Davina stares at the blank, white ceiling. This was becoming a thing in the morning. She didn't really want to get out of bed. To be honest, she didn't even want to leave the room. Deciding that she had nothing better to do, Davina takes an extra pillow and rips it open.
She takes the feathers and scatters them around the bed. The last time she practiced this trick was for Henrick, years ago. Davina closes her eyes and murmurs the spell under her breath. The feathers slowly begin to levitate around her. When she opens her eyes, Davina lets out a chuckle and smiles widely.
"At least I didn't forget this spell, even if it's useless," she murmurs to herself. The door suddenly opens, causing Davina to lose her concentration. All of the feathers float back down.
"My apologies, didn't realize you were practicing magic," Kol says as he peers into the room.
"Well, I haven't done it in so long, so I just wanted to see if it worked," she replies. "My magic is overwhelming, though. Sometimes, it's hard to control."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"I've been laying in a box for a thousand years, linked to your Aunt Dahlia. She's been manifesting power from me and Freya, but since we're linked to her, we get that power back. It's kind of an endless loop. I just need to find a way to break it, but I have no idea how."
"Even though I haven't been a witch in ages, I still studied the craft. There's not one branch of witchcraft that I haven't read up on. If you ever need any help..."
"I'll let you know," Davina tells him with a small smile. "Thank you. Um, quick question...have you got any food?"
"Food," Kol repeats. "No, we've only got blood stored here. I can go get something for you, if you'd like."
"You don't need to go through the trouble. I should probably get back to Elena's, seeing as she left me...four voicemails? Whatever those are..."
"Seems like she wants to see you urgently, then. Guess you best be off," Kol states before turning and exiting the room. Davina frowns at this reaction but shrugs it off. She pulls on her denim jacket over Kol's shirt and then puts on some pants. Davina looks at the bed where the feathers are laying before grabbing her phone and takes off.
———————————————————————————————————
Davina enters the Gilbert house, only to be bombarded by Elena and her questions.
"Davina, where have you been? I called you, like, ten times last night. I was worried," Elena exclaims.
"Oh, sorry. Didn't you receive a message?"
"Yeah, a very vague one. Hey, got an errand to run. Be back tomorrow. What did you have to do that was so urgent?"
Davina looks at her curiously and shakes her head. "I don't know why Elijah wrote that. I was staying over at the Mikaelsons."
"You did? You had a sleepover at the house where the very family that's been terrorizing this town is living? And that shirt certainly does not look like yours. Did something happen?"
"Nothing happened. I just didn't have a shirt to sleep in. It doesn't matter now, Elena. Where's Alaric?"
"In a jail cell," she replies with a sigh. "He's been arrested as a murderer, which he is not."
"What? Is there any proof that he did it?"
"Meredith claimed that he was in her apartment with a knife, but I don't believe her. She shot Alaric and then healed him with vampire blood, only to have him arrested for the past killings. And he was one of the victims, for God's sake."
"Oh, my...do you need any help?"
"Well, I was just going to go confront Meredith about her lie. Wanna come?"
Davina shrugs. "Sure, I've got nothing better to do today. But first, let me get something to eat. Are there any leftover pancakes?"
———————————————————————————————————
Davina and Elena are waiting for Meredith to arrive at the hospital by their car. When she arrives, they both approach her. Elena's face is a mask of indignation and determination.
"I'm due in surgery. Whatever case you're gonna make against Alaric, make it quick," Meredith tells them. She grabs her purse out of the car and begins to walk towards the hospital. The two girls follow her.
"I don't have to make a case. He didn't do anything," Elena states. Davina doesn't say anything because she hasn't exactly known Alaric for that long. She had no reasons to believe he was innocent, other than Elena convinced otherwise.
"How do you know? Sure, he takes care of you, and you live with him, but how much do you actually know about him?"
"I know enough," Elena replies.
Meredith halts and turns to the two of them. "Let me tell you what I know. He was arrested for fighting four times before the age of twenty-one. When he was at Duke, his future wife, Isobel, filed a restraining order against him. Twice. Although, then she married him, so I guess that says more about her."
"Okay, you're making all of this up," Elena reasons, deeply in denial.
