A/N: As you can imagine, this chapter will be pretty dramatic. Now, I know that the previous chapter was seriously divisive, but seriously, there was a point to everything. I won't be answering the million-dollar question (did Klaus actually cheat on Aliyah?) in the reviews, because that's actually a question I plan on answering in the final-final chapter.

Unfortunately, this is the final chapter I actually have written in full, but I plan on writing a synopsis for what I was going to do with the rest of the fic, hopefully to be posted in the next couple of weeks.

Warnings: Sexual Content. Language. Violence.

Stormdancer

Chapter 41

The End of the Affair

Aliyah looked down at her phone, which began buzzing insistently. She eyed Klaus and Stefan sitting in the driver and passenger seats, before opening the message sent to her from Bonnie.

Bonnie: Caroline's missing. I think we may need your help.

Aliyah shoved down her knee-jerk panic before her reaction drew Klaus' attention.

Aliyah: What happened? How did she go missing?

Aliyah resisted the urge to tap her feet in wait of Bonnie's next message. The seconds stretched long and uneasily before her phone flashed with the notification of a new message

Bonnie: Long story. Carol found out about everything. But not before she knocked Caroline out with vervain and gave her to her dad.

Bill Forbes? Aliyah wondered, sceptically.

Caroline had barely even spoke of her father, but there was always something hunted in her eyes, during the stray moments when she had mentioned him (Aliyah knew that look well – it came hand in hand with whispers of a father that walked away and never came back and somehow, somehow the women left behind were always blamed). Aliyah herself didn't know much about him (frankly, she didn't think anyone who thought leaving their daughter behind with scarce contact was an appropriate course of action warranted her attention), beyond his divorce with Liz due to his sexuality and his new boyfriend with the stepdaughter that Caroline thought was, in her own words, a raging bitch.

Aliyah: Did you do a locator spell?

Bonnie: Oh, no, you don't. If I tell you where she is, you'll just go on her own. I'm coming too.

Aliyah: Like Hel.

Bonnie: She's my best friend! I have to come along!

Aliyah: I don't care. He's a vampire hunter and you're breakable.

Bonnie: I'm a witch. If he's a vampire hunter, you're in more danger than I am.

Aliyah: I'm an Original, Bonnie. I have nothing to fear from some two-bit vampire hunter from Virginia. You're staying put.

Bonnie: Fine, then, I won't tell you where she is.

Aliyah was torn between pride and outrage.

Aliyah: Are you blackmailing me?

Bonnie: If you want to take it that, I can't do anything about it.

Aliyah gritted her teeth.

Aliyah: Fine. You brat. I'll come to Mystic Falls and then you'll tell me where to find them.

Bonnie: And you promise not to leave me behind?

Aliyah: Yes.

"Stop the car," Aliyah ordered.

Klaus eyed her through the rear-view mirror. "Now, why on Earth would I do that?" he asked, slyly.

She looked him, and he was still staring at her. The smile had fallen from his face, though, as if he were only now realising just how unimpressed she was with him at the moment.

Yet, how he found the strength, the gall to look at her as if he had done nothing wrong was beyond her.

Frankly, every time she looked him in the eye, she had the urge to skin him until he stopped healing.

"Whoever said I was celibate?"

Her mind hadn't stopped repeating those words, in his smug, cruel voice, since she had locked herself in that bathroom.

Surprisingly, he hadn't bothered her at all (perhaps he didn't care anymore).

"I don't owe you any explanations," Aliyah replied, coldly. "Stop the car. I'm leaving."

His hands tightened on the steering wheel. "Oh?" his voice was dangerously low.

"Niklaus, I will literally jump out of this car. You can prevent the ensuing drama if you just pull over."

Aliyah considered it a testament to her strength of will that her voice didn't shake once when talking to him, but they both knew she wasn't lying.

Klaus gritted his teeth, but did as she asked, pulling over to the side of the road. She didn't spare him or an awkwardly-silent Stefan sitting beside him a second glance before opening the door and slipping out of the car. Just as she began to walk in the opposite direction, she heard the sound of another door slamming.

"Where do you think you're going?" Klaus demanded.

"I have something to do," Aliyah replied, vaguely.

"Like what?"

"Again, nothing that warrants your intrusion," Aliyah said, bored.

"You are not leaving," Klaus insisted, his eyes restless as if he feared he'd never see her again if he let her slip his grasp (in his defence, her track record spoke for itself).

"I am not yours anymore, Niklaus!" Aliyah bit out the first scrap of fury and resentment that had been growing inside her. "I don't do what you order me to. I am not yours. This is over."

Klaus went as pale as death, as if that end had never occurred to him.

"Liya-" he reached for her.

She shrugged him off, violently. "Don't touch me," she warned, her hands shaking.

She thought she may actually kill him if he pushed her.

Klaus rubbed a hand over his stubble, a remarkably vulnerable action for one such as him. Immediately, he clenched his jaw and his face cleared (it stung, knowing he wouldn't break character, not even for her – the Gods forbid that Niklaus Mikaelson be forthcoming, even to make peace with her).

"Have you forgotten our arrangement?" Klaus warned.

Aliyah rounded on him. "Do you really believe you're in any position to enforce than arrangement right now?" she asked, incredulously.

Do you even care? Do you even care that you broke my heart last night? Does it matter to you? Do I matter to you?

Clearly not.

"My threat still stands," Klaus warned.

Aliyah went cold, but not with fear (she was so done with fear – if he didn't deserve her tears, why did he deserve her fear?). She leaned in.

"I dare you."

She didn't spare him a second glance before she ran from him, leaving him standing there alone on a road just outside Louisville.

Aliyah didn't stop running until she was standing in the entrance of her house in Mystic Falls. The house looked empty, which had her momentarily wondering if Bonnie had done something stupid like gone after Caroline on her lonesome.

"Bonnie?" she called out.

A figure appeared at the top of the staircase. Bonnie was standing there, face slightly drawn, gripping the handrail. Her eyes widened when she saw Aliyah standing there, and somehow stumbled her way down the stairs, meeting Aliyah halfway.

"Oh, thank God you're okay," Bonnie mumbled as she threw her arms around Aliyah.

Aliyah hugged her back tightly. "I'm fine, Bonnie." Bonnie looked at her like she didn't quite believe her, but Aliyah cleared her throat, averting her eyes. "Now, what happened with the locator spell?"

Bonnie sighed. "I managed to narrow down her location to this cabin that Mr Forbes owns, just outside Mystic Falls. He must be keeping her there," She explained.

"Fine," Aliyah sighed.

"You're taking me," Bonnie said, firmly.

Aliyah scowled. "I agreed, didn't I?"

"Oh, please, like I don't know you won't leave me behind the first chance I get."

"I'm coming along too," a voice called out from somewhere to Aliyah's right.

Aliyah turned to see a stern-faced Liz standing in the doorway. Much to her consternation, she hadn't even noticed the other woman's approach.

It was yet another thing to curse Klaus over.

Aliyah pursed her lips. "Are you sure?"

"She's my daughter," Liz replied, coldly. "And he's my ex-husband. I have more of a right to be there than you do."

Aliyah knew the woman meant that as a dig, but it failed to faze her. She simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm not arguing over rights, Liz. But if something should go wrong, are you prepared to do what is necessary to save Caroline?"

"You're not going to kill him!" Liz said, furiously.

Aliyah shrugged. "I can't promise you anything. It will depend on Caroline's state when we find her. But I have no special interest in sparing your ex-husband's life, Liz. If he's hurt her, I can't promise I will spare him."

"That's not your choice to make," Liz hissed.

"It is, if he's harmed my fledgling and a member of my family," Aliyah retorted.

Liz swelled in anger. "Caroline's not your family. She's my daughter."

Clearly the woman hadn't quite forgiven Aliyah for her part in Caroline's transition to a vampire – despite the fact that her daughter would have been dead in the ground had she not intervened.

"I have never denied that, Liz. But might I suggest that we table any issues you may have with me until after we have Caroline back home," Aliyah said, smoothly.

Grudgingly, Liz could see the merit in what Aliyah was saying, so she gave her a stiff nod. She exchanged a look between Aliyah and Bonnie.

"Okay, so how do you want to do this?"

