Carol Lockwood was dead.
In some sick twisted form of retribution to get back at Tyler, Klaus had killed Carol, literally holding her face down in a fountain until she finally drowned.
In the week since The Mayor's passing, Mystic Falls had been in mourning. Carol had been The Mayor for years, she ran multiple charities and pretty much planned every town event and fundraiser.
To honor the passing of yet another member of the Founding Families, most of the town had gathered at the High School all of them paying their respects.
"Carol Lockwood always said that togetherness, in times of tragedy, leads to healing." Liz Forbes's voice echoed through the microphone as she stood on the stage for the memorial.
Hidden in the back of the crowd, Caroline, Elena, and Bonnie all perched near Tyler who was glaring down at the stage.
All of them had lost a parent in some way and wanted to at least show their support. Despite the fact Tyler had barely spoken in the days since his mother's body was found, it didn't mean that the girls hadn't noticed the burning rage that was bubbling down inside of him. Tyler was on a shaky edge at the moment, and it was hard to know for sure what was going to happen. He would either break and finally allow himself to grieve or...he would throw himself into an all-consuming rage and make it his mission to destroy Klaus for good.
Not even Caroline could figure out which path her boyfriend's coin was going to land on and it terrified the living hell out of her.
"That one community is stronger than a thousand of its numbers."
Slowly candles started being lit one by one, everyone lighting a candle for their fallen.
"But how does a community stay strong after losing its leader? And Carol was so much more than just a Mayor. She was..." Liz stammered slightly, her voice wavering but she forced herself to continue "An opened minded friend...and a concerned mother. Taken from us too soon. By a terrible accident."
The second the word accident was uttered into the universe, Tyler tensed up his jaw clenching tightly as a wave of fury rushed through him. This whole cover story was a loud of crap. His mother had been murdered.
End of story.
And it was his fault.
He hated himself right now, he should have gone to her, not rushed around after the hybrids Klaus had already torn through with ease.
"Screw this." He snapped unable to take hearing the lies a second longer.
In less than a second, Tyler was gone, bolting from his mother's memorial.
Caroline sighed as she watched him go before smiling weakly as she felt Elena squeeze her hand. It was nice to have her support right now, because, she had no idea what she was supposed to do. Tyler's mother was dead and the person who had killed her couldn't be killed without wiping out an entire sire line.
Their sire line.
Plus, that wasn't even adding in the extra complication that was Buffy and the baby.
Buffy had literally not come back for this or the funeral, hiding out at The Lake House because she hadn't wanted to upset Tyler or remind him of Klaus today of all days.
Her stomach was literally a massive Klaus is here sign.
Elena entangled her hands with Caroline as she watched Tyler rush off. She couldn't help but feel for him, she knew why he didn't want to be here. Having your parent's death thrust into your face in front of an entire town wasn't exactly easy. Especially, when everyone only thought that Carol had drunkenly stumbled into a fountain and drowned.
It was a shit cover story to be forced to have to play along too.
Thoughts of Tyler were momentarily put on hold for a second as Elena spotted a familiar flash of blonde hair standing by the entrance.
Instantly, dread started to form in her gut.
No.
The owner of the blonde hair just smirked right at her causing Elena to gulp. She was supposed to be a box right now with a dagger in her heart.
Yet here she was awake and probably very pissed off.
Rebekah was awake.
Rudy Hopkins was the new Mayor.
Her freaking Godfather was the Mayor of Mystic Falls and it was wigging Buffy out "Am I gonna have to bow or kiss his ring every time I come over now?" She quested Bonnie as she continued to haul her pregnant butt down the stairs which was getting harder by the day.
How did people go through with pregnancy more than once?
How the hell did you move if you were having twins or worse triples?
Bonnie let out a small laugh at that, though given how tense her voice was it was crystal clear she was not big with the whole being thrilled thing or being the Mayor's kid.
Which at one point had literally been Tyler's whole identity
"He's The Interim Mayor, he's not a gangster or a king."
"Well, that would be more fun." Buffy argued as she finally reached the final step and made her way into the kitchen.
Sure enough, despite the fact it was 10 in the morning, Damon already had a drink in his hand. Though given it was a Bloody Mary, it wasn't too bad. If anything not already being on the hard stuff was progress for him.
Spotting Damon start to laugh at the way she was more waddling than walking, Buffy shot him a venomous glare before sticking her tongue out. Yes, it was childish, but Damon was the biggest man-child on the planet so he couldn't say anything.
Focusing back on Bonnie who was clearly pacing back and forth if the click of her heels against wooden floorboards was anything to go off, Buffy asked the dreaded question "How do you feel about him moving back full time?"
Given that Rudy was normally off traveling for work, the prospect of him actually being back in Mystic Falls full time and not one week out of the month had to be throwing Bonnie for a loop.
Bonnie just grumbled at the question, a little sure of how to answer "I don't know. It's fine when you're there, you're literally a buffer to keep things from getting awkward. And now that I am avoiding Whitmore..."
AKA: Avoiding Shane unless absolutely necessary.
"We are literally living together again. It's weird. He is barely around as it is and now he is in charge of the town. It's messed up!"
That was certainly one way to describe the situation.
Grabbing the juice out of the fridge, Buffy found her eyes drifting to the coffee pot, a longing feeling starting to form.
God, she missed coffee.
Decaf sucked!
Truthfully there was so much stuff that she missed, she missed sushi, she missed being able to freak Jeremy out with super-speed and she missed being able to see her toes and fit into her clothes.
Most importantly, she missed booze!
She hadn't had a drink in six months and the fact that Damon was purposely drinking in front of her was annoying. He had literally started pouring two glasses with each drink he had, claiming that he was drinking for two until she was a fun drinking buddy again.
Given how much of a drunk he was on a regular day, his whole drinking for two things was not pretty.
God, she could not wait to get this baby out of her.
Spotting Damon starting to pour himself another drink, purposely making sure it was in her eye line Buffy shot him a sharp glare.
Yet if anything, her annoyance just amused him all the more. With a bright smirk on his lips he mocking raised his glass in the air "If you had slept with me this wouldn't be an issue, you'd just be hooked, instead of knocked up."
Buffy rolled her eyes, her nose scutching up in slight disgust as she grabbed a bagel and launched it at his head.
Ignoring the laughter as Damon continued to make fun of her, Buffy pushed open the sliding doors and stepped onto the porch, her eyes automatically falling on where Matt and Jeremy were doing a lap around the lake.
"How's Tyler?" Buffy finally forced herself to ask.
Given whose kid she was carrying, the whole Tyler topic was beyond awkward right now. Honestly, Buffy wouldn't be surprised if Tyler never wanted to see her again.
Bonnie let out a concerned sigh "Not good. His mother was just murdered because Klaus found out about the Hybrid's plan. He trusted Hayley and she screwed them all over. He's angry. More than anything. Which is why, I suggest keeping your distance, I don't think he would hurt you, but given-"
"My bad life choices yeah, I get it."
It was why she had stayed at the Lake House a few extra days, well that and she really couldn't stomach seeing Klaus right now. But given that she was dodging his calls, Buffy very much doubted he would hold out from showing up and dragging her back to Mystic Falls for much longer.
She could find a way to avoid Tyler in Mystic Falls while he was grieving.
