―❅―
𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐂𝐄
[ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏʀᴛʏ-sɪx - 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥]
"you've saved my soul,
don't leave me now,"
✧✦✧✦✧
The next day was chaotic, for everyone except Thea at least. The wolf had decided to stay cooped up in her bedroom avoiding pretty much everyone she knew. She was mad at herself with how she acted with her friends and Klaus- though she didn't necessarily regret it, she just wished she'd have done it differently. She acted out of anger and pain, and whilst it reflected how she felt towards all parties, there was a part of her that questioned whether she'd pushed it too far.
But, whilst Thea retreated into her thoughts, Damon was trying to help Jeremy and Matt escape from vampires that Klaus had compelled for Jeremy to kill in order for his map to grow. However, Kol intercepted his brother's plan and killed all the vampires himself before threatening to tear off Jeremy's arm in order to stop them from finding the cure and waking up Silas. In the end, Klaus managed to convince his brother to not harm Jeremy, but the tricky Mikaelson found a loophole and compelled Damon to kill the younger Gilbert instead.
And now Damon was locked in the cellar at the Salvatore Boarding House, which is where Thea was currently. Whilst the brunette was still in a mood with all her friends for what they had done, she couldn't deny her concern for her best friend and the rest of the group. Plus, Stefan knew that Thea was the only person Damon wouldn't dare to hurt or manipulate in his current state, which is why the wolf was currently sat in front of Damon's locked cell with a taunting smirk on her face.
"Rise and shine, Edward," the brunette taunted as Damon stirred awake with a groan, his eyes settling on the wolf's mocking smirk causing him to scowl. Stefan had been repeatedly snapping his neck in order to keep him weak so he didn't attempt to break out of the cell and kill Jeremy; something which Thea found great amusement in. "You coming to snap my neck again?" Damon weakly asked as his gaze landed on his younger brother who walked into the cellar, coming to a stop behind Thea with his arms crossed.
"Because I woke up feeling completely un-murderous, and I'm pretty sure that it's safe to set me free," he elder vampire smirked earning a glare from both Thea and Stefan in response. Keeping the glare on his face, Stefan threw a small vial of blood into the cell for his brother whilst he continued to stay silent, causing Damon to groan in annoyance. "Oh man, really? You practically bled me dry. At least spring for a bag or something. I'm thirsty," the raven haired vampire whined, earning a smirk from the brunette wolf in response.
Reaching behind the box she was currently sat on, Thea pulled out a water bottle before setting it between the bars of the cell door. "Not exactly what I had in mind," Damon grumbled as he stood up and dragged himself closer to the door to grab the bottle, his eyes narrowing as his gaze landed on the smirking vampire stood in the entrance of the cellar. "Hello, mate," Klaus' familiar voice rang out causing Thea to whip her head in his direction, her breath catching in her throat at the sight of him.
She was still incredibly pissed off and hurt by what he had done, but she couldn't deny that a part of her wanted to rush into his arms and forget everything that had happened. Especially as she caught sight of the grin on his face- she was always a sucker for that smile. "What the hell are you doing here?" Damon croaked as he scowled at the original, dragging Thea's attention away from the hybrid as she shifted her gaze to the floor; a blush forming on her cheeks as she noticed Klaus smirk at her.
The hybrid may have let her leave the other day, but as soon as he got home that night he realised how much of a mistake it was. It was selfish on his part to continue to pursue her, but the fact was that Klaus couldn't live without her. He had done so for over a thousand years and he thought he was fine- but after he met her, he could see how wrong he had been. He wasn't truly alive until he met Thea Lockwood. She made his undead heart beat and he couldn't just let her walk out of his life.
The original moved his gaze away from the young wolf, turning to face Damon with a grin, "babysitting," he replied earning a small "oh," from the Salvatore vampire in response. Thea scoffed from her seat as she narrowed her eyes at the original, "well, your services aren't needed. Damon already has a perfectly good babysitter right here, so why don't you go kill some puppies or whatever it is you do?" she mused sarcastically, only earning a beaming grin from Klaus in return.