Caroline attempted to tug at the restraints that bound her hands to the chair. She stopped in her tracks, hearing a scuff against the floor from beyond the iron door in front of her.

"Daddy, are you there?" Caroline called out, hopefully. There was no reply. Her face fell. "Why won't you talk to me? Dad!"

There was a hissing sound and Caroline twisted her head to see smoke entering the cellar through the vents. The second she breathed it in, it burned, making tears spring to her eyes as a sharp sting radiated from her lungs up into her throat. It was almost as if she were being choked, black spots appearing in the edge of her vision, but it was still clear enough for her to see her father opening the door and striding into the cell. He stopped right in front of her and she could see his tortured expression (why is he so hurt? he's not the one who's being scorched from the inside out). He cupped her chin and tilted her head up to look at him.

He hushed her gently and Caroline was suddenly reminded of nights as a little girl when he'd smooth back her hair and feed her a glass of warm milk after a nightmare.

This almost seemed comical in comparison.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you," Bill said, mournfully.

"Dad…" Caroline croaked out, barely managing to keep her eyes open.

"I need an answer," Bill insisted. "How do you walk in the sunlight?"

"Just let me go," Caroline whined, wearily.

"Sweetheart, please, just answer me. Then we'll get on with it."

Caroline swallowed hard. "Is that all you want to know?" she asked, quietly.

Bill softened. "That's all I want to know."

Caroline looked down at her ring, almost instinctively, which Bill immediately caught.

"Interesting," Bill mused and slipped the ring off unceremoniously.

Caroline's eyes widened. "No, dad, no!" she protested. "What are you..." Bill tossed the ring on the floor. "What are you doing? What are you doing?" she sobbed out, helplessly.

Bill slid to his feet, staring up at the ceiling. "Your ancestors built this place. People figured it was for unruly prisoners at the jailhouse, but... they had something else in mind. Vervain in the ventilation system to keep their subject weak. Reinforced steel containment chair. And that."

He left the cellar.

"What are you doing?" Caroline called out after him.

Bill came back, holding a blood bag in his hand, which he held up in front of her. Despite herself, she felt her throat burning with hunger, the veins under her eyes rising to the surface and her fangs lengthening. He snatched the blood bag away.

"Blood controls you, sweetheart. This is how I'm going to fix you."

Caroline flinched. "What?"

He walked over to the wall and pulled on a chain, which rotated the slats that made up the ceiling above, opening up the hatches, which allowed the sunlight to fill the cellar and envelop Caroline who couldn't escape her restraints. The sun hit her like an open flame and Caroline screamed as her skin began to blister and char under the heat, as if she were nothing more than meat.

After a brief respite, the window slats opened up again to let in the sun. Caroline started screaming her throat hoarse.

"No! Please! Stop! Please stop! Please!"

Bill released the chain and the slats slid close, the cellar going dim with darkness.

"I don't hurt anyone, I swear," Caroline pleaded, looking up at Bill desperately. "Dad, I swear. I can handle the urges. I can!"

Bill narrowed his eyes. "If you could handle it, this wouldn't happen."

He held out the blood bag in front of her and Caroline couldn't help her instinctual reaction to the smell of it lurking beneath the plastic cover.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Caroline sobbed.

"I'm conditioning you to associate vampirism with pain, in time, the thought of human blood will make you repress your vampire instincts completely," Bill explained, slowly.

Caroline shook her head. "That's impossible. Daddy, you can't change who I am," she insisted.

"Yes, I can," Bill said, firmly.

"No." Caroline's voice firmed.

Bill raised an eyebrow and jangled the chain lightly. "You remember this feeling?"

"No! No! No! No, no!" Caroline screamed as he pulled on the chain once more.

The sun landed on her skin and Caroline threw her head back, screaming.

The cellar was dark, but the burns on Caroline's skin lingered, her head just hanging forwards.

Bill was sitting against a wall. "I want you to know, when Carol Lockwood called and told me about you... I sat down and cried."

Caroline wanted to scream. There's nothing wrong with me! Where were you when I needed someone?

"Dad, I'm okay," Caroline said, roughly. "I've learned to adapt. I don't need to be fixed. I can't be fixed."

Bill pulled himself to his feet and walked over to her. "I've always taught you to try your best. I need you to try your best now." He crouched down next to her and held out the blood bag to her, to which she didn't react. He almost looked proud of her (Caroline hated him for it). "There, see? You're doing it."

Caroline raised her head and knew he could see the tears in her eyes, but she deliberately kept her gaze above his shoulder at the door.

"I can't," she insisted, coldly.

"Yes, you can. Fight the urge."

Caroline shook her head. "Daddy, I'm starving."

The hunger felt like it would rip open her stomach at any time.

"I know you are, Care. Try."

"Why?" Caroline demanded. "You know that this isn't going to work."

"It has to work. It's the only option." Bill's voice cracked.

"Why are you trying to fix me?"

"So, I don't have to kill you!" Bill snapped.

Caroline couldn't hold her hunger back any longer. She turned her head to face him and veins appeared under her eyes.

"Daddy, I'm sorry," she said, weakly.

Bill raised his head and his eyes were suspiciously red. "The sun's gone down. We'll try again tomorrow."

He patted her head like she was a dog and left the room, closing the heavy-duty door behind him and bolting the door. He heard the sound of a gun being cocked and looked up, only to find Liz standing at the top of the stairs above him, aiming the barrel of her gun right between his eyes.

"Hello, Bill," Liz said, coldly.

Bill sighed. "Put the gun down, Liz. I know what I'm doing."

Liz narrowed her eyes in disbelief, as if she couldn't believe the words coming out of his mouth. "That's our daughter in there." She hated even having to remind him of that (she hated herself for once being just like him). "She looks up to you. She loves you."

More than she loves me.

"Then she'll trust me to do the right thing. Let me do this, Liz," Bill insisted. "Not because she's a monster. But because we love her."

Liz stared him on. "Aliyah," she said, simply.

Aliyah appeared behind Liz and moved down the stairs.

Bill's face contorted with hatred when he saw Aliyah. "You. This is all your fault. You killed my daughter," he spat.

Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "I saved your daughter, Bill."

"You turned her into a monster!"

"She isn't a monster!" Aliyah snapped. "She's still the same person she was a year ago, you fool. You just need an excuse for being a deadbeat father who abandoned his only child and it's easier to blame her for your own flaws."

Bill gritted his teeth. "You're not going in there," he hissed.

Frankly, Aliyah was done to death with men telling her what she could and could not do.

"I dare you to stop me."

Bill moved to take her on, but Liz pulled the trigger, the bullet landing inches from Bill's feet, forcing him to stop his tracks.

"He won't stop you," Liz said, easily.

Bill looked like he very much wanted to, despite Liz's very serious threat.

"Don't try anything stupid, Bill."

Aliyah strode past a fuming Bill and shoved open the door without much force on her part.

Caroline looked up, her face streaked with tears and soot. "Aliyah," she breathed.

Aliyah forced herself not to run to Caroline and knelt in front of her, breaking the chains with a snap of her wrist.

"You're safe now, Caroline," Aliyah soothed. "We're going to get you out of here."

Caroline made a little movement with one of her hands, gesturing to where her daylight ring was lying in the dirt, next to the wall.

"My ring," she said, roughly.

Aliyah reached for it and slipped it back onto Caroline's finger, shooting the above hatches in the ceiling a grim look, before carefully lifting Caroline into her arms, without disturbing the burns which hadn't quite healed completely, and carrying her out.

For everyone's peace of mind (but Liz's especially), Aliyah brought Caroline back to the Forbes house. Caroline was sitting upright in her bed, drinking from a blood bag, while Liz and Aliyah sat at the foot of the bed watching her. Caroline finished drinking, almost self-consciously, and handed the empty bag over to Liz, who took it with a gentle, worried smile.

"Thank you," Caroline said, quietly.

She scuttled down the bed, under the covers, laying her head on the pillow.

"Honey," Liz began, gently. "Your dad..." She swallowed hard. "All our families, we have beliefs that have been passed on through generations. And we were taught never to stray from them."

Caroline raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You did," she said, pointedly.

Liz's mouth twitched in a phantom of a smile. "You taught me to look at things in a different way."