It shouldn't be too hard, they never really sought each other out unless one of them needed to get some anger out, and given they were the strongest in the group muscle-wise sparing together made more sense. Other than that, she and Tyler weren't the type of friends who would hang out alone.
It just had never been their thing.
But despite that, it didn't change the fact that she still wanted to bash Klaus's teeth in. Given she was about to be a mother, hearing about a son grieving his mother made her want to explode.
Plus, if Buffy ever saw Hayley again, she was punching her in the face.
Oz seriously needed better wolf friends.
Spotting the boys approaching her, signaling the end of her catch-up time with Bonnie, Buffy let out a sigh.
Time to get back to work.
"Bon, I gotta go. Got a little brother to turn into a badass, bla-bla-bla."
Bonnie giggled "Ah, really girly stuff. Got it."
"You know it." Buffy chimed before hanging up and turning to her brother.
The second he moved to give her a good morning hug or even greet her, she grabbed his wrist and flipped him over her shoulder before pressing her foot against his chest, pinning his shocked Pikachu face flat on his back on the porch.
"Always be prepared Little Bear." She reminded him with a smirk before taking a big bite out of her bagel.
Matt let out a loud laugh "She's pregnant and still kicking your ass man."
"Shut up man!" Jeremy groaned as he flipped up to his feet nudging his friend only for the blood in his veins to turn to ice and the color to drain from his face as he spotted the incoming call on his phone.
What the actual hell?
Buffy froze at Jeremy's sudden shift, it was like a damn ghost was calling him, didn't ghosts just pop up to annoy him rather than call?
"Jer?"
Jeremy gulped nervously before cautiously handing over the phone.
She was not going to like this.
"It's your dad."
**
There was no way Rebekah was out of her box.
No way!
Elena was positive she had been seeing things, there was no way Klaus had finally woken up his sister given that according to Buffy, he was being overly paranoid about something to do with Rebekah's past.
Buffy hadn't exactly given her the details, mainly just gagged and shivered in horror before mock throwing up.
Whatever it was had to be beyond twisted.
Honestly, Elena didn't even want to think about the kind of things Buffy and Klaus talked about when they were alone.
Did they actually hold conversations?
There had to be something other than sex which explained why Buffy had literally spent all summer with him. She would literally be with him all day and night.
Buffy and Klaus were weird.
Simple as that.
What Elena was finding even more weird though, was despite the fact that Klaus had killed Carol, Buffy still shut down anyone who told her to run with the baby. While yes; it was risky, there had to be something they could do, some way around it.
Whispers started to float in.
The familiar banshee whispers and quiet screams had Elena groaning in preparation for another headache. However, what had her worried was why they were suddenly picking up.
Her body automatically started to tense up.
Walking further down the hall, Elena paused momentarily as she spotted her old locker. She had to admit, every time she was back in this building it was so weird. High School just felt like decades ago now. Plus, given all the drama her junior year and with Buffy literally missing for her entire senior year following giving herself over to Klaus, that period of her life didn't exactly come with a lot of warm and fuzzy memories.
Pausing mid-thought, Elena's eyes widened as she spotted April standing alone in the middle of the hall.
Quickly approaching the girl whose back was shaking softly, Elena couldn't help but find herself concerned as she spotted the devastated look on the teenager's face "April? What's wrong?"
April just shook her head as she blinked through tears "Nothing." She lied "I'm fine."
Elena sighed and tilted her head at the young girl who reminded her so much of herself at that age. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a tissue offering April a kind smile as she held it toward her "Tears don't mean fine."
Despite the kind gesture, April just gulped before quickly shaking her head again "It's just the whole Mayor thing. You know, it's bringing up stuff with my dad. And-I-know-you're-a-banshee!"
Given how rushed the final half of her sentence was, Elena could do nothing but sputter as it clicked what April had actually just said.
How the hell did she know that?!
"Wait, what?" She stuttered only for a sharp pain to erupt from the side of her head before there was nothing but darkness.
April jumped back in terror as Rebekah slammed Elena face-first against the lockers, knocking the brunette out cold with ease.
"Was that necessary?!" She squeaked.
Rebekah just smirked as she uncaringly dropped Elena's body onto the floor with a thud "No, but it was fun."
**
"How the hell does he know you're pregnant?!"
The fact that Hank had called Jeremy because he had somehow found out that Buffy was pregnant was literally throwing Damon's mind for a loop.
To the point where he couldn't focus on anything else but that.
How the hell had Hank found out?
Everyone in the state of Virginia hated him and given he was a slimy medical malpractice lawyer, most of the damn country hated him!
Buffy just sighed as she grabbed Jeremy's wrist with ease, halting his punch before she leaped into a cartwheel. While she may not be able to do some stuff because of this pregnancy, it didn't mean she couldn't do more than most pregnant women.
Her body may be exhausted and growing bigger with every passing minuscule second, but it didn't mean Buffy wasn't going to make sure she wasn't battle ready.
Given how many threats wanted her baby dead, she still needed to be able to hold her own in a fight.
Even six months pregnant, and with her powers all over the place, she was still kicking Jeremy's ass!
It honestly, made her feel a little better about herself right now.
Jeremy let out a loud grunt as he once again collided with the muddy grass, his head slamming against the dirt and grime.
Again.
He was getting really sick of Buffy beating the crap out of him. Having her constantly beat him every time without breaking a sweat had been bad enough before but now that she was pregnant it was just embarrassing.
"I don't know!" Buffy grumbled her blood boiling the longer she was forced to talk about her dad. She did not want to be thinking about Hank right now. He had manipulated her, lied to her, and gaslit her for years and then he had straight up broken her heart last year.
She had cut him off for a reason!
Hank Summers did not get to just waltz back into her life whenever the situation suited him.
"Now that the whole town knows, he probably heard it through the grapevine. He was still a member of The Council." Matt offered as he continued to stretch his arms over his head "The second your pregnancy came out, someone would have called him to congratulate him about becoming a grandfather."
Buffy clenched her jaw at that and unfortunately for Jeremy the second he climbed back up to his feet she was focusing her rage and hurt on him.
Jeremy hit the floor again with a thud.
"Hank is not my baby's grandfather. He is not getting anywhere near my kid!" She huffed as she quickly blocked an incoming jab from Jeremy before backhanding him and wrapping her leg around the back of his knee, forcing him to his knees unable to do anything to break out of the hold "The last time I saw him, he got with the info dump. Then tried to ask for a favor. Also pretty sure he stole my blood."
That had not been a fun realization for her.
Spotting Jeremy rushing at her again, Buffy dropped to her knees and tripped him up, sending him quickly having to throw himself into a front roll to keep from eating dirt.
Buffy sighed as she moved to help him up "You can't be obvious with your hits. You might have the strength, but vampires are faster than you. Jer, you need to fight smart."
The whole speed advantage was the reason that despite the fact she had basically told Stefan they couldn't be together because he was a vampire, she still started sparing with him 4 times a week in High School.
She had needed to adjust to the speed, which had been completely out of her comfort zone at the time.
"A vampire doesn't have to reach for a weapon. As hunters we do."
Even if she didn't need weapons anymore, it didn't change the fact that her instinct was to reach for one.
Jeremy sighed at her words before nodding in understanding. As frustrating as it was, he knew she was right. Plus, Buffy had been fighting vampires since she was 15. If anyone could get him ready for this and help him not get killed in the process... It was her.