"Actually, love, Stefan here practically begged for my services, so it seems the puppies will have to wait" the hybrid stated with a tormenting smile causing Thea to raise her eyebrows in amusement at his words. As realisation of his wording registered in his mind, Klaus frowned at the young wolf, "no-not like that, you know what I meant!" the hybrid snapped only earning a chuckle from the Lockwood teen in response. "Hey, I don't judge," Thea responded with a chuckle as she held up her hands in mock surrender causing Klaus to scowl at her in annoyance.
"Give him a vial of blood every couple of hours so he doesn't desiccate," Stefan spoke up, dragging the soulmates' attention away from each other and back to him, "if he gets too much strength back or if he just annoys you, bleed him out again," the Salvatore told them, causing Klaus to smirk deviously. Damon scoffed from his cell, "silent treatment huh? Is that your best shot?" the elder brother mocked as he rested his head between the bars, looking at his brother.
"He's still pissed at me for sleeping with Elena," Damon revealed as he turned his gaze towards Klaus and Thea, his eyes drooping slightly from the lack of blood in his system. Klaus chuckled, an amused expression falling on his face as he looked between both Salvatore brothers, "you sure about that?" he inquired with a raised eyebrow before focusing his attention on Stefan, "because I saw him trying to sneak out of Rebekah's bed this morning, which would suggest to me that he's moved on."
"So that's what all Bekah's calls were about," Thea muttered under her breath as realisation hit her, an amuse smirk on her face as she focused her gaze on the young Salvatore. Stefan's jaw ticked as he sighed in defeat, focusing his attention on the floor as Damon smirked at him. "Well, well," the elder brother tormented, "looks like my brother ripped out a page of my revenge-sex handbook," Damon mocked causing Stefan to glare at him in frustration.
"Well, why don't you two enjoy your little, uh, villain bonding time," Stefan spoke looking between the hybrid and his brother before focusing his attention on the young Lockwood who was still sat on one of the crates, "make sure they don't kill each other." Thea scoffed in response as she looked up at the younger vampire with a raised eyebrow, "please, it's not them you should be worried about. I don't know how much of their bickering I can take before I snap," the wolf warned, gaining a smile from the Salvatore in response. "Perfect," Stefan smiled deviously, "I'll let you know when I get the dagger from Rebekah," he said before exiting the room.
✧✦✧✦✧
"You know, none of this would have been an issue if you'd have just done your job properly. I was perfectly willing to let you train Jeremy," Klaus remarked, tearing his gaze away from his soulmate who was sat slumped in one of the corners of the cellar with her head in her hands to Damon who was tossing his daylight ring in the air repeatedly out of boredom. Damon made a face at the hybrids words, "no you weren't. Are you kidding? You got there day two," the vampire retorted in exasperation earning an eye roll from the original.
"Do you know how hard it is to get these Xbox brains to focus?" Damon muttered sarcastically as Klaus began to pace back and forth in front of his cell. "And then when I turned a room full of barflies into vampires for him to slaughter, you let Kol kill them," the hybrid continued, ignoring Damon's previous words causing the younger vampire to roll his eyes, "your brother problem, not mine buddy," he replied before throwing up his ring once again.
"And whose bright idea was it to saddle Jeremy with a conscience, hmm?" the original questioned with raised eyebrows as he came to a stop in front of the elder Salvatore's cell. Damon paused as he narrowed his eyes, turning his attention towards the hybrid with an incredulous expression, "well, we couldn't have him trying to stake Elena in her sleep now, could we?" he retorted causing Thea to chuckle from her seat in the corner. "Why not? It'd make my life a hell of a lot easier," the wolf stated jokingly earning a smirk from Klaus and a glare from Damon in response causing her to sigh.
"Relax, Edward. I was only joking," the brunette soothed as she held up her hands in defence, a sly smirk still resting on her lips, "maybe," she winked before standing from her spot. "I'm gonna go get a drink, try not to kill each other," Thea told them before strutting out of the room, feeling the hybrid's gaze follow her as she left. Walking up the stairs and into the Salvatore's kitchen, Thea grabbed a glass from the cupboard before filling it up with some water out of the sink.