"Am I? How would you know? You took pity on a borderline alcoholic vampire hunter and you never even thought to look deeper."
"How could you do this to him? He didn't kill anyone, and you know it."
"You date vampires, Elena. It shouldn't come to a shock to you that your guardian is a murderer." With that, Meredith turns and walks into the hospital.
"Well, that was a bust," Davina sighs.
"You didn't think to help me out, not even a little?" Elena looks at Davina with irritation.
"How could I? I know nothing about Alaric's history, or yours, for that matter. I can't defend him when he might actually be a murderer."
"He's not, okay? He's not. We need some proof that Meredith is lying. Help me break into her apartment."
"What? I can't get sucked into this," Davina protests.
"You're already in it, so you might as well help me. Come on, please. Alaric is the only guardian that I have. I can't lose him to a jail cell," Elena pleads. Davina stares at her for a moment before reluctantly giving in.
"Fine. Let's go."
———————————————————————————————————
Elena and Davina stare at the locked doorknob in frustration.
"We came all this way, and you didn't think to bring a lockpick to break into someone's home?" Elena gives her a sheepish look, making Davina roll her eyes. She grabs the doorknob with one hand and silently chants something. The door pops open and the two of them enter.
"Okay, look, I don't know how much longer Meredith's going to be in surgery, so let's see what we can find," Elena says. Davina nods and they look around the apartment for anything that proves Alaric's innocence.
"Don't you think the police would've already combed this place? She probably handed over everything she had," Davina comments.
"Yeah, I'm looking for evidence she didn't hand over," Elena murmurs as she goes through things.
"I'm going to ask this one more time. Are you absolutely sure that Meredith's the one we should be investigating?"
"I know him, Davina. He's innocent. Meredith's a Fell, a founding family member."
"A what, now?"
Elena waves it off. "She's part of a family who founded Mystic Falls. If you're a true founder, then..." She walks over to the closet and begins to rummage through it. Davina comes over with a curious expression on her face. Elena finds a hidden panel at the back of the closet. When she knocks, it's hollow. "You've got skeletons in the closet."
"Weird saying," Davina mutters before they both pull out the panel. Elena takes the box from inside and begins to look through the folders.
"Brian Walters, Bill Forbes," Elena murmurs.
"Alaric Saltzman," Davina says and holds up his own folder. She opens it up and Elena reads the individual papers.
"She's got everything on him. Medical records, old court documents..."
"What's this," Davina asks as she pulls a journal from the box. Elena takes it and opens it up.
"It's an old Gilbert journal," she mumbles.
"Why is one of your family journals in her closet?"
"I..."
Davina takes out another piece of paper and examines it. "Didn't you say the medical examiner's time of death was between one and three a.m.?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Because the county's coroner office says that's wrong," Davina says and shows Elena the paper. All of a sudden, they hear footsteps approaching the room. They quickly put the stuff back in the box and hide in the closet. Meredith enters and puts her keys on the table, along with a mug. They hear a door close, so Elena turns the closet light back on and opens the door, revealing Meredith standing right there.
———————————————————————————————————
Davina and Elena are sitting in the police station, waiting for Sheriff Forbes. When she comes in, the two look at her.
"What were you girls thinking?"
"I know we had no right," Elena states but doesn't sound apologetic.
"No right? You broke the law," Sheriff Forbes sighs.
"But we found something that clears Alaric. It gives him an alibi during the Brian Walters murder."
Sheriff Forbes holds up a piece of paper. "You mean this?"
"What is that?"
"A letter from the county coroner's office, correcting the error of the time of Brian Walters' death. Meredith Fell received it today. She brought it to me several hours ago, full of apologies for accusing an innocent man."
"Why would she hide a copy in her closet, then," Davina mumbles under her breath, but Sheriff Forbes hears her.
"Look, I can't ask those questions. I'm not even sure who you are, but since you're a friend of Elena's, then I'm protecting the both of you."
"I'm sorry," Elena apologizes.
"Just...get out of my office and go home. Alaric will be released once the letter's authenticated." The girls scramble from their seats and exit the police station.
———————————————————————————————————
"That went better than I thought it would. You have a nice sheriff," Davina tells Elena.