Caroline looked past Liz at Aliyah, who was remaining quiet, fiddling with a loose hem on her throw. "I just thought that he was the one who got me," she mused, bitterly.

Liz squeezed her hand. "He did. He will again," she insisted.

Liz pushed herself off the bed and exchanged a deliberate look with Aliyah, who simply nodded. Liz took a deep breath and smoothed back Caroline's hair, gently, before leaving the room.

"So, was the road trip a bust?" Caroline joked, weakly.

Aliyah's lips twitched. "You could say that."

"You didn't have to come, you know." Caroline just needed to say that.

Aliyah raised an eyebrow. "You thought I wouldn't?"

Caroline shrugged. "I know you're in the middle of… major drama-"

"-which doesn't matter," Aliyah interjected. "Bonnie messaged me. You needed me. I'm here. Nothing else matters."

"If you're sure," Caroline said, roughly, although her satisfaction at Aliyah's words could be heard clear as day.

Aliyah looked up at her. "It's okay, you know?"

Caroline frowned. "What's okay?"

"You can be upset," Aliyah said, firmly.

Caroline gave her a brave smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Caroline," Aliyah lowly admonished. She hedged closer. "It's alright to be upset with what happened."

Caroline looked at her fingers, which had started to shake despite herself. "He's my dad."

As if that explained everything.

"I know, darling," Aliyah murmured.

"He hates me." Caroline's voice broke halfway through.

It took a bit of trouble, but Aliyah managed to work her way onto the bed so that she was leaning back against the headboard and Caroline was able to lay her head in her lap. Caroline clutched at Aliyah's thigh like it grounded her, and Aliyah began to drag her fingers through Caroline's still-damp hair. Caroline's body visibly shook from her desperation.

"I don't understand. Why does he hate me?"

Aliyah pursed her lips. "He doesn't understand. Sometimes, they don't understand. It's not your fault, though. It's his."

"But he's right. I mean, I'm not really his daughter anymore, am I? I died. I literally died," Caroline said, bitterly.

"That doesn't mean anything," Aliyah retorted. "If he can't see that you're exactly the same person that you were when he last saw you, he's out of his mind. And even if you were different, that doesn't excuse what he was doing to you, Caroline. Nothing does."

Caroline tilted her head up to look at Aliyah. Her eyes were slightly red, her face still pale from healing.

"Where do I go from here, Aliyah?" she asked, quietly.

Aliyah shrugged, slightly, hoping she didn't seem too cavalier. "Wherever you need to," she said, simply.

Caroline chuckled, dryly.

They must have stayed like that for hours, but Bonnie eventually tip-toed into the bedroom.

"How is she?" Bonnie whispered.

"I can hear you," Caroline mumbled.

Bonnie winced. "Sorry, honey." She crawled onto the bed and crossed her legs underneath her just beside Aliyah. She placed a hand on Caroline's head. "How are you doing?"

"Tired, but I can't sleep." Caroline blinked up at her.

Bonnie hummed in sympathy before reaching for Caroline's hand and squeezing. "I could help with that, if you want."

Caroline lifted her head. "You mean like a spell?" she asked, bewildered.

"Yeah." Bonnie nodded. "But only if you want."

Caroline looked thoughtful for a moment before she shook her head. "No, I think-I think I need to work some stuff out on my own."

Bonnie nodded, understandingly. "Fair enough."

Caroline stretched a little and turned in Aliyah's lap, staring up at the older vampire.

"So, how's the second honeymoon?" she paused. "Too soon?"

Aliyah's mouth curled as if she wanted to smile. "It's…" She didn't know how to finish that sentence, so her mouth abruptly fell shut.

Bonnie fidgeted. "Aliyah, is everything okay?" She asked, quietly.

"He's ruined my life," Aliyah said, blankly, as if realising something for the first time.

Caroline shifted. "Aliyah?" She asked, worriedly.

"I didn't… I've always made excuses," Aliyah faltered. "He loves me; he would never hurt me; he's just angry at the world. But I was wrong. He doesn't love me. Or if he does, it doesn't matter much to him."

Bonnie reached out, gripping Aliyah's wrist, as fear turned her cold. "Aliyah, you're scaring us. What's going on?"

Aliyah was almost ashamed to admit it. "He… he was with another woman." She looked down at her hands, at the rings that cover her fingers – so many of them were ones that Niklaus had given her. "Or perhaps, many women. I'm not quite sure."

Bonnie's hand tightened. "Aliyah-" she broke off midway, unsure of what to say next.

Caroline sat up, nudging herself off Aliyah's lap, to which Aliyah made a noise of protest. "Nuh-uh, I can table my trauma for a little while longer while we hash this out. What the hell happened, Aliyah?" she demanded.

She told them the whole story. Somehow, there was something sordid about telling her teenage niece and fledgling about how her husband had licked her cunt before she caught cold feet and told him that nothing like this could happen ever again, and in response to the blow to his pride she had dealt him, he had confessed his infidelity during their time apart.

When she finished, Bonnie's fists were white with anger and there was a startling amount of red in Caroline's cheeks.

Aliyah had almost forgotten how much she loved these girls.

Bonnie reached out and touched her cheek, the warmth of her magic seeping through Aliyah's skin. "He doesn't deserve you, Aliyah," she said, firmly.

Caroline squeezed her thigh. "You got that right. He's an arsehole of epic proportions," she muttered, clenching her fists while imagining holding Klaus' skull in her palm.

"I can do something, if you'd like," Bonnie offered. "There's got to be a good spell in one of the grimoires for cheating bastards."

"I'll help with any physical retribution," Caroline said, adamantly.

Aliyah managed to crack a smile. "There's no need for any of that." Nonetheless, she appreciated the offer. "When it comes to Niklaus and I, I have become adept at dealing with our issues. I'm good. We're good."

Much to her shame, the tears finally came. Despite all of her promises to herself, she couldn't help herself. It somehow felt worse, in front of these girls, in front of whom she had always wanted to strong and self-possessed. It wasn't loud sobs or wailing; Aliyah just simply shook as a thin rush of tears fell.

Everything she had once thought of as truth had failed her.

She had never felt so alone, not even as a scared, indignant, devastated girl when Klaus had left her standing there after Mikael announced that she would marry Elijah.

Bonnie and Caroline were at loss as to how to comfort her, so they simply waited, dumbly, as Aliyah pulled herself together, swiping at the damp streaks left on her cheeks, furiously.

"I'm good," Aliyah said, forcefully.

Bonnie bit her lip. "Are you sure?" She asked, carefully.

Aliyah took a deep breath. The image of Klaus lying between the legs of some woman (or women – her mind helpfully added, spitefully) reared its ugly head once more and she felt like clawing at her face, if only to stop the dark turn her mind had taken.

"No," she confessed, quietly. "I'm not good. I don't think I will be for a long time."

It was a show of honesty that she hadn't betrayed in a very long time.

"But he doesn't get more of me than this." That was something that hadn't changed – not even after her maudlin outburst. "He's already ruined my life. He doesn't get my tears. He doesn't get anything more from me," she said, resolutely. She turned to Caroline, something fierce in her eyes now. "That goes for your father too, Caroline. You may think you owe him something now. You may think he's right. But he's not. And you don't owe him anything. He is not worth your tears, not after what he was willing to do to you. That is not love, no matter what anyone says. That is not love."

Caroline hesitantly wraps her arms around Aliyah's waist. Bonnie wants to pile on top of them as well, but simply clutches at Aliyah's hands, hoping that she is, at least, able to ground the older woman. Moments later, she pressed her forehead against Aliyah's, leaning over Caroline.

Aliyah simply stared.

He doesn't get anything from me anymore.

She wondered when she would actually start to believe it.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Bonnie whispered, standing awkwardly by the banister.

Aliyah smiled, sadly. "If I don't return, Niklaus may make do on his threat. Just because things are difficult between us doesn't mean I trust him to be merciful."

"Who cares what he thinks," Caroline muttered, unforgivably, under her breath.

"I don't care what he thinks. But only a fool would go back on their word to Niklaus, and I will not risk your lives because I want to be petty," Aliyah said, adamantly.

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest, continuing to look unhappy. "Only if you're sure."