Damon just sputtered, barely paying attention to what Jeremy was saying as he jumped up to his feet "I'm sorry can we get back to the fact you think you worm of a father, who makes mine seem like Mary Poppins by the way, stole your blood!"
That was a big thing considering she was literally the only Demonic-Original hybrid in the world!
Ironically, by creating hybrids, Klaus had basically handed that, I am the only one card, straight to Buffy.
Buffy grumbled in annoyance as she focused back on Damon "I said pretty sure, not sure-sure. Look, I don't know okay, I try not to think about it. I never found out why he suddenly went back into father mode last year. Him creeping out of the shadows like a snake now that I'm pregnant is a massive red flag. Plus, hello! Given who the father is and that he knew about the Originals, I am majorly paranoid."
Before Buffy could start falling into complete paranoia mode and drive herself crazy about all of the unanswered questions and secrets that surrounded Hank Summers, Jeremy quickly placed two comforting hands on her shoulders.
"Screw Hank." He snapped passionately, hate and utter disgust dripping from his voice "Your dad is scum and does not deserve to be in your life. If he shows up, I won't let him anywhere near you. He won't get near your kid Buffy."
He knew Buffy well enough to know that her biggest concern was opening up to her dad again, only to end up with further damage to her mental health and for him to latch his claws into her daughter.
Buffy had made it clear she never wanted her daughter to suffer in the ways she had over the years, it was why she was so against running from Klaus.
When it came to the topic of shitty, manipulative dead-beat fathers, Buffy and Klaus had suffered in different ways, but, they were both determined to ensure they did not repeat their fathers' mistakes.
As much as Jeremy hated Klaus, he could admit the guy was trying when it came to this kid. Though, he was still Klaus; so he was always gonna murder people, but when it came to his unborn child, he was trying.
Something Hank had never really done.
Klaus having any form of growth was really starting to annoy Jeremy.
Life was easier when he could just hate Klaus without being reminded of the way Jenna, despite her own hatred and detest about Hank, had never tried to force her hatred of him onto Buffy. She offered facts and was honest, but she never forced Buffy to hate her dad.
Hank had earned the hate all on his own.
Buffy let out a shaky breath before sinking into Jeremy as he pulled her into a tight hug. As much as a part of her still loved her dad and wanted to believe he actually wanted a relationship with her and his granddaughter, she just couldn't take the risk.
She was not going to let her dad break her daughter's heart like he had broken hers so many times over the years.
A sudden sharp movement from Buffy's stomach caused the pair to freeze up.
Slowly pulling back, Buffy groaned at the fluttery-like sensation in her stomach. As she felt the flutter again, Buffy couldn't help but sputter as it clicked what was happening right now "She's kicking."
Her words caused all three men to freeze up.
Jeremy could do nothing but stutter as he stared down at her stomach.
Buffy blinked back tears before grabbing his hand and holding it against her stomach just as the baby started kicking harder in excitement. A bright smile filled Jeremy's lips as he felt every little kick.
He was the first person to feel the baby kick.
This was insane!
Caroline and Bonnie were going to lose their minds!
"Woah." He whispered, his eyes still glued to her stomach as the small kicks continued to thump against his hand "She's got a powerful kick."
As much as Buffy wanted to laugh, she couldn't help but curse as the baby kicked her in the bladder. Yep, her daughter had a strong kick that for sure, and it was going to get old quickly.
Quickly wiping at her tears, Buffy grinned up at her brother playfully "If think that is her way of saying keep going."
Jeremy laughed before turning to Matt, catching the two bo-staffs he tossed over. Throwing Buffy hers, he grinned at her playfully "Now Summer-"
"Her name is not Summer."
"Shh, I'm having a moment with my niece, sis."
Buffy rolled her eyes but silently started twirling her bo-staff waiting for him to finish.
"Now Summer, you make sure to cheer your Uncle on."
The certainty in his voice cued Buffy to raise a challenging brow as they started circling each other, both of them twirling their weapons in preparation. Waiting to see who would make the first move.
"Don't think because I'm pregnant you can take it easy on me Jer."
He had been on his ass so many times already because he had been holding back. She had been training Jeremy since he was 15, and she knew he could do better than this.
"Show me what you've got. Or you're eating dirt again."
Jeremy smirked, "That's what you think."
Continuing to circle each other, Buffy and Jeremy scanned each other closely, both of them carefully examining the other. Finally, the first move was made. Jeremy rushed forward and swung the bo-staff at her head, but Buffy easily blocked the blow before quickly rolling under his leg as he leaped up and aimed a spinning kick right at her head.
It was safe to say Klaus would be losing his shit if he clicked what she was up to right now.
Eh, Buffy didn't care.
She had forgotten how much fun sparing with Jeremy was.
Coming up behind him, Buffy quickly used her bo-staff to block his leg before slamming the blunt end down onto his foot causing him to let out a sharp hiss of pain and stumble back.
Yet, he didn't fall.
As she leaped up into a spinning kick, Jeremy quickly leaned as far back as he could, just narrowing managing to miss the heeled boot being aimed right at his jaw.
Standing up straight again, Jeremy sputtered his jaw flapping open like a fish as Buffy leaped into a side aerial, her left foot connecting with his jaw, while her right knocked the staff right out of his hand.
How the hell she could still fight like this in her condition he would never understand.
But, he had to admit, it was pretty badass.
Now weaponless, Jeremy quickly dropped to his knees, rolling across the floor to get to his weapon only for Buffy's foot to appear and snap it in half. Not letting that deter him, Jeremy picked up one-half of the now-broken staff and swung it toward Buffy who easily blocked the blow before slamming her foot against his knee.
As he goes down, Buffy rolled over his back coming up on his other side.
She was like a freakin pregnant ninja!
Jeremy groaned in frustration before jumping back up to his feet. Twisting the newly formed stake in his hand he rushed at her again but with a speed he could barely process, Buffy dodged each and every swing.
Even if her super-speed was on strike, her original Slayer speed was still a hell of a lot faster's than Jeremy's Hunter speed.
In less than a second, Jeremy was once again face down on the floor, Buffy holding onto his shoulder tightly as she used her foot to pin him down, pressing it into the center of his spine.
Twisting his wrist, Buffy waited until finally, Jeremy tapped out.
"Look whose' paying for the pizza." Buffy said with a giddy smile as she released her brother and moved to sit beside Damon on the bench.
As Matt moved to take over for the time being so Buffy could rest her feet, Damon grumbled unhappily as he watched Jeremy.
"How many times have you whipped his ass this morning?" Damon asked curiously.
The question cued Buffy to grin brightly, her mood suddenly peppy as she held out an expecting hand toward him, playfully wiggling her fingers "Including that one...8. Pay up."
Damon groaned in annoyance before reaching into his pocket and handing her over her winnings of $300 before turning and glaring at Jeremy "You're costing me a fortune little Gilbert!"
"Hey Jer, Disneyworld for Easter?!" Buffy chimed as she started counting the bills.
Jeremy frowned and turned over to his sister chuckling as he spotted her fanning herself with the money in her hands "We're not five."
"So?"
"If you pay."
"Damon's paying." Buffy said simply before tucking the money into her pocket.
Once again watching closely, Buffy smiled softly as she spotted Jeremy twist Matt's arm before knocking him to the floor with ease.
"At least he can beat up Matt."