"Yeah, that's because she's Caroline's mom. Otherwise, we'd be in a lot more trouble for breaking into someone's house. Either way, I'm happy that Alaric isn't a suspect anymore."
"I'm happy, too," Davina says and they both exchange cheeky smiles. Elena suddenly stops, causing Davina to look at her in confusion. "Elena?"
Elena's staring into an alleyway with a look of horror plastered on her face. "What are you doing?" Davina also looks into the alley and sees Stefan with blood coating his face, making her gasp.
"Is that Stefan," Davina whispers in a shocked voice, her eyes wide. Elena nods in response and takes a small step forward.
"Stefan?"
He wipes the blood off of his mouth and gives her a guilty look. "Elena."
"What are you doing?"
Another person, who has a patronizing look on his face, comes into their view. "Relax, Elena. We're just doing a little experiment. There's no need to make this more dramatic than it needs to be."
Davina bumps Elena with her elbow. "Who's that?"
"Damon Salvatore," Elena answers with a sigh.
"And that's the Damon? The one who slept with-"
"Yes, that's the one...come on, we're leaving." Elena grabs Davina's hand and pulls her away from the two vampires.
———————————————————————————————————
Elena's sitting at the dining room table when Davina brings her a cup of tea. She sees the look on Davina's face and nods. "Just say it."
"Say what?" Davina takes a seat next to Elena with her own mug of tea, which she sips.
"You're curious about my deal with the Salvatore brothers. It's okay, it's confusing for me, too," Elena admits.
"Well, yeah, I wonder some things, but it's not really any of business. Unless...you wanted to tell me?" Davina gives her a teasing wink, which Elena responds with a laugh.
"Okay, let's make a deal. I'll tell you about the Salvatores, if you tell me whose shirt you were wearing this morning. I know it's one of the Mikaelson brothers."
Davina reddens but nods anyway. "Um, sure."
"I just want to put this out there...my parents died a few years ago," Elena starts. Davina's eyes widen, but she doesn't interrupt. "They were in a car crash. After their death, everything felt wrong. That is, everything expect being with Stefan. He made me feel safe..."
"Safe? I can't judge or anything, but I saw him today, and he looked anything but that..."
"I know, believe me, it sounds crazy when you say it out loud, but it's like I knew he would never stop loving me. Like, he would never..."
"Die," Davina finishes. "Not like your parents did."
"Yeah," Elena nods. "Damon, though...he's a whole different story. He kind of just snuck up on me. He got under my skin, and no matter what I do, I just can't shake him."
"That's what happens when you fall in love with someone. You'll never be able to shake him," Davina murmurs. "So, I guess it's my turn. Um, I'll start with the shirt. It's Kol's."
Elena's eyes widen and a smirk appears on her face. "Kol Mikaelson, huh?"
Davina chuckles and shakes her head. "Nothing happened last night. I didn't have anything to wear to bed, so he let me borrow it. But...a long time ago, back before they were vampires, I had really...strong relationships with the Mikaelsons. Rebekah was like a sister to me, and Esther was practically my mother. I don't know if you heard about him, but they had a son named Henrick, and he was their youngest."
"Oh, wow. I thought there were only five siblings."
"There's six alive right now. Henrick isn't one of them. He died the same night the rest of them did."
"So...who's the sixth?"
"Her name's Freya, and she's the oldest sibling. She was trapped with me when I got kidnapped. Anyways, Henrick was like a little brother to me, but the others..."
"What about them," Elena prods.
"I know it sounds bad, but they all had a little bit of an infatuation with me. I'll be honest, it was awkward for a time. I kept receiving gifts that were labeled anonymous, but I knew that they were from the brothers. I just didn't know who sent what. I caught the looks each of them sent me. Eventually, I had to stop whatever was going on between me and the four of them. Finn, Elijah, and Klaus always seemed like brothers to me, but I knew that I loved Kol. Like, you know, love-love. I was closer with him than the others since we were both witches. So, I guess you could say that him and I got together. The others were upset at first when I told them, but they got over it eventually. I think it was more of when one brother wants something, the others want it more. We remained close, like a tight-knit family. So, uh, yeah, that's it," Davina finishes. Elena looks at her with astonishment before nodding.