As she did so, a sudden wave of dizziness hit her, causing her to grip on to the edge of the sink to steady herself. The wolf panted heavily as her head began to spin and a sudden wave of nausea hit her. Keeping her hold on the sink, Thea lifted the glass of water to her lips, taking a sip as she waited for the dizzy spell to fade away, which it did a few seconds later. Thea took another sip from the glass before putting it down in the sink frowning in confusion as she did so.
She had been experiencing these dizzy spells and sickness for weeks now, and she didn't know why. She always just assumed it was either the result of a hangover or the after effects of what Connor had used on her when he kidnapped her- but the wolf hadn't drank in days or the mixture Connor used should've definitely been out of her system by now. Shaking her head, Thea pushed it to the back of her mind, ruling it as stress. She had far too much on her plate already, she didn't need to add a possible sickness to her list.
Making her way back down into the cellar, Thea slowed her footsteps as she heard Klaus and Damon both speaking in hushed tones. "What is it? Compulsion? Manipulation? What is it you say to her?" she heard Klaus inquire desperately from the other side of the door, causing the brunette to stop in her tracks as she frowned at his pleading tone.
"I think this has something to do with a certain brunette wolf. I think you forced her to make her mom leave town for her own safety and then went after her brother, and I think you're worried that even Thea's kind heart won't ever forgive you," Damon replied tauntingly causing Thea's eyebrows to furrow even deeper, realising now they were discussing her. "You've done worse," Klaus replied, his voice an octave deeper than before making it clear that the Salvatore's words had a clear effect on him.
"Debatable. See, I don't mind being the bad guy, because somebody has to fill that role and get things done. You do bad things for no reason. You do them to be a dick," Damon retorted harshly causing Thea to scowl from her spot behind the door. She couldn't deny that Klaus did bad things and made bad choices, but he wasn't a bad guy. He wasn't a monster- no matter how hard he desperately tried to make everyone believe.
Thea could see straight through him, and she knew that scared him. She could see all his pain, all his insecurities and she loved him in spite of them- because deep down she knew he was a good guy. He was flawed and broken and made mistakes, but deep down he was human, just like the rest of them. He'd suffered heartbreak and torment for over a thousand years and built a cold, heartless front to protect himself so it didn't happen again.
He preferred to be feared rather than loved so that nobody could ever hurt him, and Thea saw that. She understood it. But whilst she chose to accept all his damaged pieces, he couldn't allow himself to be loved fully by her. Klaus loved her, recklessly, wholly and deeply- everyone knew and could see that. But there was a part of him that couldn't let go of his heartless, vicious old self which is why in the end, he chose revenge over her. He needed to make Tyler pay for what he'd done, no matter how much pain it would cause Thea. He needed to prove that he was the alpha. That he was the original hybrid.
And in the end, that's what pushed Thea away. She loved him, just as recklessly and wholly as he did her, but she couldn't stand by and watch as he hunted her brother down for the slaughter; no matter what mistakes Tyler had made, he didn't deserve death. And whilst the brunette couldn't blame Klaus for acting out of retaliation to her brother's betrayal, she couldn't just let it go. She could forgive him, yes, in fact; a part of her knew she already had, but she knew they could never go back to how they were.
Because Klaus couldn't change who he was, and no matter how much the wolf wished to believe she didn't care, she did. Because she knew they were only going to go round in circles, making the same mistakes over and over again. And she couldn't do it to herself anymore; not when Klaus neglected to see the consequences of his actions and the pain it caused her. So no, Klaus wasn't a bad guy- he was damaged and broken, just like the rest of them. And Thea had tried to patch him back together, tried to love him and make him believe he was worth it; but there was nothing else she could do.