Damon rolled his eyes "Elena can beat up Matt." He snarked before turning to the football quarterback "Offense should be taken!"
Buffy sighed before rubbing her stomach again, the kicking was getting insane. It was like her daughter could sense there was violence and wanted in on the fight.
This kid was going to be a dare-devil that was for sure.
"Hear that Jer!" Damon taunted as she purposely pointed at Buffy's stomach making the blonde groan in annoyance "Your niece wants to kick your ass because you do everything in slow motion!"
Jeremy shot a glare at Damon before his face softened as he turned to his sister "She's still kicking?"
"Like a kickboxer." Buffy moaned glaring at her stomach for a moment only to growl as she spotted Matt moving toward her "Don't enter the bubble." She warned him.
She was so not in the mood for anyone touching her damn stomach again.
Given that the entire town had already started seeing her baby bump as an attraction they could visit free of charge, being at The Lake House was supposed to be a sacred space. Now that the baby was kicking, everyone was going to go crazy wanting to get a feel and Buffy was so not up for that.
If one more person touched her stomach without permission, she was going to start ripping arms off.
Given he had witnessed just how entitled the people in town were acting toward her stomach, Matt raised his hands in surrender only to wince as his shoulder shifted.
Jeremy was strong for sure, his throwing arm hurt like hell.
"I'm lasting longer against Buffy!" Jeremy pointed out to Damon "That's something, that at least shows some improvement."
Damon crossed his arms before turning to Buffy and shaking his head "Your sister is taking it easy on you."
Buffy would never be capable of actually hurting Jeremy. She had always held back against him.
Always.
"I won't. Take a seat at the bench, quarterback. Karate kid wants a shot at the title."
Buffy rolled her eyes at that, she had kicked Damon's ass many times over the past 5 and a bit years.
No way in hell was he the titleholder!
"We're you going easy on him?" Matt asked curiously as he took Damon's now abandoned seat.
Buffy shrugged, of course, she had been going easy on him! But given how much stronger she was than Damon, if she hit Jeremy with all of her force, she would kill him "If I don't hold back, I'll kill him."
Matt chuckled in amusement before the two of them watched as within seconds Jeremy broke every rule Buffy had ever taught him and rushed straight before Damon, who quickly put him in a headlock.
Had Jeremy seriously thought that would work?
"Now, all I have to do is apply a little pressure under the jaw."
As Jeremy started struggling against Damon in pain, Buffy clenched her jaw "Jeremy, S-I-N-G."
At her words, Jeremy frowned in confusion but when he spotted the pointed look on her face everything clicked.
Slowly the memory of that stupid rom-com she and Elena used to force him to watch returned.
S-I-N-G had been his favorite scene for a reason.
Elbowing Damon in the face, Jeremy then stamped on his foot before grabbing the stunned vampire by the arm and launching him over his shoulder. With Damon taken off guard, Jeremy quickly grabbed the stake, purposely holding it over Damon's heart.
He had won.
Buffy jumped up clapping her hands loudly as she whistled "Oh yeah! Brother of a Slayer people!" She cheered before smirking at Damon "See I could totally be the Mr. Miyagi to his Daniel."
Damon rolled his eyes before forcing Jeremy off of him, knocking him straight to the floor only for his eyes to widen as he spotted the pizza truck pulling over in the driveway.
That was the fifth time this week!
"Really? Again?"
"3 Double pepperonis 3 days in a row." The cute pizza delivery girl announced as Buffy practically sprinted over to her.
Instantly, the delivery girl laughed but without complaint handed over the pizza "For a pregnant girl that eats like you how you haven't gained any on your face is like a miracle."
Buffy grinned at the compliment "Pay the lovely girl!" She told the boys before walking over to Damon who quickly tried to take a slice of her pizza "I'll throw your ass in the lake." She growled clutching the box to her chest like it was the most precious thing on the planet.
Pizza was life!
Damon rolled his eyes before looking at her seriously "You may wanna make that last."
Buffy frowned in confusion at his words, only to huff in annoyance as she spotted Damon moving over to the pizza girl and handing her a wad of cash.
"No matter how much they beg, don't come back."
Buffy glared at the back of Damon's head as she watched the girl climb into the pizza truck and drive off "You're one of those rich jerks I hate. You should blonde dip dye to match your douche personality." She hissed as she bit down on her slice of pepperoni.
"You can't starve us!" Jeremy yelled as he glared at Damon "I beat you..."
"You only beat me because she is here." Damon argued, pointing at Buffy who was still stuffing her face with pizza "She can't always be there. What are you going to do when she's 9 months pregnant and a freaking Elephant! She won't be able to fight!"
Buffy's eyes widened at his words and on instinct she picked up the knife beside her launching it at his head.
Unfortunately, he caught it.
"Call me an elephant one more time and I will tie you to a freaking elephant!"
Damon let out a frustrated sigh as he tucked the blade in his pocket, the less sharp things around Buffy the better, he really was not in the mood to get stabbed again today.
Luckily, with Buffy now distracted by her food, Damon was able to focus on the boys "Now run around the lake. Twice."
Jeremy huffs before glancing at his sister.
"I'll hide some pizza for the winter." She promised, offering him a small smile as he begrudgingly started running again.
Matt moved to relax only to have Damon turn to him "Keep him company."
Matt glanced at Buffy, with the 'Why is Damon such a dick look?'
A look she knew it very well. Everyone had that look at least once a day when they spent time with the blue-eyed vampire.
"I don't have to listen to you." Matt snapped at Damon.
"You do if you want to eat."
"Or we could kill you to get Jeremy's mark growing." Buffy suggested as she took a sip of her water.
Matt chuckled before glaring once more at Damon and then following Jeremy.
As the boys started their long track, Buffy glanced over at Damon "Want me to beat your ass?"
Damon chuckled before pulling off his jacket "Bring it, Preggo."
The second the word left his mouth, Damon let out a shocked scream as he was launched through the air only to quickly have to cough up water as his entire body was swallowed by the sudden cold.
Buffy had tossed him into the lake.
Swimming up to the surface, Damon gasped loudly as he pushed the wet hair from his forehead.
Buffy just grinned as she stared down at him "I thought you liked to swim."
**
Despite the fact that he knew he still wanted to be with Buffy...Stefan had no idea where to even start right now.
While Caroline revealing that Buffy remembered his six moments was a good sign, it didn't change the rocky path of their relationship since her resurrection, and plus, she was pregnant! He not only had to make things right, but if he wanted Buffy, he had to prove that he wouldn't be a threat to her child.
Winning Buffy back was not simple.
Plus he doubted she was even thinking about romance given how high-risk her pregnancy was.
There was also the fact that if they managed to get The Cure, it would once again just add more issues than solutions to their relationship.
Why was love so fucking complicated?!
Dropping her head down onto the bar, Stefan let out a small growl before starting to refill his glass of whiskey. Caroline had told him that if he wanted to show Buffy that he still loved her and he was invested in her kid, then he needed to show her.
How the hell was he supposed to do that?
Klaus had literally built her an entire nursery!
As he continued to wallow, unable to think about how to at least make a good first step in the right direction, Stefan downed another glass of whiskey only to pause.
An unknown number was calling him.
"Hello?" He slurred.
"Guess who."
Rebekah.
Stefan winced at the realization that she was awake, whatever she wanted he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it.
"I'm back, dagger-free, and I'm holding Elena hostage at the high school. Just thought you should know."
