Reigining Pain in New Orleans

Klaus tapped his glass with his fork, garnering everyone's attention. "Let us begin with a toast to our shared gift: immortality. After a thousand years, one might expect life to be less keenly felt, for its beauties and its sorrows do diminish with time. But, as vampires, we feel more deeply than humans could possibly imagine." He gestured towards a group of waiters and waitresses. "Insatiable need, exquisite pain..." I flinched when the humans slit their wrists with knives, letting their blood flow into the glass. "Our victories, and our defeats." He smirked at Marcel, who ignored him. "To my city, my home again. May the blood never cease to flow..."

"...and the party never ends!" Marcel finished.

Diego raised his glass. "To New Orleans."

"To New Orleans!" Klaus toasted.

Everyone else toasted to "New Orleans!"

This was suspicious. Marcel didn't seem like the type to just give up.

"I understand that some of you may have questions regarding the recent change in leadership, and I invited you here tonight to assure you that you are not defeated. No, my intentions moving forward are to celebrate what we have. What Marcel, in fact, took and built for this true community of vampires," Klaus said.

"What about her?" He pointed his index finger at me. "The witch girl."

"Witch girl has a name, y'know," I snapped.

"Had you'd let me finish, Diego, you would know that there is, of course, one further matter I would like to address." He walked down to where I was sitting and a hand on each of my shoulders. Happy families, huh? "As many of you know, the girl is carrying my child. Consequently, I trust you will all pay her the appropriate respect. However, I understand that some of you are concerned by this vicious rumor that I intend to use the blood of our child to create hybrids. I assure you I do not."

"And the father of the year award goes to..." I jeered, raising my glass up to Klaus.

Klaus continued with his stupid speech. "It appears I will have to earn your trust. Very well, we'll eliminate the root of your anxiety. You see, how I can I sire any hybrids if there are no more werewolves alive in the bayou to turn?"

"What? Klaus-"

"What do you care about the werewolves?" Klaus raised an eyebrow, but got over it pretty quickly and turned back to his supposed vampire minions. "So - eat, drink and be merry. And, tomorrow, I suggest you have yourselves a little wolf hunt. Go ahead, have fun. Kill them all!"

It seemed to bring him more joy that I didn't want him to kill them. Was this seriously because I didn't kiss him? He had severe problems.

I did a locator spell and found Hayley at in the French Quarter. What could Marcel do to me? What could Klaus do to me? Nothing. I was practically untouchable.

Tip-toeing out of the compound, I turned around when I heard someone behind me. I sighed in relief when no one was there. Eve saved my life. I could have stopped Elijah, but the thought was what counted.

If I found Hayley, then she could stop the werewolf massacre.

I was too lost in my thoughts to notice Diego, a very unfriendly vampire, standing in front of me.

"Going somewhere?"

All of a sudden, Elijah - always my saviour - showed up and threw Diego against the wall, breaking his neck.

"Thank you," I said, smiling. "But you shouldn't be here. Klaus has his vampires stalking me."

"I wouldn't worry about them."

Rebekah kicked down two vampires who were hiding behind the wall, in the corner.

"Come, we mustn't linger. We'll get you some place safe," Elijah said.

"No, I'm fine, Elijah. Klaus won't hurt me. I made a promise with Eve-"

"Who's Eve?" Rebekah asked.

"A werewolf I met at the Bayou. She wants to find Hayley, some girl I met back in Mystic Falls. Those werewolves are her family. I'm not close with her or anything, but I made a promise to Eve that I'd find her," I told him. "And Klaus ordered a wolf hunt as a peace offering to Marcel's crew. He's going to massacre the lot of them."

"Out in the bayou? Do we look like a bloody vampire-rescue-squad? I think you should be grateful we came to save you!" Rebekah insisted.

"Rebekah, Eve saved my life - she helped me. I have to help her. I promised her I'd find Hayley, but what's the point in that if they're all dead?" I turned to Elijah. "Please, Elijah, help me keep my promise to her."

"And what of this Hayley girl?" Elijah asked me.

I shrugged. "I can find her, but I can't stop a werewolf massacre at the same time."

And then they agreed.

The Bayou

Elijah and Rebekah had stopped Diego and the other vampires from terrorising the Bayou. They found Eve, a werewolf who assured them that the werewolves were safe and were only found when they wanted to be.

