing him."
"Do not threaten me, child." He warned his daughter only for her to raise her hand sending him crashing into the wall and pinning him there with her magic.
"Klaus is mine. I will rip out his heart as he did mine."
"Marianna-"
"Do not test my power and do not tempt my fury."
The pair held each other's harsh gazes for a good long minute before the witch smirked as Mikael reluctantly nodded in agreement. Knowing she had won she grinned happily before turning back to the group "Where were we?"
Damon chuckled slightly before turning to the dysfunctional father-daughter pair "So what are one of you going to kill him with? Those daggers won't work on him."
"Well, I'm in possession of a stake..." Mikael revealed, his answer vague "Fashioned from the wood of the ancient white oak tree."
Buffy's eyes widened at that, that was something she really wanted to see, plus if Mikael turned around and tried to use her as bait or go against the plan at least she would have a weapon to kill him "Nice gimme." She demanded in a playful tone only for Mikael to glare at her.
Buffy just rolled her eyes at the harsh glare being thrown her way "You're not gonna give The Vampire Slayer the vampire killing weapon?" She was met by stoic stubborn silence "Not a great plan."
Mary snorted slightly drawing the Slayer's attention, she could see the wheels turning in Buffy's head and while she would happily hand it over so she could watch Buffy kill Mikael, Klaus's head was her priority...for now.
"We can discuss the stake later. Right now it stays hidden."
"Knowing its location is my insurance policy."
"Against what?" Stefan asked Mikael, watching carefully as the Original dipped the dagger in the ash.
"You leaving this in my heart." Mikael answered, his eyes moving to focus on the only human in the room.
Elena.
Slowly he held the dagger toward Elena who looked at it nervously "You want me to actually dagger you?"
"Klaus will leave nothing to chance. Especially when it comes to trust."
16:00 PM
"I want to see him." Klaus snapped in an urgent tone as they continued to throw banter back and forth through the phone "I want to see his rotting body for myself."
Standing from her seat, Buffy moved over to Mikael's corpse, kicking the grey body with her foot. The temptation to keep him daggered growing by the second, but until she had the white oak stake in her hands she needed him.
He was smart using it as insurance, she could admit that.
"Well, it's here, dead as rats. And it's starting to stink up my house. So you know get with the clean-up crew sooner rather than later."
"Buffy I may adore you but if you are lying to me, I will find out sooner or later. So answer me pet, is what you're saying the truth?"
"It's true." She replied without hesitation, the image of Elena driving the dagger into Mikael's heart filling her mind, playing on a constant loop. It had been super satisfying watching his daggered form collapse to the ground "My little cousin doesn't like being a damsel, trust me I'm the one that taught her how to stake a vamp, she's only missed the heart once or twice."
"Camena, don't take offense but I would like to confirm my thoughts with my sisters, preferably Rebekah."
Buffy clenched her jaw slightly before turning to Rebekah and Mary who were standing together, though they were still at least a good arm's reach away from each other.
The pair hadn't spoken in decades so it was already awkward for everyone especially given that they had yet to even glance at each other.
"They're here." Buffy told him earning a shocked laugh from Klaus "And they haven't started bickering? Now that is a miracle."
"More we are ignoring each other's presence Nik." Mary piped up, her voice sharp as she took the phone from Buffy, placing it on speaker between her and Rebekah.
Rebekah glared at Mary before sighing "We're here Nik."
"Rebekah love, what's this I hear about Mikael's tragic run-in with a dagger?"
There was a brief hesitation in Rebekah's eyes as she listened to her brother's voice. Slowly, she glanced over at Buffy who smiled at her softly, offering her a sign of support.
If Rebekah wanted to back out Buffy wouldn't be able to blame her.
If their situations were reversed she wouldn't be able to kill Jeremy.
Mary, however, did not hesitate "He's dead, Nik. Ding dong."
"As much as I love to hear that Marianna, I would rather hear it from Rebekah, she hasn't spent the past few months trying to kill me."
At his words, Rebekah flinched before glancing at Buffy again. Knowing Rebekah needed the support, Buffy shocked the group by walking over and entangling her hand with Rebekah's.