Yep, he didn't like this.
Stefan couldn't help but groan in annoyance, who the hell on this planet thought that un-daggering Rebekah was a brilliant idea?
She was nothing but a pain in the ass!
"Who would be stupid enough to pull that dagger out of you?"
"I'll be asking the questions today. See ya soon."
With that, she hung up, and Stefan huffed.
This was so not how he wanted to spend the day. Tapping his phone against the table lightly he downed his new drink before dialing Caroline's number.
"I'm only ready to talk to you if you're ready to rejoin civilization and start planning how to get Buffy back. One that doesn't revolve around just declaring that you can deal with her raising another man's child!" Caroline declared not even a second after she answered the phone.
Stefan just grumbled in annoyance as he pushed away from the bar "How would you like to drive The White Oak stake through Rebekah's heart?"
"If it means you're not drinking your way through the Mystic Grill with that crap list of all of your screw-ups with my God-Sis, sure."
**
Today was not the day for Rebekah to be seeking revenge.
Any other day and Stefan probably wouldn't have resorted to stealing the White Oak stake out of Buffy's coffin.
Actually having to dig it up had literally caused him to gag.
Today officially sucked!
Storming through the halls of the High School, Stefan sighed as he continued to stare down at his phone waiting for Caroline to respond. He needed Caroline up here so they could stake her, get Elena and he could go back to his drinking party for one.
Apparently, he did his best thinking about how much he had screwed up with Buffy while drunk.
There was a sudden gust of wind followed by the White Oak stake being snatched from his hand before he was launched into the lockers.
"How did it feel digging up Buffy's grave just to get this?" Rebekah taunted as she twirled the stake before tucking it into her jacket "Must have been a traumatising reminder Stefan."
Groaning in pain, Stefan glanced up at the Original who just continued to smile at him peppily, though the venom in her eyes made it crystal clear this was not to be a friendly reunion. It was safe to say she was still pissed about him stabbing her in the back to get the intel about The Five.
Clenching his jaw, Stefan forced himself back up to his feet "I'm here. What do you want?"
"The same thing I wanted when you helped Klaus stab me in the back."
"The cure." The second the two words left his mouth, Rebekah sped forward.
There was a loud crack followed by Stefan's body hitting the ground.
She snapped his neck.
Grinning, Rebekah grabbed his ankle and started dragging him toward the library.
It was time for class to begin.
**
Still to this day, Buffy and guns were a non-mixy combination.
So being forced to watch Jeremy load and re-load wooden bullets into his gun over and over was pure torture for her. It had been over an hour of this yet it felt like decades.
To put it simply, Buffy was bored as hell.
Though, she suddenly understood why Giles used to drink so much when he was still acting as her official Watcher. Having to sit around and watch was lame!
Leaning back in the chair to boys had carried out of the house for her after she had threatened to rip all of their arms off if she had to sit on that bench anymore, Buffy glanced down at her sketchbook.
She had been drawing this weird blue light for days.
It was probably her least imaginative sketch ever, it was literally just a hovering blue ball of light in the middle of the air.
What made this whole thing worse though, was the fact that the TV was broken! Which meant she couldn't sneak off to watch Star Trek.
Today was the worst.
"Good." Damon chimed as he took the newly loaded gun off Jeremy. He examined it closely before removing all of the bullets like a petty little child "Now...do it like your life depends on it 'cause it does."
Buffy rolled her eyes before pushing herself up, leaving her sketchbook on the chair she snatched the gun away and tossed it back onto the bench. If she had to do one more hour of loading and re-loading she was going to shoot Damon herself in the kneecaps "We're done with guns." She huffed before narrowing her gaze at Damon "Damon you're being...well a douche which is normal, but you're being more douche-y than normal. So you're really starting to piss me off."
Rubbing Jeremy's potential death in his face was not making her a happy camper.
Jeremy was not dying, that was the whole point of this.
If Damon kept acting like he was going to fail and just insult him rather than giving constructive criticism and actually showing him why what he was doing was wrong, Jeremy would never learn.
"You are a terrible teacher." She hissed before begrudgingly picking up the gun and actually showing Jeremy what he was actually doing wrong, helping him understand what was making everything move along slower so he could work better.
"You are loading the bullets in the wrong way, that's why you're struggling to load the magazine." Spotting both Jeremy and Damon staring at her in shock Buffy rolled her eyes "I dated Riley for over a year. I don't like guns, doesn't mean I don't know how to use one."
Riley literally used to load magazines in front of her when she spent the night at his apartment!
Sure enough, listening to his sister, Jeremy picked up the gun, loading it in half the time.
Ignoring the way that Damon was now muttering under his breath, Buffy pealed off her hoodie and faced Jeremy who was now smiling smugly over at Damon "You want to keep your distance from a vampire."
Especially the kind with super-speed, all it took was one wrong move and your spine would get ripped out before you could even blink.
"That is the ideal. But that doesn't always happen. I want you prepared for if they get in close. Prepared for their speed."
With Damon no longer trying to pretend that he could teach and merely grabbing his flask, Jeremy focused back on his sister. She was the one here training him, Damon was only here to act as extra security because she was pregnant and had about a billion people trying to kill her.
Well, that and he was bored out of his mind and did not want to deal with the fallout of Klaus reigning down hell in Mystic Falls.
Even if he was a good shot with a gun at the end of the day, if a vampire got too close, he needed to be ready for that. If he was being pinned down by a nest he needed to be able to survive.
Buffy was the best person to teach him how to do it.
Given how many times Buffy had kicked Damon's ass before she was an original, Jeremy trusted her a hell of a lot more as a trainer.
"Clearly fighting me isn't working." Buffy knew he was still holding back "You don't wanna hurt me or your niece but..."
As Buffy's eyes shifted over to him, Damom sputtered almost choking on his bourbon.
Had she lost her damn mind?!
Instead of responding he just gestured to her massive stomach "I am not getting you near you with that thing ready to blow!"
Damon fully intended to be on the first flight out of the state the second she went into labor.
Buffy rolled her eyes and just grabbed his arm dragging him over to the grass spot they had been using as a makeshift sparing area "I'm only six months pregnant dummy."
"Wait you can get bigger?"
There was a loud grunt.
Damon collapsed to his knees clutching his stomach as he weezed "Okay, yeah should have seen that coming."
Buffy just grumbled unhappily as she rubbed her forehead.
How stupid did someone have to be, to straight up comment on how big a pregnant woman was?
Swallowing her anger for the time being, she shifted her focus back to her brother who was trying not to laugh at just how quickly she had punched Damon in the gut the second the word bigger escaped his lips.
Pregnant Buffy was not to be messed with.
"Demonstration." Buffy declared as she focused on him "Jer, you need to see how your powers measure up close to one of them. So with no original benefits..." She turned to face Damon, getting her body into a fighting stance "Damon, here is the part where you attack me and deeply regret it later."
Damon hesitated as he watched Buffy.
He didn't like this, he didn't want to risk hurting Buffy, but if didn't do this, he had a very strong feeling that he was going to end up right back in the lake. Begrudgingly pulling off his jacket, he tossed it over to Jeremy "Sit back and watch the championship game little Gilbert."
Without complaint, Jeremy leaned back in his seat, his hands already shaking in excitement.
This was going to be great!