Aliyah gave her a lacklustre smile. "I wish I could stay," she said, mournfully. She shook her head. "Now, can I get a hug?" she looked at the two, hopefully.

Caroline couldn't help but smile and strode forwards, throwing her arms around Aliyah, who wrapped her arms around her gladly.

"Thank you for coming to get me," Caroline whispered into Aliyah's ear.

"Always," Aliyah replied. For a moment, she gripped Caroline tighter. "Be brave, Caroline. You are more than what he thinks of you."

Caroline felt the tears coming all over again, so she clutched at Aliyah all the more before releasing her. She smiled at her, somewhat haltingly, which Aliyah understood immediately.

It was Bonnie's turn next.

"You just came and now you're leaving again," Bonnie said, bitterly, hugging Aliyah tightly.

Aliyah rested her hands on the small of Bonnie's back. "I wish I could stay longer, but-"

"Yeah, I know, your homicidal husband might get more homicidal," Bonnie growled, hating Klaus more than ever.

"Everything's going to be fine, Bonnie," Aliyah murmured, swaying both of them. "I know you want to protect everyone. That is commendable. But remember, you matter too. I don't want to hear from Tyler or Caroline that you're wasting away here. You're young. Do young people things."

Bonnie wanted to tell Aliyah that she missed her way too much to indulge in parties and alcohol and carefree sex with her boyfriend, but she was lost for words. She simply nodded her asset into Aliyah's shoulder.

"Good," Aliyah declared and pulled away. She looked at the two girls. "You can still call me and text me," Aliyah reminded them. "And if you need anything, I will always come."

Bonnie and Caroline nodded.

Aliyah opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something else, but quickly shut it, shaking her head.

"I meant what I said the last time I left," Aliyah said, firmly. "I will come back for good, one day. I promise."

She turned on her heel and rushed out of the door, leaving Bonnie and Caroline in a house that remained empty as ever.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Stefan stroked his victim's hip, his mouth moving against his, before he abruptly yanked her backwards by the hair and sunk his sharp fangs into her throat, swallowing her scream and draining her until her skin turned a waxy white. He dropped her body back on the seat once he was done, slipping out of the car and wiping the stark red from his lips, walking down the street towards a bar. He patted the doorman on the shoulder, condescendingly, as he passed, entering through a door into the light and the sound of laughter as a pretty jazz singer crooned on stage.

"Guess who my eyes have just spied, ladies?" the singer purred. "Looking for a good time, Mr. Salvatore?"

Stefan winked at her. "Save me a dance, Gloria."

He spotted a glass of champagne lying on a table and reached out to snatch it up, but it was stolen right before his eyes by a blonde woman in a white beaded dress.

"Ooh. Please, help yourself," he teased.

The woman smiled, slyly. "Oh, I always do."

She leaned in and brazenly licked his mouth with the flat of her tongue. The veins under her eyes were momentary but a distinct maroon against the pallid colour of her skin.

"Careful, Mr. Salvatore," she purred. "You're still wearing your date. She's lovely."

She spun on her feet, ready to leave him there, but he snatched her by the arm, not firm enough that she couldn't pull away should she want to.

"No, no, no. Who are you?" There was intrigue in his eyes.

The woman smiled, placing her finger against her lips, hushing him with the flutter of her eyelashes, before sauntering away.

Klaus finally pulled the car over, just opposite a bar that looked like it had seen better days. He stepped out of the car and waited for Stefan to join him, something tense in his sharp features as he took in the sights of the street.

"Welcome back to Chicago, Stefan," Klaus taunted, watching carefully for Stefan's reaction.

"What are we doing here?" Stefan demanded.

Klaus smiled. "I know how much you loved it here," he said, innocently. "Bringing back memories of the good old ripper days?" He raised an eyebrow.

Stefan gritted his teeth. "Blacked out most of them. A lot of blood, a lot of partying. The details are all a blur," he said, tersely.

Klaus grinned. "Well, that is a crying shame. The details are what make it legend. Word was the Ripper of Monterrey got lonely, so he escaped to the city for comfort. It was Prohibition. Everything was off limits then, which made everything so much fun," he mused, nostalgically. "Chicago was magical."

Stefan scowled. "Yeah, well, I'll take your word for it. Like I said, I don't remember most of it."

Klaus sighed, wearily (there was only so much he could do for Stefan until he stopped fighting him).

"Going to get down to business, then?"

"Why am I still with you?" Stefan demanded, rounding on him. "We had our fun; your hybrids failed. I mean, don't you want to move on?"

Klaus ignored the stab of anger at the young vampire's gall. "We're going to see my favourite witch. Well, still practicing witch," he amended. "If anyone can help us with our hybrid problem, it's her."

Klaus crossed the street, walking in the direction of the bar, knowing that Stefan would have no other choice to follow him.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Stefan was busy clowning around with his friends when the pretty blonde from earlier strode over to him with a purpose. He had spotted her earlier, dancing with some dewdropper, and perhaps had started a loud conversation with his friends for the night just to catch her attention, which worked perfectly.

The smile on her face was pleasant but sharp, and she looked over the lot of them like they were made of rats, as if she wouldn't be caught dead touching one of them.

"Sorry to crash the fun, boys, but some of us actually came here to hear the music. Not you," she warned.

Stefan smiled, cockily. "I am so sorry, sweetheart. Are we offending you?" he taunted.

His friends laughed, and the woman stepped forwards, touching his cheek with her fingertips.

"It would take a lot more than a baby face like this to offend me." She bared her teeth.

She was about to leave him standing there when Stefan grabbed her arm, much as he had earlier that evening.

"Hey, hey. You ever going to tell me your name?" Stefan cajoled.

Her mouth curled. "Sure. When you earn it. Now, do Gloria a favour and stick a sock in it."

She strode back over to the dancefloor and continued dancing with her partner.

Klaus and Stefan entered the bar, which was dim, quiet and empty.

Klaus watched Stefan, curiously. "Looks familiar, doesn't it?" he urged.

Stefan blinked. "I can't believe this place is still here."

"You've got to be kidding me," someone drawled.

Klaus smiled to himself. "So, a hybrid walks into a bar, says to the bartender-"

"Stop," Gloria interjected. "You may be invincible, but that doesn't make you funny," she said, dryly. She gave him a meaningful look. "Someone stopped by." She nodded her head over to the back corner of the bar, where Aliyah was silently drinking from a tumbler of something gold. "What did you do now?"

Klaus ignored her. "Nice of you to join us," he called out.

"Well, I was planning on running away to Paris, but I didn't want to deal with the aftermath of the temper tantrum you would have thrown," Aliyah replied, snidely.

Klaus rolled his eyes and strode over to her, snatching the tumbler right out of her palm, making her seethe quietly.

Gloria turned to Stefan. "I remember you," she said, quietly.

"Yeah. You're Gloria. Shouldn't you be..." Stefan trailed off, unsure of how to articulate his next words without offending her.

"Old and dead?" Gloria finished for him. "Now if I die, who's going to run this place, huh?" she joked.

"Gloria's a very powerful witch," Klaus explained.

"I can slow the aging down some. Herbs and spells. But don't worry, it'll catch up to me one day."

"Stefan, why don't you go and fix us up a little something from behind the bar?" Klaus phrased it like a suggestion, but they all knew it was an order.

Stefan clenched his fists, unseen by Klaus. "Yeah, sure thing," he said, blithely, going over to the bar.

Klaus turned to Gloria. "You look ravishing, by the way." He waggled his eyebrows.

"Your wife's over there," Gloria said, dryly, her eyes betraying her exasperation.

Aliyah scoffed. "I very much doubt my presence matters to him," she muttered, bitterly, shooting Klaus a withering look, to which he simply turned his gaze elsewhere.

How had that suddenly become the flesh and blood of their relationship?

Is this how he started with his whores? A compliment, that rakish grin, and they simply just fell into his lap.

How long had he been unfaithful? Was his infidelity only restricted to their time apart, or could it have happened before that as well, and he had become simply adept at lying to her?

Aliyah gulped down the last of the scotch before her thoughts threated to unwind her.

"I know why you're here," Gloria said, pointedly. "A hybrid out to make more hybrids? That kind of news travels."