Rebekah sighed softly, clenching her eyes tightly as she fought back the tears while holding onto Buffy's hand tightly "It's true. He's finally out of our lives for good. I miss you. I'm miserable here."
"I'll be home soon."
"Good. I'll see you then, brother."
Slowly Rebekah hung up the phone swallowing the sob threatening to break through her lips "He brought it." She whispered focusing on Buffy "He's coming home."
Wrapping her arms around the Original, Buffy rubbed her back softly ignoring the looks being thrown in her direction.
Given that Buffy had been anti-hugging and all contact lately it was shocking to see Buffy actually showing affection to someone.
Let alone an Original.
It was definitely concerning to everyone in the room.
"Let's just get this other with." Buffy snapped over her shoulder as she started leading Rebekah out of the room "I wanna be un-tethered from this creep."
With that, the two powerful blondes were gone leaving the group watching after them with a range of conflicting emotions.
Elena gulped nervously, her eyes turning to focus on the brothers "Should we be worried about that?"
"Definitely." Damon mumbled.
Sighing, Elena clenched her jaw, a plan starting to form in her brain as she stepped forward yanking the dagger from Mikael's chest.
**
"I hate everything in my closet. I have nothing to wear for homecoming." Elena complained as Bonnie, Willow, and Buffy sat in her bedroom watching as the brunette rifled through her closet in a desperate attempt to find something to wear. Given that most of Elena's wardrobe consisted of jeans and cardigans it was hard to find something good.
Katherine definitely had the best style out of all the doppelgangers...at least according to Buffy.
Katherine knew how to dress her figure perfectly.
Leaning back against Elena's bed, Buffy groaned at the mention of homecoming. She had no intention of going to the Whitmore Homecoming dance "I vote jeans and t-shirt."
"Not gonna happen and don't you dare think about doing that either."
"You do realize half of my wardrobe is in storage right?" At the pointed glare being thrown in her direction, Buffy sighed, there was a part of her that wanted to argue but there was also a part of her so terrified of Caroline that she didn't want to risk it.
Caroline's wrath was more terrifying than any demon.
"Couldn't exactly get my party clothes when I was you know...dead."
Her joke was not appreciated by her friends given the glares that were now being thrown in her direction. Apparently, any jokes about killing herself to save the world were too soon.
Slowly the glares faded one by one.
The last was Bonnie, who reached out tapping Buffy's knee softly before turning her focus to Elena. She wanted to talk about anything other than the day Buffy had died. She had been the first person to see Buffy's body when it had crashed to the ground off the tower so it was still hard to think about.
"So don't go." The witch deflected "Let's stay home order take-out and over-analyze ancient hieroglyphic thingies with Alaric and Giles."
Willow grinned at the idea "I'm in. UC Sunnydale lot don't mix with Whitmore anyway. Plus, might be nice to do a girly night before me and Xander head back to SunnyD to deal with the nerds."
Bonnie grinned and wrapped an arm around Willow's shoulder as the two of them nodded "See that's two votes. Buffy?"
"Pass." Buffy mumbled as she jumped up and moved over to Elena's closet, examining the clothes closely.
Elena needed a serious fashion lesson.
"Buffy and hyrogyl-whatevers don't mix. Plus, I'd rather deal with Klaus flirting with me all night, than deal with the wrath of Caroline."
Willow chuckled, happily biting into her bowl of popcorn as she turned to focus on Buffy "You have him wrapped around your finger."
Klaus may be a dick but he was so hot.
There could be worse guys to have wrapped around your finger.
"Hopefully not for much longer."
Elena nodded in agreement, she just wanted this over with, she wanted Klaus dead so they didn't have to worry anymore. The sooner he was gone the sooner they could actually live normal lives.
"Anyway like Buffy said, Caroline will kill us." Elena pointed out as she grabbed one of the few dresses from her closet and raised it in front of Buffy only for the blonde to shake her head.
Again, she seriously needed to take Elena shopping and re-vamp the brunette's wardrobe soon.
This was just embarrassing.
"Well, Caroline actually has a date."
Bonnie's announcement had both Buffy and Elena frozen. While Willow didn't know the context they did.