He loved watching Damon get beat down and seeing him get beat down by a pregnant five-foot-four blonde in bright pink yoga pants was going to be a memory he treasured for the rest of his life.
Where was a camera when you needed one?!
Buffy kept her eyes glued to Damon, scanning his entire body closely as she spoke "Never strike first. Let them move towards you." Damon rushed forward and without hesitation Buffy slammed her leg out into his knees, shattering them, the bones cracking and grinding loudly through the air "With their speed we need to slow them down. Always go for the knees."
Step 1. Remove the vampire's speed advantage.
Jeremy nodded sharply as he watched every movement carefully.
He knew the knee rule. Wesley had practically drilled it into him in Denver plus, they had literally used that technique to slow down Kol. They had shot him in the knees first then fired a stake.
They had put his speed on hold, buying them some time to move.
Step 2. If you had no weapon, make their own strength the weapon.
As Damon threw his arm out at Buffy, she quickly rolled out of the way before coming up behind him and kicking him in the center of the back. Given that she was only using basic Slayer strength which would match Jeremy's new hunter strength, Damon stumbled before leaping at her again, but Buffy ducked causing him to go flying over her and crashing right into a tree.
It was official, Damon hated training Jeremy!
He felt like Xander in that stupid puffy Xander suit back in Sunnydale.
Never again!
"You so owe me a drink after this." He complained as he struggled back up to his feet only to freeze as he spotted the crossbow aimed at his chest.
Speeding forward he knocked the crossbow away from Buffy but just before he could mock bite her and declare himself a winner he felt the plastic stake pressed up against his chest.
Buffy smirked.
Step 3. Always have a hidden weapon that couldn't be spotted.
Damon instantly groaned in annoyance "Cheater."
"Nope, cheating is what you do at kitten poker. This is being strategic."
Instantly, Damohn's eyes widened in panic "I do not play kitten poker."
It had been one time!
Buffy just smiled slyly, knowing for a fact that wasn't true "Clemm, you know the demon with the loose skin said that after I died you and Spike got stupid drunk and trashed the place. You guys were hugging like regular old undead buds as you performed Karaoke to Celine Dion. You were also crying."
Jeremy laughed, completely falling off the bench unable to control himself as imagines of that started to fill through his brain. That was the greatest thing he had ever heard.
All of Damon's crap to Spike about looking like Billy Idol and being the lesser vampire, yet he had gone out drinking with Spike!
He had gotten drunk played kitten pocket and did Karaoke with Spike!
Greatest thing ever!
Damon's face was practically red at this point and he started shaking his head.
He was going to kill Clemm!
And rip Spike's face off!
"Fake news."
"You also set all the kittens free."
Buffy let out a loud laugh as she quickly found herself thrown over Damon's shoulder "Jeremy your sister has lost her mind. It's too late for her." As Damon continued to carry her toward the lake, intent on throwing her in, Buffy couldn't stop laughing "Did you do the song from Titanic? Who played Jack? You or Spike."
"Buffy shut up or I am going to kill you!"
Buffy and Jeremy's laughter grew more intense by the second.
However, all of the fun and games were brought to a halt as a familiar voice echoed from behind the trio.
"I'm sorry, did I interrupt playtime?"
The Buzzkill King himself.
Still hanging over Damon's shoulder, Buffy groaned in annoyance as she spotted Klaus standing by the porch, his furious gaze glued to her.
Yep, the fun was over.
Tapping Damon's shoulder, signaling for him to put her down, Buffy exhaled tightly as she stared at Klaus blankly before moving over to Jeremy, purposely sitting beside him so she could interfere if Klaus tried anything. This baby bump was literally about to become a damn shield if Klaus tried to touch her brother.
Spotting Klaus yet to move his furious gaze from his sister, Jeremy just moved closer to her, his fingers already reaching for the closest weapon. While he was pretty sure Klaus wouldn't hurt Buffy, given he looked like a fuming raging dog about to bark at everything in sight, Jeremy wanted to prepare for the worst.
It was a known fact Klaus had no control over his temper.
"What are you doing here?!" He hissed.
"He's target practice." Buffy huffed as she tried not to react to the fact that the baby was currently kicking her kidney. Just because the baby was going crazy over Klaus's arrival, probably because of some weird wolf connection, didn't mean Buffy would be doing flips anytime soon.
Klaus clicked his jaw at her response as he slowly started to approach the trio, not once moving his gaze away from Buffy "Excuse me for being concerned when the helpless girl carrying my unborn child doesn't return home for a week."
Buffy scoffed in offence "Helpless?!"
"It's a figure of speech."
"Not it's not!" Buffy snapped back as she gestured for Jeremy to help her up.
The second her feet were planted back on the ground, Buffy waved her hand signaling for him to stay back while she approached Klaus, who momentarily started scanning her for any signs of desiccation.
Clearly, he had finally listened to all of his voicemails.
As Buffy continued to glare up at him, Klaus grumbled in annoyance, it was safe to say she was not happy with him. Though he was struggling to work out just how angry she actually was. Given she wasn't the closest with Tyler and had a habit of avoiding Carol Lockwood to avoid being turned into debutant again, he hadn't expected a week of radio silence.
The only reason he knew she was okay was because Elijah had actually spoken to her.
"You have stopped answering my calls which is a touch concerning and might I add, I had to learn from Elijah that it was in fact your witch's supposed friend that almost killed you and our child."
Elijah was such a little snitch.
"Well, you came, you saw me. Bye now, I have a brother to help."
Her sentence cued Klaus to click his fingers together before dramatically glancing over at Jeremy who had yet to stop glaring daggers at him "Ah yes, the other reason I'm here. Now, color me curious why does the air lack the distinct scent of rotting vampire flesh?"
"There can be rotting vampire flesh in about 10 seconds." Buffy snarked with a sarcastic smile before turning to Damon "Go get the flame thrower."
Klaus rolled his eyes before narrowing his gaze, he did not have time for jokes here. With the hybrids dead, he was an army short, which meant he currently had less cannon fodder to toss at the witches when they tried to interrupt the birth of his child "How many vampires has he killed?"
"If we are talking the dusty variety, then tons."
She had literally taken him on patrol in Sunnydale to help teach him how to survive on a Hellmouth surrounded by annoying creepy crawlies.
"Magic pixy vampires? Just Damon. In his dreams."
Buffy was pretty certain everyone in their lives had the staking Damon dream the second they met him.
She knew for a fact that Giles used to have it all the time in Sunnydale.
When Klaus narrowed his gaze at her dangerously, Buffy just held his furious gaze which cued Damon to finally walk over getting in between the furious pair of soon-to-parents. As fun as it was watching Buffy out wit Klaus with ease, probably driving him completely insane, Klaus also looked ready to start monologuing dramatically.
The sooner this conversation was over, the sooner Klaus would leave.
Hopefully.
They needed to get the reality that Jeremy wasn't ready through Klaus's thick skull "If we throw Jeremy out into the world right now, he's chum."
Not at all pleased with the lack of progress, Klaus clenched his jaw tightly before slowly focusing on Damon, for the first time actually looking away from Buffy. Right now, he was about a second away from tossing Damon at Jeremy to start getting his kill count out and the tattoo growing "Now, see, that's not a number. 12. That's a number. That's how many of my hybrids I slaughtered with my sword."
Buffy rolled her eyes before groaning loudly, once again cursing the universe for making her attracted to Klaus.