"Debatable," the original replied, his voice much quieter than it was previously as he let the vampires words sink in. Damon sighed in response, "if you're gonna be bad, be bad with a purpose. Otherwise, you're just not worth forgiving," the vampire stated causing Thea's gaze to shift towards the floor as she recalled the time she spoke the very exact same words to Klaus months earlier. And they were true. The only person that could help Klaus now was himself. Thea had done all she possibly could, but she couldn't help someone that didn't want to be helped- he had to do it himself, he had to realise he was worthy and good enough. He had to realise that power and manipulation weren't a strength, and that love wasn't a weakness. He had to learn to love himself.
✧✦✧✦✧
"Your brother's lack of communication is infuriating," Klaus spoke to Damon as he hung up the failed phone call he made to Stefan and placed his phone back into his pocket. The elder Salvatore's face was rested on the palm of his hand as his eyes drooped even more than they were before, a clear sign that he needed more blood, "it's one of his trademarks, like his brooding and his hair," the vampire muttered sarcastically causing Thea to chuckle as she leant against the wall opposite his cell.
"I don't understand what's taking so long. I mean, how hard is it to steal a dagger?" Klaus asked with an annoyed scowl on his face causing Thea to sigh as she pushed herself off of the cellar wall and made her way towards Damon's cell. "From a vampire who's been stabbed as many times as your sister, I'd say difficult," the brunette remarked as she handed Damon another vial of blood causing Klaus to huff in response.
"Sweet," Damon dryly replied, taking the small glass container from the wolf earning an eye roll from her in return as she moved back to stand next to the hybrid who narrowed his eyes at the Salvatore vampire. "You disappoint me, Damon," Klaus stated with a taunting smile, "you're not trying very hard to get out of here. I expected more the daring escape artist, less the cell potato," the original remarked mockingly.
"Well, I am compelled to kill Jeremy, so I figured it's probably smarter to sit here and chit-chat with you than bust out of here like the hulk," Damon retorted as he narrowed his icy blue eyes at the hybrid, only earning a mischievous grin from the original in return. "How do you think Elena felt about that, by the way?" Klaus mused, "your inability to overcome Kol's compulsion for a single moment even though it meant saving the one person she loves most in the world?"
Damon glared through tired eyes, "she's met me. She knows impulse control isn't my strong suit," the vampire shrugged as he looked at the hybrid with a teasing grin of his own, "besides, nothing like calling the kettle black, huh? Tell me, how do you think Thea feels about the fact that you're hunting to kill the person she loves most in the world?" Klaus frowned at his response, his gaze shifting towards the brunette guiltily, his frown deepening as he noticed her sunken expression as she focused on the floor in front of her.
Replacing his guilty expression with a smirk, Klaus turned back towards the raven haired vampire, "still, must be hard trying to live up to Stefan. I remember when I compelled him to feed on Elena, he fought so hard, he actually managed to resist. Now, that's love." Damon scowled at the hybrid in front of him as his eyes narrowed, "what do you know about love? You traded what you had for a stupid revenge fantasy," the vampire spat in defence causing the original to scowl.
"I know that you're in love with Elena. But I think you're afraid of what might happen when we find the cure at the end of the rainbow," Klaus remarked harshly, ignoring the comment Damon made, "personally, I don't see a fairy-tale ending for you. All I see is Stefan and Elena. I think you see the same thing." Damon hung his head as the words Klaus spoke registered in his mind before he turned back to scowl at the original with a fiery glare.
"And what about you, huh? Do you actually believe you and Thea can have a happy, magical, fairy-tale ending after all the shit you've put her through? Face it Klaus, you don't deserve her," the Salvatore vampire spat back causing Thea to narrow her eyes at him harshly upon seeing the dejected look wash over her soulmates face. They may not be together right now, but she still loved him and hearing others put him down angered her immensely.
Before she had the chance to snap at him however, Klaus' phone rang cutting through the conversation. "Well, if it isn't the happy homicidal maniac," Klaus greeted as he answered the phone with a sarcastic smirk. "Did you know that your darling former blood bag and her brother are trying to kill me?" Thea heard Kol snap over the phone causing both her and Klaus to furrow their eyebrows in confusion. "What?" Klaus snapped as his eyes turned cold, narrowing on the Salvatore vampire in front of him.