Bonnie's harsh bitter tone had to do with a certain Gilbert. Jeremy Gilbert to be precise. The relationship between Bonnie and Jeremy had been complicated and confusing, to say the least.
"You know you can talk to us about Jeremy right?"
Despite the supportive tone of Elena's voice, Bonnie could only shake her head. Jeremy was Buffy and Elena's little brother, they could never really have a proper girl talk about him.
"We broke up a long time ago, I don't need to talk about it. Our breakup was pretty clear, he fell in love with his ghost girlfriend and lied about it. What's done is done. We've already had this talk, Elena. Jeremy is your brother, so I can never really talk to you, either of you."
**
"A million and one."
That was the number Buffy had settled on in her head.
She had gone through every possible way tonight was going to go off the rails and there were just too many unknown variables.
This all felt too easy, the idea that Mikael and Mary would help kill Klaus and then leave...it didn't leave Buffy with a lot of faith.
She wanted Klaus to suffer for a lot of reasons.
He had killed Jenna, blackmailed her into giving up her memories, and had known everything that would happen with Glory. He had known she was going to die and despite claiming to care for her had stood by and let it happen, hell he had made sure that it happened all because of this damn Prophecy.
She was sick of fate and destiny controlling her life.
More than anything, she wanted Klaus to suffer for bringing her back.
For tearing her out of heaven dumping her back in this world, in a newly overpowered body numb to emotions.
Hence why she was already putting together her backup plan.
If Klaus survived and Mikael died...Klaus would still be suffering by tomorrow.
At her sudden declaration, Damon glanced up from the vervain grenades he was putting together "A what now?"
"Possible ways this could go wrong." Buffy shrugged unfazed by their upcoming failure "We all know this isn't going to go smoothly. We aren't that lucky."
"It will be fine." Damon assured her strongly, only to let out a yelp as she started frantically slapping "Ow! Why!"
Damon officially hated her now uncontrollable strength.
"You jinked!"
Again, he was met with a sharp slap however, he ignored the pain as he spotted Buffy's other hand tightening around the grenade in her hand.
That was not going to end well.
If she set that thing off she would be fine but he would be a walking barbeque.
He quickly snatched the explosive device away from her "Let's not accidentally use your strength to blow my face off please."
Buffy sighed as he placed the object out of her reach.
Glaring down at her hands she clenched her jaw tightly in frustration. She hated this, not having control of her own abilities was just so foreign to her. As the Slayer she had been so in tune with her abilities that everything flowed so easily in her veins.
Now...she literally was the bomb waiting to explode.
Spotting the defeated look on her face, Damon placed a concerned hand on her shoulder, forcing her to focus on him and not her now shaking palms "It's going to be fine." He promised her, his voice softening as he looked into her green forest eyes "We're gonna kill Klaus and free you from his control."
Looking into his deep blue eyes Buffy took in a shaky breath, she really wanted to believe him...but she didn't.
"I don't know." Stepping out of his grip, she groaned rubbing her hands together, her nails digging into the flesh of her palms "I just have a bad feeling about this."
"We can't trust Rebekah not to turn on us."
Gritting his teeth, Damon turned to the brunette now standing in the doorway of his bathroom, having interrupted the pair's conversation. Elena just grinned as he threw a harsh glare in her direction, she had disrupted them on purpose.
Elena had a habit of showing up anytime Damon managed to get some time alone with Buffy.
Elena had never been a Damon fan when it came to romantic partners for Buffy.
"Oh, really?" He snorted "Because those Original Vampires are usually so reliable."
Elena rolled her eyes before glancing over at Buffy "Buffy, come on you heard what Bonnie said earlier. Rebekah may be mad at Klaus now, but he is her brother."
"Her lying, mama-killing-dagger-happy brother." Damon pointed out before nudging Buffy's shoulder "Come on Buffster, don't tell me you actually think Rebekah won't snap our necks."
With her friend and her sister now staring at her, waiting for her to pick a side Buffy groaned before pointing a finger between the pair.
She hated it when they did this!