How did she find him taunting Damon and talking about swords incredibly arousing?
There was something wrong with her brain!
"Okay-okay, we get it you're the big bad Hybrid geez." She moaned before letting out a small huff "Ballpark figure? None so far." Before Klaus could even dare try and complain she pressed a finger into his chest, shoving again him lightly.
If he ever tried to suggest just tossing vampires at Jeremy she was going to ensure that he could never re-produce again.
"My brother is not going trolling for vampires Klaus! Not until I know he won't get killed. I don't care how long that takes, I am not rushing him into this."
Klaus growled lightly before taking a step toward her, his chest brushing hers as he glared down at her, though there was a slight edge to his eyes that had Buffy gulping slightly.
The last time he had looked at her like that they ended up having sex in the alleyway behind The Grill.
Feeling her chest start to flush as her hormones which were practically screaming at her right now, Buffy purposely stepped back. The second that familiar smirk appeared on his lips it was like ice water being poured over her head.
Enjoying the way her mind and her body were clearly at war, Klaus just took another step closer not letting her escape "How about another number camena?" He teased before pointing at Damon who looked ready to combust into flames if the shade of red his face had turned into was anything to go off "One. Purposes that he serves. To grow Jeremy's mark to get the cure and protect our unborn child."
Ignoring the way he tauntingly emphasized the word 'our' in an effort to antagonize Damon, Buffy shoved past him quickly moving back over to Jeremy and grabbing one of the stakes they had been whittling "That's technically two." She chimed as she playfully pointed the stake at him only to sigh as he narrowed his gaze, unamused by her humor.
Klaus was no fun sometimes.
"Zero." She finally admitted as she grabbed her daily glass of gross 'Keep the baby from practicing magic' potion.
This new batch needle of sorrows free and made 50 miles away from Shane.
"But you know, we kill you then zoo; couple hundreds of thousands dead right?"
As Buffy started gagging at the taste of the potion, Jeremy literally having to pour it down her throat to actually get her to drink all of it like Bonnie had told her to, Klaus just smiled smugly.
"Hmm, expect you and I both know you would never do that."
Buffy would never wipe out an entire sire-line of vampires just to get The Cure. She would never even consider it.
Someone else would.
It was wiping out tens of thousands of people for only one person to be happy.
Someone who was willing to commit genocide just to find The Cure was not a person she wanted in her life.
And it sure as hell wasn't someone she wanted around her kid.
Plus, that person would probably be the biggest idiot in the world. If you killed an Original to wipe out a sire line, the rest of the family would tear you apart the second the stake hit the ground.
Deep down though, as much as she hated it, despite the Carol thing... Buffy knew she wouldn't be able to kill Klaus, even if the sire line wasn't a concern.
She just couldn't.
UGH!
Feelings sucked, especially when they were feelings about your psychotic baby-daddy.
"I hate it when you're right."
Klaus grinned smugly, however, all amusement quickly faded as he narrowed his gaze at her seriously, though it was more concern than actual anger. He just couldn't stop replaying all of those voicemails over and over in his head. Messages about Buffy and the baby being on death's door while he had been ripping hybrids to shreds "You will be coming home with me today."
The declaration caused Buffy to sigh.
Her 7 days of peace had officially come to an end.
Instantly, Jeremy jumped up his eyes narrowed furiously, he was not just going to let Klaus boss his sister around "What? You can't just-"
"The child she is carrying was threatened. My child. She almost died because of the friend your witch vouched for. I have let her remain here for the past week to rest." That and if he had tried to forcibly remove her she would have snapped his neck. The past 7 days had been to let her calm down any rage regarding his choice to murder The Mayor "I will not be taking any further risks. When I leave, she is coming with me."
Damon just scoffed as he narrowed his gaze at Klaus "Yeah, she almost died. Funny, I don't remember you being there."
In less than a second, Klaus was in Damon's face, glowing golden eyes illuminating brightly as he prepared to rip out Damon's spine and turn it into a scarf or use his blood for his next painting.
As the three men in her life continued to argue bitch and fight about her life, Buffy grabbed the gun off the table and fired three rounds in the air.
All three men jumped only to spot Buffy sitting on the bench with the now smoking gun pointed at the sky as she glared at them with such fire and fury in her eyes they all took a slight step back.
"Are you done?" She snapped boredly as she placed the gun back down.
Now that she had their full attention she stood up and moved over to the three of them, purposely placing her hands on her stomach "I'm sorry, is one of you now carrying this baby?" She snapped "Is one of you the one that almost died, my apologies no one filled me in that my baby had been plucked out and dumped in one of you!"
Taking in a deep breath, Buffy focused on Klaus first who was still glaring daggers at Damon, ready to rip his spleen out and eat it "Klaus, reign it in. Reminder, Damon was the one that found me and got me to Bonnie. He was the one that clicked it was Shane. I probably would have died if hadn't shown up."
Feeling Damon start to grin smugly at Klaus, Buffy slapped him around the back of the head "Stop agonizing him. I know you all like to forget this, but he is the father! He has a right to be worried. He sucks but it is still his kid that almost died."
She could be pissed about Carol and upset for Tyler to the point where she wanted to literally rip Klaus's arms off and beat him to death with them, but he was still the father of her kid.
"If I come home..." The second Klaus started to smirk like he had just won a prize, Buffy slapped him around the back of the head next "I will not be locked in a room and I will still be in charge of training Jer. Wanna know why? He is my brother! And I was literally The Slayer. I have the most battle experience here other than you but Jer can't learn from someone he doesn't trust!"
Grumbling in annoyance, Klaus glared up at the blue sky above them. She was not willing to just do as he told her and it was infuriating "You sleep at home and I remain here when you are here." He gritted out.
"You're not needed wolf boy other than for a taxi." Damon snarked.
That finally got Klaus to snap, without hesitation he grabbed the stake from Buffy's thigh holster and drove it right into Damon's side, shoving it up between his ribs.
As Damon screamed in agony, Klaus shifted his focus to Buffy "He did one thing right, fine. But he is not effective protection!" Yanking the now bloody stake out Klaus's expression softened as he focused on Buffy who was trying to figure out if she wanted to laugh at Damon getting stabbed or be angry about it.
Seeing Damon hurt was always a conflicting thing because most of the time...he did something to deserve it.
Pushing a panicked father-to-be whose unborn child had almost been murdered was not a smart idea.
"Buffy..." Klaus whispered softly as he placed his hands on shoulders "What happens if the witches attack you here? With your brother around?"
Buffy froze.
Dread started to bubble in her stomach.
For so long Jeremy had been her Achilles' heel, even more than Elena.
Elena just happened to be the one constantly getting kidnapped, getting into trouble, or not listening to reason.
Instantly, panic started to settle in.
What if Jeremy got attacked while she was in labor?
What if something happened and he was overrun?
What if there was something that she hadn't thought of it, some extra trick to ensure he was okay?
"You will be forced to choose-"
Before Klaus could get another word in and further continue to freak Buffy out, Jeremy glared over at him, quickly pulling his sister out of his grip so that she was facing him this time "Buffy, put your kid first...I will be fine."
"I--I-I---"
Endless possible what-ifs.