Klaus crossed his arms and levelled a serious look at her, all amusement absent from his features. "So, what am I doing wrong? I broke the curse."

Gloria rolled her eyes. "Obviously, you did something wrong."

"You know the parameters of the curse," Aliyah told her, sharply. "He abided by them. A werewolf and vampire dead, and he drank the blood of the doppelgänger to the point of her death."

Not that she stayed dead, but that was something that Aliyah would never reveal to Klaus she knew to be true.

Gloria sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Look, every spell has a loophole, but a curse that old..." she trailed off. "We'd have to contact the witch who created it."

Klaus and Aliyah exchanged a look. Despite their differences (or at least, Aliyah's differences), they both knew that contacting Esther would only end in misery and possibly death for all of them.

"Well, that would be the original witch. She's very dead," Klaus said, dryly, looking at Aliyah, who grimaced.

"I know. And for me to contact her, I'll need help. Bring me Rebekah," Gloria demanded.

Aliyah deliberately focused her attention on Klaus – she hoped it shamed him.

Klaus made a face. "Rebekah. Rebekah is a bit preoccupied."

"She has what I need," Gloria said, firmly. "Bring her to me."

"What is this?" Stefan called out.

Klaus eyed the photo he was gripping in his hands. "Well, I told you, Stefan. Chicago's a magical place," he said, vaguely.

"But this is me," Stefan insisted, and they could all see the panic in his features. "With you."

He brandished the picture of the two of them together, with bright grins, their arms thrown over each other's shoulders. Their hair was slicked back in the fashion of the 1920s, and their white waistcoats stark against the sepia effect of the photo.

"This doesn't make any sense," Stefan persevered, shoving the photo at him. "Why don't I remember you?"

Klaus shrugged, nonchalantly. "You said it yourself: that time had a lot of dark holes," he taunted.

Stefan shook his head. "No, if you knew me, then why haven't you said anything?"

"I'm a little busy right now," Klaus said, sharply. "Memory lane will have to wait."

Stefan rounded on Aliyah. "In Mystic Falls, you acted like you'd never met me before. Were you lying then?"

Aliyah pursed her lips. "Perhaps I had already left Niklaus by then; did you ever consider that?" she offered.

"Had you?"

"Well, no," Aliyah admitted, grudgingly.

"So, you did know me," Stefan demanded.

"If you knew him, logic would dictate you knew me as well," she said, pointedly. Her mouth thinned. "It's not like he ever let me out of his sight."

"Until you ran away, of course," Klaus mocked. "Your internment, as you so fondly refer to it, wasn't as strict as you perceived it to be."

"So, you lied to us."

Aliyah rolled her eyes. "Big surprise there."

Stefan looked red enough to explode. "What the hell is going on here? Answer me."

Klaus sighed, exasperated. "Let's just say we didn't get off to a brilliant start. To be honest, I hated you," he said, lightly.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Aliyah rested her palms on the bar top, waiting for the bartender to return with her Gin Rickey, when a smooth arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her against a body.

"Hello, love," Klaus said, roughly, skimming his knuckles up her bare arm (he did so love the dresses she wore now). "Shall we call it a day?"

Aliyah pouted, twisting her head to look at him. "But we just got here," she insisted.

Klaus' other arm wrapped around her waist as well. "We can continue our night back at our flat," he cajoled.

Aliyah sighed. "Boring."

Klaus tugged on her hand. "Let's go find Rebekah and scram."

Aliyah didn't reply, but allowed Klaus to steer her through the air, their hands entwined. They soon found Rebekah in one of the booths, her teeth in the neck of some woman, while another vampire joined in on the other side. Aliyah nervously looked at Klaus, watching as his expression turned displeased. He stormed over to them, dragging Aliyah with him, and pulled Rebekah bodily from the booth by her wrist, despite Aliyah's sound of protest.

"It's late, Rebekah, we're leaving," he said, coldly, tugging on her arm.

"Get off of me!" Rebekah struggled, pulling at her wrist.

Stefan jumped to his feet, coming around the other side of the table. "Who is this guy?" he demanded, looking Klaus over as a serious threat.

"Stefan, don't," Rebekah warned, shooting Klaus a fearful look. "He'll kill you. He's a lot stronger than he looks."

"That's understating things," Aliyah muttered.

Rebekah glared at her. "You are not helping."

Klaus thumbed Aliyah's wrist. "So, this is the famous Stefan Salvatore. I've been hearing so much about." He looked at Rebekah, sardonically. "You're right, he does have funny hair." His mouth thinned. "I'm bored. I want to go."

"Then go without me," Rebekah growled. "I'm not your wife. She's standing right beside you."

Aliyah winced.

Klaus scowled. "No, you're my sister, which means... you have to do as I say," he hissed, pulling her over to him.

"Your sister. So, I knew another Original vampire," Stefan wondered out loud.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "If you can't handle it, then don't ask."

Klaus walked over to the line of coffins, pausing beside Rebekah's. He lifted the lid, staring down at her ashen face, hair perfectly curled in a 1920s updo, in a pristine white beaded dress but for a blood stone where the dagger had pierced her.

Aliyah walked over as well. It had been so long since she had seen Rebekah's face that she couldn't help herself. She stroked Rebekah's blond hair, ignoring how dry and raspy it felt under her touch.

"How do you not miss them every day?" Aliyah whispered. "They're not even my blood and I think about them every day," she mused, turning to look at him, her eyes narrowed in a sharp glare. "How much of savage do you have to be to do this to your own blood, to your family, without any remorse whatsoever?" she hissed, feeling something jump inside of her as Klaus' face contorted with fury.

"Watch yourself, Liya," he warned, lowly. "You're already on thin ice after your little disappearance act earlier. Don't push me."

Aliyah curled her hands around the rim of the coffin and leaned forwards. "Or what? What will you do that you already haven't done a thousand times over?" she demanded.

Klaus's smile was vicious. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"I don't recognise her," Stefan said, staring down at Rebekah's desiccated features.

Klaus grimaced. "Well, don't tell her that. Rebekah's temper is worse than mine."

Aliyah snorted. "That's because she inherited her homicidal tendencies from her even more so bloodthirsty big brother."

Klaus glared at her and his next response was to pull the dagger from Rebekah's chest abruptly.

He leaned forwards. "Time to wake up, little sister." Rebekah gave him no reply. "Any day now, Rebekah," he said, impatiently.

She laid there, unmoving. Klaus sighed and looked at Stefan.

"She's being dramatic."

Stefan gritted his teeth. "Look, why don't you just tell me what the hell is going on? I mean, you obviously want me here for a reason, right?" he demanded.

Klaus raised an eyebrow. "Well, you have many useful talents."

Stefan looked at him, dubiously. "Do I?"

Klaus grinned. "In fact, I learned some of my favourite tricks from you."

"I would just like to point out that I never approved of those tricks whatsoever," Aliyah called out.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Klaus and Aliyah sat on side of a table, while Stefan and Rebekah shared the same on the other side. Klaus had an arm thrown over the back of the seat, and Aliyah was slightly huddled against him, pressed against his side, with a hand on his thigh.

"So, Stefan, enlighten me," Klaus drawled. "What makes you worthy of an Original like my sister? She's pure vampire and you're no more than a diluted bloodline." He leaned forwards.

Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him, Stefan. Nik's an elitist," she mocked.

Stefan hummed. "And where's the rest of your family?"

Aliyah made a face.

"Well, let's see. Um... I killed most of them." Klaus watched Stefan's face carefully for his reaction.

"But not all," Rebekah said, quickly.

"I doubt that makes it better," Aliyah murmured, squeezing Klaus' thigh.

Stefan turned to Rebekah, raising an eyebrow. "And you're okay with that?" he asked, sceptically.

"Well," Rebekah drawled. "We all had the chance to choose a side. I chose the right one, eventually."

Rebekah placed a deliberate hand on Klaus', just as a man stormed up to him, stopping in front of their table.

"Where the hell's my wife?" he demanded.

Stefan shrugged, nonchalantly. "I don't know. I give up."

The man scowled. "You think you're so tough? Hiding in your bar, drinking your liquor? A telephone call to Chicago P.D. might set you straight," he threatened.

Klaus grinned. "Ooh!" he mocked.