"Okay, guys I'm not a yoyo. But yes you're right. I don't like this." She complained as she turned back to the wolfsbane, eyeing their harsh looks as she leaned against the sink, that dreaded feeling in her gut from earlier slowly returning the more she thought about this plan.
She needed to put her Plan B into motion sooner rather than later.
"Something's gonna go wrong. I can feel it."
"Alright, Debbie downer."
Ignoring Damon's snarky commentary, Elena focused on Buffy, she was in complete agreement with the Slayer, there were too many unspoken variables with this plan and she didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt, least of all Buffy.
Though Elena assumed Rebekah would be the biggest issue, having no idea that Buffy's biggest worry was far from the blonde Original.
"There are too many people who can get hurt."
"Well, I am formulating a secret contingency plan." Damon assured her only for Buffy to clear her throat, her narrowed gaze now focused on him.
Damon's stupid big mouth was going to screw them over.
Plus, there was no way he was taking the credit for this contingency plan. She was the one who got Willow and Bonnie to have the teleporter spell on hold for Mikael the second he killed Klaus. She was also the one who had brought in a certain doppelganger.
She had called Katherine given that when Damon had tried the doppelganger had promptly told him to piss off in Bulgarian.
"Boo, no do not take my credit."
Amused by her pouting lip, Damon playfully rolled his eyes before meeting her halfway and gesturing between the both of them.
They could share the credit.
"Okay, correction we are forming a secret contingency plan."
Elena's eyes widened, curiosity eating at her "Really? What is it?"
Buffy quickly shook her head, there was no way Elena was getting involved.
Not only would she be at risk of getting hurt but Elena had a guilty conscience and was a massive blabber mouth almost as bad as Caroline.
"Yeah no. The secret plan stays secret, we have a certain witchy missy in the house, so my mouth is shut."
"Buffy, come on, this whole mission...freeing you from Klaus, it all rests on this plan you Damon, and Stefan have."
A plan that technically only Buffy had all the details to.
She was the one who knew the plan with the stake thanks to being the non-vampire in the group with superpowers and she was the only one that knew the backup plan she had formed alone for when this inevitably all went up in flames.
If everything did go up in smoke Buffy wanted to make sure Klaus would feel as empty and helpless as she did the second she woke up in that coffin.
At the end of the day, this was her battle with Klaus.
He had created her to be his equal and she was going to make him regret that decision.
Buffy's stoic stubborn refusal to answer her sister's curiosity had Damon smirking slightly, immensely enjoying the stare-off between the two women.
"She doesn't wanna risk getting her humanity involved by involving you Elena. Our missions always tend to go crashing to the sun when one of us gets our humanity involved."
Another voice interrupted the now awkward silence, causing the group to turn.
Stefan stood in the doorway, his eyes focused on Buffy who tensed under his gaze.
"Hey..." Stefan breathed softly as he cleared his throat trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence that had filled the room "Can we talk?"
Buffy gulped nervously, though she would rather talk to Stefan than continue to be used as a yoyo Elena and Damon were fighting over. Without words, she swiftly nodded and moved to follow him out of the room, leaving the Gilbert and Salvatore alone.
Elena desperate to be involved in the plan in some sort of manner moved over to the sink.
As she started to reach for the grenades Damon panicked and quickly snatched the supplies away from her "Give me that."
"Damon, stop..." Elena argued as she tried to take the grenade back, the vampire merely holding it above his head, out of her reach "Give it, I know how to do it, Ric showed me."
"Elena, may I remind you if this blows up, only one of us heals quickly."
**
The awkward silence between the ex-couple was deafening.
They had been walking through the back garden for five minutes both of them clearly trying to push past the tension to finally speak up. The only question was who would build up the courage to break the silence.
Given that the silence just reminded her of being alone in her coffin with only the sound of her own breathing, Buffy took the bullet.
"So, um what did you wanna talk about?" She asked trying to force her brain to focus on the sounds of the birds around them, the feeling of the wind against her skin.
The truth was she was still a little traumatized from the whole clawing out of her coffin thing.
But she would get over it, she had to.
Stefan chuckled nervously, his hand rubbing the back of his neck like a scared schoolboy "We haven't talked about what happened..."