As she sputtered slightly, Jeremy groaned at Klaus "Dude! Not the thing to say to my already panicky pregnant sister!" He snapped before cupping Buffy's face in his hands and leaning his forehead against hers "You are the reason I have survived as long as I have. You did your job, Buffy. You have to let go a little. You can't sacrifice your own life to protect me and Elena anymore. It's okay to let go."
The prospect of letting her siblings actually be in charge of their own safety terrified Buffy.
While she had always ensured they were trained and had free will, it didn't change the fact that she had been there keeping them safe from every threat.
Even when Elena was literally making her miserable, Buffy still watched from the shadows, protecting her no matter what Elena said to her or how she treated her.
She protected her family...but her siblings were adults.
Even if Elena was still a pain who needed constant saving, it couldn't be her job anymore.
She had a kid on the way.
"Okay..." She whispered through fearful tears before nodding "I have faith in you. Just...we do this smart."
Jeremy grinned before pulling her into a tight hug "Agreed."
Leaning into her brother's side, Buffy wiped at her tears before finally turning back to Klaus "You make one more choice comment and I will set you on fire."
For a moment, Klaus was actually silent as he watched her literally having to fight between the two strongest forces in her. The instinct she had been following for years; to do whatever it took to protect her siblings, and this new intense drive to protect her child.
"Well..." He breathed, purposely waiting until her heartbeat calmed down a little before clapping his hands together "We are going to need The Cure sooner rather than later. Hybrid cannon fodder shortage and all."
Buffy quirked a curious brow "You do click that Elena can still have kids right? In a couple of centuries, there will be another doppelgänger."
"Unless your pregnancy resembles that of a dinosaur's, I would rather start building an army to protect our daughter before she is born. Now, as I am here, how can I help?"
Given that his favorite shirt was drenched in blood thanks to Klaus trying to make a point, Damon hid a small smile as he subtly picked up the gun Buffy had dropped.
"You know...now that you mention it...Jeremy...Watch and learn."
In less than a second there were three loud bangs.
Klaus grunted, blood starting to spill from his chest.
Buffy couldn't help but snort, despite him being the father of her child, it didn't mean he didn't deserve it. He deserved all of the bullets in the world being fired at him and probably a rocket launcher or two.
Spike had been right, she had tragic taste in men.
"That's for Carol Lockwood." Walking over Damon fired another round into his chest "Stabbing me and you know...knocking up my best friend."
**
School was in session.
Well, technically speaking, Rebekah's twisted torture session was officially in session.
She had Caroline, Elena, and Stefan all compelled to remain in their seats, while April stood off to the side watching the situation in a mixture of intrigue and horror.
Elena couldn't help but groan as she leaned back in her chair.
She had officially found another downside of being a Banshee, other than the pain-splitting headaches. While not being affected by werewolf venom was great, she would rather not be able to be compelled.
Honestly, she had kind of assumed that being a Banshee would make her immune.
She couldn't even remember the last time she drank vervain.
Buffy was going to kill her!
With Stefan now fully awake and healed from his broken neck, Rebekah grinned, quickly clapping her hands together "Class is in session. You've all been compelled. Buffy would truly be ashamed. Doesn't she own the biggest supply of vervain in the state of Virginia?"
Rebekah knew for a fact Buffy grew vervain in the garden of the Gilbert house and she had spotted a few bulbs at her brother's house when she went by over the summer to pack up her things.
How these people kept thinking they were immune to compulsion was bewildering!
Were they really this idiotic or just plain dimwitted?
"Now, you know the rules. Answer my questions honestly, no disobedience, no one leaves." Turning to the teenage girl Rebekah offered her a small smile "April, my sweet take notes. This is how you get answers in this town."
Now that the rules had been set, Rebekah slowly started circling around the group.
Like a tigress taunting her prey.
All eyes were clued to her, unable to do anything but watch and listen.
"Let's start with a little quiz. In the year 1114, my brother learned—thanks to yours truly—about a brotherhood of vampire hunters trained by The Slayer, with tattoos that grew with each kill. And these tattoos reveal what? Banshee?"
Elena rolled her eyes as she leaned her chin on her palm, wishing to be anywhere by here. Literally anywhere else sounded appealing to her right now.
"A map."
"Which led to..." Rebekah continued her eyes shifting to Caroline "Caroline?"
She wanted everyone to be included in this session.
"A cure for the supernatural." Caroline deadpanned; she like the others had no interest in being here, especially against her will.
"Perfect." Rebekah gleamed with a smile "We're all caught up."
Turning sharply to Stefan, she narrowed her gaze at him furiously, but he just continued to stare blankly at the wall behind her, not even sparing her a glance "Stefan Salvatore, the last time we saw each other, you had a hunter, but in order to decode the map, you needed the location of the hunter's sword. Which you got out of me using some very dirty tricks. Assuming you found the sword you must have found the cure, and yet you're still a vampire, which means something went wrong."
Hearing the scrap of pen against paper, Rebekah paused in her interrogation only to spot April, literally taking notes in her notebook "What are you doing?"
April frowned, she was still new to this whole supernatural thing and extremely uncomfortable "You asked me to take notes."
April really was precious.
"I wasn't being literal darling, but now that you mention it, a flow chart would be nice, which, means index cards and push pins. Go fetch."
Without needing to be told twice, April quickly escaped the tense situation of the room.
Stefan sighed and finally turned to glare at Rebekah, he was done with her games "You're wasting your time. We don't know anything."
An obvious lie.
Rebekah scoffed in disbelief "So you just gave up?" She asked pointedly.
She was missing something here, after the romantic speech Stefan had given her all about how badly he wanted a human life with Buffy, she refused to believe he had just thrown that all away.
The only way he would have given that up is if Nik and Buffy's relationship finally came out into the light of day.
"I thought you'd do anything to save Buffy...and give Elena human life again." Slowly a small taunting smirk grazed her lips "Didn't you also want to take the cure yourself to live a life with my favorite Slayer."
At her words Elena's widened in shock, slowly turning her head she couldn't help but exhale in disbelief. She could see it all over his face and the way his body was shifting uncomfortably in his chair.
She just couldn't believe it.
She would have thought that now that Buffy was having Klaus's baby that Stefan would have moved on. But it was all over his face, he was still completely in love with her.
"What do you look so surprised?" Rebekah asked before letting out a small laugh as she spotted the brief look of disgust that crossed Elena's face.
It was safe to say, she knew.
"This is about the relationship between my brother and Buffy."
Instantly, all three people at the table shot their eyes to Rebekah in astonishment.
How the hell did Rebekah know about that?
She had been daggered since before everyone found out.
Slowly a lump started to form in Elena's throat as she realized just how Rebekah knew.
Buffy had opened up to her.
"She told you?!" Caroline exclaimed in shock, having come to the same realization "What?!"
Rebekah rolled her eyes at the jealous flash in Caroline's eyes "She needed a friend who wouldn't judge her."
Everyone shifted slightly.
Despite the fact their reaction just proved that the reveal had not gone down well, Rebekah couldn't shake the strange feeling in her chest.
There was something else here, something she was missing "I'm missing something. What is it?"
Given the compulsion, the group couldn't hold out for long, and finally, Caroline blurted out the truth "Buffy's pregnant with Klaus' child. Now let us go."
Pregnant.
With Klaus's child.
Her brother's child...she was going to be an Aunt.
It was safe to say, in a thousand years, Rebekah had never been so shocked.
How the hell had that happened?!
"WHAT?!