Klaus and Rebekah laughed, while Aliyah merely watched in interest. Stefan beckoned a woman.

"Lila? Lila, please. Come here for a second," Stefan cajoled.

The man visibly relaxed when he saw the woman, whom Aliyah guessed to be his wife. "Oh, thank God. Come on, we're leaving," he said, firmly.

The man started to leave with his wife, but Stefan reached out with his arm, blocking his departure, and compelled him.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. No. You're sitting."

The man reluctantly sat down next to Klaus, while his wife took a seat beside Stefan. Stefan carefully slid off Lila's glove and pulled out a pen knife from his jacket pocket.

"Perhaps this isn't the best place for this," Aliyah warned, lowly, shooting their surroundings a discerning look.

Rebekah placed a hand on Stefan's arm. "Stefan, don't be mean," she urged, gently, in a tone that she had learned mainly from Aliyah's attempts to curb Klaus' more ruthless habits over the centuries.

But Stefan merely shrugged her off.

"What the hell are you doing?" the man demanded.

Aliyah clutched at Klaus' thigh, digging her nails in, but Klaus ignored her, looking intrigued at Stefan's scheme. Stefan cut a neat line across Lila's wrist and let the blood pour into an empty champagne glass. Klaus and Rebekah smiled, while Aliyah remained unimpressed.

"Thank you so much, Lila. Why don't you go and bandage that up?" Stefan waved her off.

Lila slid out of the booth and left, and Stefan compelled her husband.

"I'd like you to join me for a drink."

Stefan handed him the glass full of blood.

The man blustered, staring at the glass with disgust and horror. "What kind of sick freaks are you?"

Stefan leaned forwards. "I said, drink!"

The man shakily raised the glass to his lips, unable to stop himself, and took a sip of his wife's blood. He coughed when the metallic taste hit his tongue, gagging.

"I didn't catch your name."

"Go to hell," the man swore.

Klaus laughed.

"Do you want another sip?" Stefan threatened.

"Liam. Liam Grant," the man croaked out.

"Liam Grant!" Stefan exclaimed. "Have another sip, Liam."

Klaus clinked the champagne glass against Liam's, while he shakily raised the glass.

"Finish it," Stefan ordered.

Liam swallowed all of the blood in one go, while Klaus laughed.

Klaus strode towards the exit purposefully, while Stefan followed closely behind.

"I was your number one fan," Klaus mused.

"Why should I believe any of this?" Stefan demanded.

Klaus turned around, about to answer Stefan, when he noticed Aliyah had taken a seat, perched high upon one of the metal storage crates.

"Can I assume that you intend to stay here?" Klaus called out.

Aliyah arched a sly eyebrow which spoke volumes.

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Fine. Just meet us at Gloria's bar when she wakes up. Oh, and-"

Klaus strode over to the guard and compelled him. "Volunteer your carotid artery and let her feed until you die."

The guard nodded.

Klaus made to leave but Stefan stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

Klaus sighed. "You think I'm lying, Stefan. You and I knew each other. You trusted me with one of your secrets and now I'm going to prove it to you."

"How?" Stefan asked, dubiously.

"We're going to your old apartment."

Klaus peered at the door to the apartment, seeing that the lock had been broken. He frowned, and kicked the door down, entering.

"What a charming little homestead," Klaus commented. He narrowed his eyes. "Do you feel that? Is anybody here?" he looked around, purposefully.

Stefan rolled his eyes, hoping that his poker face was enough to fool Klaus. "It's been vacant for decades. People must break in all the time. Why'd you bring me here?"

Klaus' mouth twitched. "Your friend, Liam Grant, the one who drank his wife's blood..." he said, pointedly. "I never could figure out why you wanted his name. And then you told me your little secret. It was all part of your special little ritual."

Stefan clenched his jaw. "To write it down."

Klaus grinned like the cat who caught the canary. "And relive the kill... over and over again." He strode over to the closet and pried open the door. "You believe me now?"

Stefan entered the closet to see a list of dark names scratched onto the wall. He turned his head, only to find Elena huddled against one corner, covering her mouth with her hands. She looked at him, hopefully, but Stefan stood motionless, staring at her. Behind him, he could hear Klaus rummaging about.

"Look what I found," he called out.

Elena stared at him with cow eyes, wide with betrayal.

Instead, Stefan snatched a bottle placed on a shelf and handed it over to Klaus, and Elena breathed a sigh of relief.

"1918. Single malt."

Stefan stood in the doorway of the secret room, preventing Klaus' entrance.

"My favourite," Klaus drawled. "Let's go and find someone to pair it with."

Stefan closed the hatch behind him, leaving Elena alone in the darkness.

Klaus and Stefan strode back into Gloria's, taking seats at the bar top, and each took a beer from her.

Gloria looked around. "Where's Aliyah and Rebekah?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "They'll be here. I can't just conjure them on demand." He took a swig of his beer and turned to Stefan, who was staring at him impassively. "What's with you? I thought Chicago was your playground."

Stefan eyed him, carefully. "So, this is why you asked me to be your wingman? Because you liked the way that I tortured innocent people?"

Klaus shrugged. "Well, that's certainly half of it."

Stefan frowned. "What's the other half?"

Klaus sighed, long-sufferingly, and started pouring alcohol into two shot glasses, one for each of them.

"The other half, Stefan, is that you used to want to be my wingman."

He slid one of the shot glasses over to Stefan along the counter, deftly such that the alcohol didn't spill over the rim.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Klaus looked morosely down at his drink.

Stefan clucked his tongue, sympathetically. "They're jealous," he insisted. "Your family wants you dead because they can never be what you are."

Klaus scoffed. "What? An abomination?"

"No. A king."

Klaus grinned at that, making Stefan laugh.

"Look at us. Two sad orphans," Klaus mused.

They looked over, seeing Rebekah and Aliyah chatting from a distance. Rebekah momentarily broke away from the conversation to send Stefan a sideways, sly smile, her eyes hooded.

"My sister fancies you, you know," Klaus teased.

Stefan hummed but didn't offer anything in reply.

"But… I should warn you," Klaus said, carefully, his voice growing cold. "Rebekah doesn't do anything half-speed, and that includes falling in love. So just be careful. She's totally mad."

It made Stefan laugh. "I appreciate the advice."

"And when the point comes where she inevitably leaves you..." Klaus sighed. "She can't help it, it's just who she is. Don't let your heart do anything stupid," he warned none-too subtly.

Stefan's features softened. "You know what, you're a good friend, Nik. I'm glad I met you."

He held up his shot glass.

Klaus clinked his against Stefan's.

"To friendship."

"So, I'm confused. If we were such great friends, then why do I only know you as the hybrid dick who sacrificed my girlfriend on an altar of fire? Huh?" Stefan gives him an unrelenting stare.

Klaus makes a sound of amusement. "All good things must come to an end."

Aliyah looked up from her phone, as the sound of a heavy gasp echoed through the empty warehouse. She looked down to see Rebekah upright in her coffin, staring at her bloodied dress with distress. She jumped down and Rebekah's eyes snapped to her. Her eyes widened with recognition and she climbed out of the coffin, haphazardly. Her legs wobbled when they touched the ground and Aliyah instinctively reached for her. The second their hands touched, Rebekah seized her in a tight embrace.

Despite how cold her insides felt, Aliyah found herself returning the embrace, clutching Rebekah to her.

"I've missed you," she mumbled into Rebekah's shoulder, ignoring how the beads on her dress rubbed roughly against her cheek.

Rebekah pulled away, her eyes red. "What on Earth are you wearing?" she demanded, eyeing her with distaste. "You look like a prostitute."

Aliyah looked down at her clothes, a fringe top somewhat baring her stomach and jeans and boots.

Yes, to Rebekah's Roaring Twenties sensibilities, this would be very much prostitute-worthy.

"It's 2010, dear sister, a brave new world," Aliyah drawled.

Rebekah's face cracked wide open. "2010?"

Aliyah softened. "I'm so sorry, darling."

"Ninety years?" she croaked out. "He kept me in there for ninety years?"

Aliyah inhaled and nodded.

The breath came out of Rebekah in a rush.