AKA: the two of them almost having sex against a crypt in the graveyard.
Just the thought of that incident had Buffy sputtering and coughing slightly, her voice caught in her throat from embarrassment.
Buffy buried her face in her hands trying to hide the bright shade of pink rushing to her cheeks.
"Yeah, that." A nervous chuckle escaped her lips.
Gulping down her discomfort she forced herself to look up, her body automatically leaning against the brick wall of the gazebo to help keep her shaky knees steady "Look, I'm sorry I've been dodging you...it's just with everything, I'm a little..."
"Confused?" Stefan finished causing her to nod softly "No matter what Buffy, remember I'm there for you."
"I know." Buffy sighed as she watched him.
It was confusing and a little frustrating how understanding and supportive he could be sometimes. It would be easier if he hated her or resented her because it would stop the guilt eating at her. He was standing in front of her, offering her all the help and support yet she could barely feel anything.
She could see the love in his eyes as he looked at her, the love she used to feel for him so intensely.
Now everything was just hollow.
Everything but her anger at Klaus.
Taking her silence as a hint for him to carry on the conversation, Stefan stepped closer and slowly reached out taking her hand in his, her entire body tensing at the action in panic "Buffy, look no matter what the future holds, what happens between us it's up to you."
Slowly the panic faded as she listened to his words, letting her body get used to the feeling of his hand in hers Buffy smiled weakly and squeezed his hand back.
"I'm not really thinking that far ahead, that's kind of the point of me trying to be me again."
Despite the panic in her eyes, Stefan just smiled, he knew she wasn't trying to hurt him, she was just trying to figure out her place in the universe now. He understood that, and no matter how much it hurt him, he wanted her to take the time to figure that out.
And if in the end, she wanted space from him, he would happily be her friend because as much as he loved her, he loved her enough to let her go if it was best for her mental state.
All he cared about was that she was still in his life.
"It doesn't matter, because life isn't about your final moments, it's about the moments that lead up to them. And we've got plenty of time for moments, so whatever you wanna do, tell me when you're ready."
Moving his hands up to her face, he cupped her cheeks in his hands, smiling as she leaned into his touch. The action just brought a bright smile to his lips "We will have a proper talk once we're done with Klaus."
"I'm good with that." Buffy grinned, letting the familiar feeling of his skin against hers soothe her. His touch had always calmed her and it still did now.
But as she thought back to every kiss, every hug, every moment they had had together before Klaus had pulled them apart she felt a little conflicted.
If anything did happen between them again...it would never be how it was.
They were different people now.
Over two years apart was a long time.
Luckily before she could fall into an existential crisis trying to figure out how the hell she was supposed to feel about Stefan while also trying not to lead him on or hurt him, her phone beeped.
Saved by the bell.
Stefan's hands quickly fell to the side as Buffy stepped out of his hold, her hand frantically reaching for her phone "It's Will..." She explained, her eyes widening as she read over the panicked text message from the redheaded witch.
Willow was one of those people to send 10 messages in the space of five seconds, babbling over text as she would in person.
"They wanna say goodbye. Apparently, the nerds they're after broke out of jail. I need to go tell Elena."
"Nerds?" Stefan asked, an amused grin crossing his features.
"Yep, comic book nerds who apparently wanna destroy me."
Stefan shook his head in amusement only to halt as he spotted the upset look on her face. While he knew Buffy hadn't particularly wanted Willow and Xander here, they were like a comforting blanket for her. The pair had been the first people to support her as the Slayer while also seeing her as a person instead of a freak or a weapon.
She would always have a special place in her heart for them.
"Go, say goodbye."
Buffy smiled in thanks before moving toward the driveway where her car was waiting, only for Stefan to grab her wrist. Pulling her back, a nervous look plastered on his face as he watched her.
Again he looked like a nervous schoolboy, which was kind of adorable.
"Buffy—do you wanna—maybe—um..." Stefan stuttered slightly as he looked into her big doe eyes. Buffy had always managed to make him feel like a bumbling teenage boy "Do you want to go to the party together?"
Buffy hesitated before smiling softly, what was the worst that could happen?
"Yes."