"Don't pretend like you're not in on it. Your obsession to find the cure clearly trumps any sibling loyalty you once felt," Kol snapped causing Klaus' frown to deepen, "I don't know what you're talking about," the hybrid grumbled sincerely. Thea frowned in concern for the youngest Mikaelson brother as she heard the tinge of fear and sadness in his tone as he spoke with his elder brother, "I'm going to rip off Jeremy's arm and kill Elena just for sport. Then I'm coming for you," Kol hissed before hanging up the phone. Klaus angrily pulled his phone away from his ear before stomping over to Damon's cell and grabbing him by the throat.
"What the hell is going on?" the hybrid demanded with a deep scowl as he held Damon against the wall by his throat. "I don't know," the Salvatore vampire chocked out as he struggled in the original's hold, attempting to claw his hand away though his efforts were futile. "Damon, what are Stefan and Elena planning?" Thea asked urgently as she walked closer to the pair, placing a hand on Klaus' arm as she attempted to make him let go.
"I don't know," Damon repeated, gasping for air, "I've been stuck in the penalty box with you since yesterday. Stefan won't talk to me, and Elena won't come to see me, so maybe you're right. Maybe she's written me off," the raven haired vampire sulked. "Tell me what you know," Klaus compelled, his patience wearing thin at the thought of his brother in trouble. "I don't know anything about a plan," Damon insisted causing Klaus' jaw to clench in anger as he gave the vampires throat another painful squeeze.
Thea winced, gripping a hold of Klaus' arm in attempt to calm him down. She was scared for the younger Mikaelson too, not knowing what it is Elena and Jeremy were up to- but she knew killing Damon wouldn't solve anything. Klaus' grip on Damon softened as he looked towards the brunette's pleading gaze before turning back to stare the vampire dead in the eyes, "stay here until I return," the original compelled before roughly releasing the vampire and exiting the room with Thea hot on his trail.
✧✦✧✦✧
Thea's heart thumped loudly in her chest as she and Klaus walked up to the Gilbert's porch hand in hand, her gaze finding an orange glow emitting from the open door giving the wolf a sick feeling that they were too late. As the two soulmates reached the door, Thea's body tensed as hot tears gathered in her eyes. They were too late. There, inside the house, layed the burning corpse of Kol Mikaelson with the white oak stake sticking straight out of his chest.
The brunette shifted her gaze from the originals desiccated body, to the two Gilbert's standing over it with shocked expressions. Thea narrowed her eyes fiercely at the pair as anger began to build within her, "what did you do?" Klaus growled from beside the brunette with an equally harsh glare that made both Gilbert siblings cower. "We-we didn't have a choice," Elena stuttered, her breathing becoming laboured as she looked between the two soulmates in fear, "he was trying to cut off Jeremy's arm!" the doppelganger defended causing Thea to growl.
"Lies. He never would've gotten inside if you hadn't have set a trap for him," the wolf snapped as her eyes flashed a golden yellow, blinding anger overtaking her as images of Kol's burning body plagued her thoughts. Through all the times they had attempted to kill Klaus, the wolf had forgiven them - trying her hardest to excuse their behaviour in fear that she would lose everyone she ever cared about. But there was no way to excuse them killing Kol. For killing someone she cared deeply about- for killing her brother.
Kol was her family, and they had taken him from her. Just as they had done everything in their power to split up her and Klaus. They had taken everything from her; and Thea wasn't going to stop until she'd taken everything from them too. Neither Klaus nor the Gilbert siblings had ever seen Thea with such a dark look in her eyes; as cold and full of hatred as she stared at the siblings in front of her, and it chilled them to their very core. Elena averted her eyes to Klaus, looking at the hybrid in exasperation, "you said you were going to put him down too," the doppelganger tried to reason only causing Thea's anger to rise higher.