"Surrounded by two thousand acres of swamp, the ones born here who now know it like the backs of our hands, will be fine. But here-" She pointed to a place on the map with a stake. "-newcomers from out of state - not my kin. But, word's spread about Lucy's baby. A lot of werewolves wanna see this miracle pregnancy for themselves. Only now, the vampires are out looking for blood, and all these werewolves new at the bayou might not know where to hide.

"You say that like we're supposed to care," Rebekah snarled.

"Believe me, you're gonna want them kept alive."

"And why is that?" Elijah asked.

"See for yourselves," was all the werewolf said.

Three knocked out vampires later, I was at the bar, looking around the brown-haired Hayley.

She sat at a table, drinking alcohol like it was her last day on this earth. There was already an empty bottle on the table. If only I could still drown my sorrows in alcohol...

The werewolf narrowed her eyes at me as I sat down in front of her. "What d'you want, witchy?"

I scoffed. "If I were you, I'd be nice to me. I know where your family is."

Hayley sobered up and leaned forward. "What?"

"Out in the Bayou," I told her. "Klaus ordered a werewolf massacre out there-" Her face twisted in panic as she made to jump up. "-Don't worry, I have two Originals out there on a werewolf rescue mission." She sat back down. "It's all under control."

"Why are you helping them?"

I shrugged. "One of them - Eve - saved my life. She told me that a wolf, one of her own, was following you. I said I'd find you." I stood up. "Everything's okay."

She nodded distractedly. I knew what this was like for her. When you realise you have family out there... I was adopted, but that turned out better for me. Probably not the same for her.

Her eyes landed on my bulging pregnant stomach and widened. "You're knocked up."

I placed my hand on my stomach. "Yup. I'll see you soon, Hayley."

"Bye."

I saw her smile before I turned around and left.

When I went back to the compound, the vampires weren't too happy to see me.

"Hey, guys," I started, holding my hands up defensively as the vampires cornered me. "You've all seen what I can do - anger me and I'll go all pregnant witch on you, got it?"

Some of the vampires looked afraid, others looked like they just got angrier. "What makes you think you can beat us all?" Diego asked, smirking.

"You'd be pretty stupid to hurt me anyway," I said, lowering my arms to my side. "I mean, I'm carrying Klaus' kid and he has a bite that can kill you. You'd be pretty much screwed."

Diego was thoughtful. I also sighed in relief, but kept myself steady. Damon would be proud of me right about now, using my situation to assist me.

"Fine. Get out."

I grinned. "Hey, hey, no need to be so rude."

Okay, it was childish of me, but I couldn't resist the urge to bump Diego's shoulder on the way out.

My phone rang in my pocket. Klaus calling. Last person I wanted to hear from in the whole planet.

"What the hell do you want?" I spat.

"Lovely to see you too, love," Klaus said sarcastically. I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "Marcel tells me Davina has been having some difficulty controlling her powers. He was wondering if I had a witch to mentor the young Sabrina and offered you up."

I rolled my eyes. "If I help Davina, it's not for you or your stupid king-ness. Got it? Where is she?"

"She's in the compound," he said happily. "I hope you and Davina become fast friends."

I hung up immediately and sighed. I really had my work cut out for me, didn't I? First thing first, find the little witch.

"It's okay. You can trust Marcel. And if Klaus tries to hurt you - I'll hurt him."

That was easy.

I walked into the garage and crossed my arms. "If there was a way to kill Klaus, honey, he'd be long gone."

Davina examined me. She really was adorable. "You're Lucy. Klaus' wife."

Me? Klaus'... wife? Did vampires even get married? I was engulfed in a fit of laughter, laughing to hard I had to clutch my stomach and bend over. There was an ache in my side.

Once I sobered up, I put on my best straight face and looked at Davina. "No way. Never... ugh. I'm the witch Klaus knocked up. You're Davina, the cute-as-a-button-but-kick-ass-witch-everyone's-afraid-of and Josh, the newbie vamp who's voted 'most likely to die next'." I shot him a sympathetic smile.

He nodded sarcastically. "Fantastic."

"Hey, I'm just another one of Klaus' prisoners," I said. "I want to help you two. Maybe we can form some sort of... alliance? Two witches and a vampire? I can even teach you some magic."

Davina narrowed her eyes at me. "Klaus put you up to it. He wants you to spy on me."

"Yes, actually, Klaus suggested I mentor you and teach you how to control your super-powers," I told her. "But I want to help you. I have a lot of sympathy for witches being used by vampires for their selfish purposes."

"Klaus uses you?" Davina asked.