"I don't-I don't understand," Rebekah shook her head. "Why didn't you say something? Do something? You or-or Elijah, you could've-"

Aliyah dug her teeth into her lower lip. "Things aren't as they were, Bekah. A lot has changed," she said, vaguely.

She didn't think she could go into the entire explanation of how she left Klaus not three years after Rebekah had been daggered, managed to stay away from him for eight five-years (not that he had chased her so diligently, now that she knew more), found one of her last remaining family members, had been coerced into helping Klaus break his ritual and accompanying him on his newfound quest to create a hybrid race, only to find that she hadn't been enough for him in the end.

Perhaps she had never been enough for him.

Rebekah watched her carefully. "What's wrong?" she asked, almost afraid.

She had never seen Aliyah so empty.

Aliyah shook her head and gave her a lacklustre smile that she hoped was enough.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," she soothed. "Niklaus wants us to meet him at Gloria's bar. Shall we go?"

"No," Rebekah said, stubbornly. She turned around and snatched the dagger out of her coffin. "I want him to come to me."

Chicago, 1922 AD

"They look happy," Klaus mused, watching Stefan and Rebekah dancing, hips pressed together.

Aliyah made a sound of non-commitment.

Klaus chuckled. "You're much too hard on him."

"I just don't delight in his gruesome hunger fetishes," Aliyah huffed. "My eating habits are comparably normal for a vampire's. His are abnormal."

"His are fun," Klaus corrected.

"For you, maybe."

"You can't deny he makes her happy," Klaus pointed out.

Aliyah made a sound of derision. "Since when do you care about that?"

Klaus' gaze sharpened. "I do care about her, hellcat."

Aliyah softened and curled a hand around his forearm. "I know, my darling."

Klaus looked down at her, gently, leaning down as if he wanted to kiss her, but stopped abruptly, raising his head and looking around. Suddenly, bullets flew through the air and Klaus roughly pulled Aliyah down to hide behind one of the tables.

Stefan and Rebekah crouched down behind the bar. Stefan frowned and picked up one of the stray bullets from the ground.

"They're using wooden bullets. They know."

"That means he's here," Rebekah breathed, turning wide eyes on a grim Aliyah and Klaus.

Stefan looked at her, confused. "Who? Who's here?"

Klaus and Aliyah walked briskly over to the bar.

"Rebekah! Come on, we've got to go, sweetheart," Klaus demanded.

Rebekah stumbled to her feet and Klaus caught her before she fell again.

"What the hell is going on?" Stefan snapped.

Rebekah reached for him. "Stefan!"

But Klaus shoved her into Aliyah's arms. "Go!"

Stefan noticed Rebekah's necklace lying on the floor amongst the bullets, and he crouched down, about to take it, but Klaus snatched him by the shoulders, forcing him to lock eyes with him.

"Stefan," Klaus exhaled. "I'm sorry, but the fun has to end here," he said, grimly.

Stefan's brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

Klaus gritted his teeth. "You must forget Rebekah, Aliyah and me. Until I say otherwise, you never knew us, Stefan." His expression turned mournful. "Thank you. I had forgotten what it was like to have a brother."

He rushed away, abruptly, leaving Stefan alone in the remnants of the bar.

"You compelled me to forget?" Stefan swallowed hard.

Klaus shrugged. "It was time for Rebekah, Aliyah and I to move on. Better to have a clean slate." He drained his glass.

"But why?" Stefan narrowed his eyes. "You shouldn't have to cover your tracks..." His eyes dawned with realisation. "Unless you're running from someone."

Klaus glared at him. "Storytime's over."

He turned to catch Stefan staring at him.

"I need another drink. A real one," Stefan said, coldly.

Stefan jumped from his seat at the bar and stormed out of the bar without a second glance back at Klaus, leaving the hybrid on his own. Minutes later, he was shaking his head as a familiar heartbeat reached his sense.

"I see they've opened the doors to the riff-raff now," he mused, half-heartedly.

"So, where's your better, bitchy half?" Damon made a show of looking around.

Klaus gritted his teeth. He remembered the promise he made to Aliyah – Damon Salvatore's life belonged to the Forbes girl, no matter how much he wanted to rend the flesh from his bones.

And it stung, hearing her name on this wastrel's tongue, when he knew that she would rather spit on him than show him any kindness after what he had said to her that night in the hotel.

Klaus pursed his lips. "I thought we already had a conversation about you talking about my wife," he warned, lightly.

He tapped his finger on the bar top, the monotonous, repetitive action preventing him from seizing Damon by the throat and slamming him into the counter over and over again.

"Yeah, I don't take too well to suggestions." Damon shrugged off.

Sometimes, Klaus couldn't believe the audacity of Damon Salvatore.

No wonder Aliyah wanted him dead.

He wondered if he killed him now and presented his head to her, would she see it as a peace offering? Would she forgive him for his sins?

Or had he finally crossed the point of no return with her?

Perhaps he had lost without even having the chance to fight.

"You don't give up, do you?" Klaus mused.

Damon smiled. "Give me my brother back... You'll never have to see me again."

"Well, I am torn," Klaus admitted. "You see, I promised Stefan and Aliyah that I wouldn't let you die, but how many freebies did I really sign up for?" He blinked. "And clearly you want to die, otherwise you wouldn't be here, so..." He conceded to himself.

Damon shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a thrill-seeker."

Alright, that's enough.

Klaus lashed out and gripped Damon by the throat and threw him onto the floor with a mere flick of his wrist. He abandoned his drink and strode over to where Damon was groaning on the floor. He pulled Damon up to his feet by the hair, lifting him up into the air. Damon choked something out and Klaus made a sound of mock interest.

"Oh, dear, what was that? I'm boozy, so you'll forgive me if I miss your heart the first few tries," Klaus explained, dryly, stabbing Damon in the stomach with a toothpick, who grunted in pain. He winced, as if he were truly apologetic. "Oh! No, that's not it. Hm." He tried again, and Damon groaned. "Oh. Almost."

He twisted the edge of the toothpick while it was still inside Damon, angling it upwards, towards his heart.

"You want a partner in crime? Forget Stefan. I'm so much more fun," Damon wheezed out.

Klaus threw him backwards and Damon landed on top of a table, shattering the legs beneath him, landing on the ground on his back. Klaus strutted over, smoothly, snapping off one of the legs to use as a makeshift stake, and crouched over Damon, ready to spear him through the chest with the sharp end.

"You won't be any fun after you're dead," Klaus growled.

One hand held Damon down by the shoulder and the other raised the stake deftly. But it unexpectedly caught on fire in his hand. Klaus grimaced and threw it away with a grunt of annoyance. He turned to find Gloria standing there, stoically, her hand outstretched.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Not in my bar," Gloria said, coldly. "You take it outside." She ordered.

Damon tried to push himself upright, but Klaus slammed him back down.

"You don't have to negotiate your brother's freedom. When I'm done with him, he won't want to go back," Klaus threatened, slickly, removing his hand from Damon's shoulder.

Klaus entered the warehouse, finding his way towards the area where his family's coffins were placed, where Aliyah was still perched on top of one of the containers, seemingly nonplussed. The guard was dead next to the coffin, puncture wounds marring his neck and a streak of blood left on the floor, and Rebekah's coffin was empty.

Klaus frowned. "Where is she?"

Aliyah shrugged and returned to her phone.

Klaus resisted the urge to start shouting at her, knowing that in Aliyah's current mood, she might just go for his eyes. He looked at around at the seemingly empty warehouse, but for the two of them.

"Rebekah... it's your big brother," he sang. "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

Suddenly, he found himself slammed up against the nearest container, and a sharp pain rang through his bones, when he looked down to see one of the daggers speared right through his lower abdomen, with Rebekah looming over him.

"Go to hell, Nik!"

Chicago, 1922 AD

Klaus met up with Aliyah and Rebekah beside the warehouse. He entwined his fingers with Aliyah's, his face harried, and looked at Rebekah.

"Hurry up, Rebekah. Let's go!"

Rebekah remained rooted to the spot and looked optimistically towards the entrance to the warehouse.

"He'll be here any second," she mumbled to herself.

Klaus scowled at her. "Do you want to die? We've been found. We need to move," he insisted.

"Not without Stefan," Rebekah snapped.

Aliyah closed her eyes.