"Wow...you're definitely better than me with relationship decisions, that's for sure," she admits. "That was one hell of a love...pentagon."
"Yeah, well, that was then. This is now where no one knows anything." Davina reaches into her jacket and pulls out the Gilbert journal. "Here, I snuck it from the station. It seems right that you should have it."
"Thank you," Elena says gratefully. The front door suddenly opens and Alaric enters the house. She gets up and approaches him with a relieved look. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm alright." The two of them hug tightly while Davina watches them with a smile.
———————————————————————————————————
Davina's staring curiously at the TV while Elena reads the Gilbert journal on the couch.
"Hey, do either of you want coffee? I'm gonna be making some," Alaric yells from the kitchen.
"I'm good," Elena replies, her eyes glued to the journal. "Gonna head to bed in a few."
"I don't think I want any either," Davina murmurs. Alaric enters the living room and sits next to Elena on the couch.
"Hey, listen, the Sheriff told me what you two did today, and while I appreciate it, I don't want either of you getting in trouble because of me. Okay?"
"If not for you, then for who," Davina chuckles lightly, turning to him.
"She's right, Ric. Who else would we go so far for?"
"Well, still, I'm supposed to be the one to look after you, even if I suck at it," Alaric muses.
"Okay, well, how about we all agree to take care of each other, then. Sound good?"
Both Davina and Alaric nod to that. Davina glances at the journal and then Elena. "So, anything in that family journal that's helpful? Or juicy, even?"
"It's hard to tell. I mean, I thought it was Jonathan Gilbert's at first, but then it turned out to be his granddaughters, who turned out to be just as crazy as him. Great genes, huh?"
"Sounds like you've got something to look forward to," Alaric sarcastically comments.
"Hah, yeah. I'm gonna head up. Night, guys," Elena says before going up the stairs.
"You tired yet, D?"
Davina shakes her head no and plops down on the couch. "I've been thinking. Jonathan must've passed something down to his granddaughter. You don't randomly go crazy, unless you were hexed or something like that. Maybe an object?"
"This whole thing is just a big mess. I have no idea what-" Alaric's suddenly cut off when the doorbell rings. He goes up to get it and is faced with Meredith.
"I know what this looks like," Meredith begins to say.
"Yeah? Well, I sure as hell don't. You shoot me, have me thrown in jail, and then get me released?"
"I did it for your own good, Ric. I forged the coroner's note to get your name cleared," she explains. Davina curiously eavesdrops on them from her spot on the couch.
"Oh, you know what, people are right. You are psycho." He begins to close the door on her, but she puts her foot out to stop him.
"No. Now that you've been cleared, they'll look somewhere else. They won't look your way again. Please. You have no reason to trust me, but if you'll let me, I can explain."
Alaric stares at her for a moment before sighing. He opens the door for her to enter and they head to the kitchen. Davina joins them not too long after.
"Ric, can I see that ring for a minute?" He looks at her curiously before handing it off. While she examines it, Alaric and Meredith look at the case files.
"Like the Sheriff said, the victims were killed with your weapons," Meredith recaps.
"Yeah, but I was attacked, too," Alaric reasons. He looks over the crime scene pictures once again.
"With your own knife. You could've stabbed yourself," she reasons.
"I think I would know if I were killing people," he deadpans.
"Not necessarily. Have you had any blackouts recently?"
"You're insane."
"No, but I think you might be. You wear a ring that can let you cheat death, Ric. How many times can you die before it changes you."
"That's where I've seen this stone before," Davina gasps. "Witches use it to cast certain spells on items so that they can be revived back to life. There are some unfortunate consequences, and you may be one of the unlucky wearers, Ric. When you die, your spirit could be left vulnerable to manipulation on the Other Side. Every time you die, pieces of your psyche are chipped away. You most definitely could be going crazy and not know it."
"Well, damn," Alaric breathes. "That doesn't sound good for me, does it?"
Elena then comes down the stairs, carrying the Gilbert journal. "Ric, this happened a hundred years ago to Samantha Gilbert. It's all written in here, and that is exactly what's happening to you."