I shook my head. "My friends in Mystic Falls. There was a witch, my best friend, she was used by a pair of brothers who desperately wanted to protect my sister. But that's a story for a different time. Point is, I can help you. Nothing you say to me gets back to Klaus or Marcel. No one. I promise."

Davina eyed me. The poor girl was damaged after being used by Marcel so many times. "How can I trust you?"

"Other than being the mother of Klaus' child, what other reason have I given you to distrust me?" I smiled. "Come on, I found a whole bunch of grimoires waiting to be used."

The Bayou

Rebekah eyed the werewolf's living space. "All these wolves really travel in style, don't they?"

He opened the door to a trailer van. "Empty."

"Piled on the pavement, perhaps."

"So, proceed then," Elijah urged.

"Let's not, and tell Lucy that we did. Then, you get to impress the girl, and I can go home. You know how hovels depress me."

Elijah grinned a little. "I'm not trying to impress the girl. I'm merely seeing to it that her promise to Eve is not broken. Far be it from me to allow someone break their promise."

"I should bloody hope you're trying to impress the girl, why else are we out here?" Elijah didn't respond. Rebekah smiled. "Come on, Elijah! You've fallen for her, admit it. May do wonders for the stick that's lodged up your enduringly stoic arse if you did."

Elijah smiled. "If I admit to you that it's complicated, would that suffice? Or, are you determined to torment me throughout this endeavor?"

The two Originals turned to see that Klaus' ordered werewolf-hunting party had come back for more werewolf blood. Elijah vamped over to Diego and gripped his hair.

"Darling, we need to stop meeting like this. This is how rumors begin!" He let go of the vampires. "You can go now. Perhaps I'm not making myself clear here. This is a threat. In precisely three minutes' time, your little hunting party will become the prey. Now, based on your recent failure to subdue my baby brother Niklaus, this, despite a better than a hundred to one advantage. I recommend you heed my warning."

Diego's face reddened with embarrassment, though his pride would not let him leave. He finally gave up and left with the rest of the party.

"Impressive," Rebekah commented.

"Well, I thought the situation demanded something a little dramatic."

A werewolf was grunting in pain from his place on the ground. He stood up and eyed them. "Who are you people?"

Elijah recognised the necklace and the ring around his neck. He hadn't seen that symbol in a thousand years.

"I would say the better question is: Who are you?"

Davina chanted the spell to control a fire. She threw her hands up in the air when the flame grew larger and hotter. "Ugh! It's not working."

I was trying to teach her how to control the intensity of a fire. So far... it wasn't working very well.

"Deep breaths," I instructed her. "You control your magic, your magic doesn't control you."

She did as I told her. "How did you get so good at this?"

"I practiced and I practiced," I said. "You don't just become an amazing witch over-night. It takes effort, concentration and patience."

She took a deep breath and said the spell again. This time, the flame decreased.

"Well done!" I praised a smiling Davina. "You did it!"

She moved around the candle and hugged me. "Thank you," she said.

I blew out the candle and moved it onto the table. "We'll keep practicing and you'll be an expert in no time. That's until this whole Harvest thing blows over."

I decided to have the baby outside of New Orleans. Maybe in Mystic Falls, so that she wouldn't have to practice Ancestral Magic.

"You know I'm pretty surpised you're still with Marcel," I told her, sitting in front of her on her bed.

"Marcel's my family, he protects me," Davina replied, annoyed at everyone asking the same question.

"From what?" I questioned. Wasn't the last of the threats eliminated.

"The witches," she answered. "If it wasn't for Marcel, I'd be dead."

"But Agnes is dead," I told her.

She looked shocked. "What?"

"Elijah killed her," I said. "Marcel didn't tell you?" She didn't say anything. "Of course he didn't."

"How do I know you're not lying?" Davina had tears in her eyes. "You want something from me, like everyone else."

I placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Hey, I don't want anything from you. Believe it or not, but I actually like you. Davina, Agnes is dead. I'm not lying to you."

She began to sob. I wrapped my arms around her and patted her back. I was getting better at this comforting thing. I didn't know her for too long, but I already thought of Davina as the little witch sister I never had. My replacement Elena. Though oddly she was a better replacement than the original.

"Hey, Davina, I found Tim's violin in the-" He stopped when he saw a sobbing Davina. "-Attic."

Davina pulled away from me and took the violin from Josh and smiled. "Thank you, but it was dangerous for you to come back, Josh."