"I was going to make him suffer on my terms!" Klaus shouted furiously as tears began to gather in his eyes, causing the two Gilbert's to shrink back in fear. Thea gripped the hybrid's hand tighter in an attempt to comfort him as she kept her narrowed gaze on the two in front of her, watching as Elena looked towards the floor remorsefully. "I'm going to burn this house to the ground," the original continued, a small smirk beginning to settle on his lips as he looked around the small house, "and then, when you try to flee for your lives, I'll kill you both without blinking."
Elena and Jeremy both shifted their gazes towards Thea, pleading with their eyes for her to help them- for her to calm Klaus down and get him to back off. But the Lockwood wolf simply smirked at them in response, because why should she help them? After everything they had done, they deserved to pay for the consequences of their actions. They were so hell-bent on making Klaus pay for all that he'd done, it was about damn time they practiced what they preached and got a taste of their own medicine.
"You kill us, you'll never get to the cure," Jeremy spoke up as bravely stepped in front of Elena, realising Thea wasn't going to help them, "you'll never be able to make any more hybrids," the younger Gilbert tried to reason causing Klaus to chuckle. "You really think I care for an instant about my bloody hybrids?" the original cried in incredulity as he smirked at the siblings, "I want the cure so I can destroy it. I would've killed you all the second we dug it up, but now I'm just gonna watch you burn instead."
Before Klaus could make another move, he fell to his knees clutching his head in pain causing Thea to frown in concern. The hybrid growled as he grabbed onto the doorframe, attempting to keep himself up as the pain in his head got worse just as Bonnie Bennett walked past him with a defiant look on his face. "Bonnie, what are you doing?" the wolf asked in shock as she watched the witch stop in front of her soulmate with a stony expression on her face.
"Invite him in," Bonnie told the Gilbert siblings, ignoring the look Thea was currently giving her causing the wolf to frown, her eyes narrowing at her friend. Out of everyone, Bonnie was the only one that never seemed to have a problem with her relationship with Klaus- the witch hated the original, there was no denying that- but she was the only one that chose to look past her hatred and accept that her friend was truly in love with him. And that's why Thea was stood frozen in her spot in shock now as she watched her friend immobilize her soulmate right in front of her.
But she guessed she shouldn't have been that surprised- between her and Elena, everyone would always chose Elena. And it sucked, but it was true. The only people that truly paid attention to the young wolf was the family her so called friends were hell-bent on destroying, and she was pissed at herself that it took her so long to realise. "Do it!" Bonnie snapped as she turned to face Jeremy with a glare, causing the vampire hunter to nod before inviting the hybrid in- just as Klaus stood up.
"Living room, go!" Bonnie instructed as she magically pulled Klaus into the house, Thea following quickly behind them. Elena and Jeremy both ran through the living room into the kitchen as Klaus followed after them, though he was unable to reach them due to the invisible barrier that Bonnie had magically put up. "Witch, you can't do this to me," Klaus growled threateningly as he continued to punch on the invisible barrier, watching as Jeremy pulled the white oak stake out of Kol before he and Elena ran to the door.
"You have no idea what I can do now," the witch retorted with a fiery glare causing Thea to scowl at her with her own fiery glare. "I may have known you all since kindergarten, but make no mistake- you will all pay for what you've done. Even if I have to kill you all myself, I will, just so you can experience the amount of suffering and pain you've brought me this past year. I am done," the wolf spat as she looked between her former friends with a dark look, her golden irises flashing causing them to flinch.
Elena shifted her gaze to the floor remorsefully as she realised just how much she had pushed her oldest friend as Bonnie looked at the wolf with a sorrowful expression. Thea had changed- she wasn't the same sweet, kind-hearted, forgiving Thea she had always been. They had abused her kind-heart for the last time and she had finally snapped. She was damaged, and broken, and in pain. And it hurt them to know they were partially to blame for it.
"I will hunt all of you to your end! Do you hear me? Do you?!" Klaus growled threateningly as he came to stand behind his soulmate, a ferocious glare on his face as he stared between the teenagers in front of him. With one last glance at the Lockwood wolf's stony expression, Bonnie, Elena and Jeremy all turned and left the house leaving Klaus and Thea alone with Kol's desiccated body still lied in the kitchen.