Josh smiled. "Yeah, well... What are friends for? Or whatever." The young witch laughed softly. The vamp looked between the two of us. "What was going on here?"

"She told me about a witch being killed. An Elder, but I don't know..."

"Yeah, crazy Agnes? I heard about that, that Elijah went all berserker on her crew. I guess it was super gross, just like heads and guts... bleh!" Davina looked positively crestfallen. "What? You hate the witches."

She turned to me. "You were right."

I stood up and put a hand on each of her shoulders. "You have to leave," I said. "Get the hell out of this place. I'm not gonna let you be some puppet."

"Marcel's just using me," Davina realised.

"Where do we go?" Josh asked me.

"I can't go with you," I said to her. Her face fell. "I need to stay here, but you know Camille O'Connell?" She nodded. "Go to her house. She'll help you. Pack, as quick as you can."

"Please come with us," Davina begged.

I shook my head. "I can't. But I'll make sure you're safe. Go, quick."

I rushed out of the room, grabbing the grimoires on my out. Who knew what Klaus would do to Davina? He wanted me to become her friend, I did, and I did her a friendly favour. Screw him. I felt guilty - I betrayed him. I shouldn't feel bad about anything I did to him since he did things ten times worse to me.

No. I wouldn't let myself feel guilty. I put the grimoire into the bookshelf, with the other grimoires. Davina was about to become Marcel and Klaus' little puppet, for them to use as some sort of weapon. The motherly instincts in me came out, and I felt like I had to protect her. Somebody shoot me.

"You're back." I noticed a certain hybrid when I turned around.

Klaus grinned. "You don't seem too pleased to see me."

"Am I ever?"

"Perhaps," he said. His hands were in his pockets. I always thought of Klaus as the type of guy I'd cross the street upon seeing. He had that shady look. "You left the compound."

"Sorry if I didn't stay your prisoner." He scowled. "I had business to attend to."

"With the wolves?" I rose an eyebrow. "Why are you protecting them?"

"One of those wolves saved my life," I told him. "I promised to find someone. I wasn't about to break that promise."

"My brother's rubbing off on you," Klaus noted.

I shrugged. "Maybe that's not a bad thing."

The guilt came rushing back in all of I sudden and I gulped, thinking I could push it down, but it wouldn't budge. My gaze drifted anywhere but at him. He did worse things to me and I doubted he even felt an ounce of guilt. I guessed that was the difference between me and him - I was human and he wasn't.

I couldn't tell him, though. I'd never tell him.

"How's your mentoring of the little witch going?" Klaus asked as he poured himself a glass of scotch.

"Fine," I said, trying to monitor my uneven tone. "She's progressing."

He smirked. "Marcel will be glad to hear."

"What are you going to do with her?"

"Use her as a weapon, of course." He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "New Orleans is unstable at the moment. A war can strike at any moment. If I have an all powerful witch on my side, no one can stop me." And then the guilt just disappeared - evapporated into thin air. "Don't tell me you care about her, Lucy? I thought I taught you better than that."

"Thank God you never taught me anything," I snapped. "Or else I'd be using innocent sixteen year old girls as secret weapons."

I stormed out of the room. Going out to the balcony, I took in the view. It was much better than the plantation, but I still missed my bedroom. I hadn't been to college in the past two days. A lot of lecture notes to catch up on. College was the only thing normal in my life, and Klaus didn't let me go the last few days.

A small wind hit me and blew my hair out of my face. I turned around to see Elijah.

"Are they safe?" I asked him.

"They're safe," he told me. "All of them." He smiled. "It's quite admirable of you, actually, to be as determined to keep a promise as you were."

I smiled back at the Original. "I learned from the best."

"You must miss your family," Elijah said. "Elena and your brother Jeremy. Not to mention your friends."

"Of course I do, but I have friends here," I replied honestly.

"You could leave, what's stopping you?" Elijah asked me.

I stepped closer to him, not knowing what I was doing. "I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that this baby is Klaus' only redemption and your family's last hope, and I don't want to strip it from you. Or that I have ancestors here... But I don't want to leave. Not yet."

"I don't want you to leave either." His voice was barely a whisper, so low that I wasn't sure that I heard it.

"Thank you, for what you did today. It meant a lot."

"Any time."

I smiled. I glanced to his lips, but pulled my gaze away from them quickly and backed away. This was... wrong. I shouldn't be feeling this way about Klaus' brother.

"I should go," Elijah announced.

"Right."