"Stefan's not coming," Klaus said, sharply. "We have to disappear. He'll draw too much attention. Let him go."

Rebekah looked at him, suspiciously and then horrified. "What did you do?" she demanded.

Nik always ruined everything.

Klaus seized her arm with his free hand. "Come on. We don't have time for one of your tantrums," he growled.

Rebekah shrugged him off, violently. "I don't want to run anymore, Nik! All we do is run. I want to be with Stefan."

Aliyah imagined she would've stamped her foot if it would have had any effect. She watched as Klaus' face shuttered.

"Fine. Then choose. Him or me," Klaus said, coldly.

Aliyah's hand tightened around his. "Niklaus," she began, soothingly, directing a worried look at Rebekah, who remained silent.

Klaus ignored her.

"That's what I thought," he said, satisfied and grim. "Get in the truck. Let's go."

He began leading Aliyah to the truck.

"Goodbye, Nik," Rebekah called out, quietly, from behind him.

When Klaus stopped in his tracks, Aliyah looked at his face, dread sinking into her stomach. She shook her head, violently, unable to open her mouth. His hand left hers and when she spun on her feet, he was already driving a dagger right through Rebekah's heart, despite her frantic attempts to flee his grasp.

"Nik!" Aliyah shouted.

"Don't," Klaus warned. He hefted Rebekah into his arms. "Get in the truck."

Aliyah remained still, staring at Rebekah as if she were questioning everything she had once known.

"Now!" Klaus roared, and it made Aliyah jump.

Klaus pulled out the dagger with a grimace and dropped it on the ground beside him.

"Don't pout. You knew it wouldn't kill me," he said, dryly.

Rebekah scowled. "Yeah, but I was hoping it would hurt more," she shot back.

Aliyah jumped down from the container.

"You helped her?" Klaus raised an eyebrow.

"Anything that ends with you bleeding, Niklaus, is fine with me," Aliyah replied, blithely, turning away from him.

Klaus clenched his jaw, something which Rebekah caught. She frowned, worriedly, but Klaus' attention focused on her immediately, so she rubbed it clean from her expression.

"I understand that you're upset with me, Rebekah..." Klaus began, soothingly. "So, I'm going to let that go. Just this once," he warned. "Brought you a little peace offering." He turned to the entrance. "You can come in."

Stefan strode into the warehouse and when his eyes landed on Rebekah, nothing in his expression showed any sign of recognition.

Rebekah's, on the other hand, softened noticeably, all anger washed away. "Stefan..."

Klaus sauntered over to him, confidently, and compelled him. "Now, you remember."

Stefan blinked and when his eyes refocused, the breath left him like a rush. "Rebekah…" his voice was rough with emotion.

"Stefan."

Stefan turned to face Klaus.

Aliyah, who knew Klaus better than anymore, could see the hope in his eyes, even if no one else could.

Chicago, 1922 AD

Stefan and Klaus were sitting at the bar, when Stefan called over a nearby photographer.

"Hey, buddy, take a picture of my brother and me."

He took Klaus by the shoulders and the two smiled for the picture.

Stefan swallowed hard. "I remember you. We were friends."

"We are friends," Klaus corrected, but nonetheless looked pleased. He turned to Rebekah. "And now the reason you're here. Gloria tells me you know how to contact the Original Witch."

Rebekah's eyes widened. "The Original Witch?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "What do you have that Gloria needs?"

Aliyah frowned, thinking for a moment, before realising with horror that Gloria could use Rebekah's necklace to contact Esther from the Other Side.

Rebekah's necklace, which Elena was currently in possession of.

As if reading her mind, Rebekah touched her neck only to find that her necklace was absent. When her eyes shot up, they were panicked.

"Where's my necklace? What did you do with it? I never take it off!" Rebekah shouted.

Aliyah chanced a look at Stefan, only to see his eyes widen as he came to the same understanding that she had.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't touch it."

"We need to find it, Nik," Rebekah insisted. "Now, I want it back!"

Klaus growled low. "Tell me that's not what she needs, Rebekah!" he snapped.

Rebekah searched inside the coffin, her hand swiping across it, but came up with nothing, so she threw it to the ground with a scream of rage.

"Stop!" Aliyah called out.

She ignored Stefan's pleading look.

"Stop throwing a tantrum, Bekah," Aliyah advised, lightly.

Rebekah gave her a flinty look. "Easy for you to say. It's not your necklace that's missing."

Aliyah gave her an unimpressed look. She deliberately avoided Klaus' gaze.

"Gloria could contact her on the Other Side without the necklace, if either of you are present," Aliyah explained. "She needs a blood connection."

Klaus narrowed his eyes. "Are you sure?"

Rebekah looked between the two of them. "Who cares about contacting her? I want my necklace!" she shouted.

"Enough whining!" Aliyah snapped. "You would think you were five, and not one thousand and fifty-five." Rebekah opened her mouth to start arguing, but Aliyah cut her off. "No. Gloria can do a spell to locate your necklace. Will that suffice?"

Rebekah wanted to argue but Aliyah merely raised an eyebrow, challenging her further protest.

"Fine," Rebekah huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Good," Aliyah exhaled. "Now, shall we go?" she looked at Stefan. "I'd hate to think we had missed something."

Chicago, 1922 AD

"Stop it," Aliyah warned.

"I'm concerned," Klaus protested.

"You are not concerned," Aliyah huffed. "You're being intrusive, and your attention should be focused on me, your wife."

Klaus grinned, pulling her close as they swayed. "I didn't realise you were feeling so neglected." He pressed his mouth against the curve of her shoulder, making her laugh.

"I'm not," Aliyah denied. "But you are paying an extraordinary amount of attention to people who are not me."

"I will do my best to correct that, then," Klaus growled, leaning in for a kiss.

Aliyah's fingertips stopped him in his tracks, her nail catching him on his lower lip.

"Perhaps not here, my love." Aliyah smoothed a hand down the lapel of his waistcoat. "Let's go back to the apartment."

"Rebekah-"

"-will be entertained by her baby vampire for the rest of the night. Let's take this opportunity."

Aliyah's eyes were bright with mischief and longing that he couldn't deny her. He led her out of the bar with a hand on the small of her back, and once they were outside, he lifted her into his arms and ran as fast as he could with her laughter ringing in his ears. Within moments, he was pressing her up against the door of the apartment, wrapping her legs around his waist and slipping his hands underneath her dress until his fingers were tugging at the hem of her knickers. When they didn't come loose with the first pull, he became frustrated and ripped it by the seams, making Aliyah giggle desperately.

Her fingers went for the buttons of his slacks and undid them. Before long, she had his cock out and his hand was between her legs, getting her ready for him. She groaned when he slid inside her easily, filling her right up to the base, and leaned her head back against the door as he began a rhythm that made her want to scream.

There was nothing like the feeling of him inside her.

A/N: I don't have much to say about this chapter, only because I think it was pretty expected after the truth bomb of the last chapter. One thing I will say that I wanted to draw a difference between the Aliyah of today and the Aliyah of 1922. The Aliyah of today, especially after the last chapter, is very bitter and very angry and capable of making decisions for herself without much care for what Klaus wants. As opposed to 1922!Aliyah, who seemed kind of passive, at least in my opinion, compared to the Aliyah of today. That was done deliberately, because I wanted the flashbacks to show the kind of mindset Aliyah was starting to get just before she left Klaus in 1925 – it wasn't that she actually lacks the agency to stop Klaus if she wants to. At that time, she was kind of realising what kind of marriage she was stuck in, and what Klaus was capable of doing to someone he loved like Rebekah, so it was the beginning of the end.

So, yeah, meta aside, hopefully you all liked this chapter and don't forget to leave a review; I love reading them!

Now, for a sad note, unfortunately, since this is the last proper chapter I've written, this'll be the tentative end for the fic until I can get a synopsis for the rest written up. I just wanted to let everyone know how grateful I am for the overwhelming support and appreciation I've gotten for this fic (more than 500,000 words, which is not something I thought I'd reach) and everyone who's joined me on this journey. I'm so sorry I wasn't able to continue, but this was such an important fic to me and I'll always be so chuffed at everything everyone's said about this fic and about Aliyah, who's so special to me. Of course, if you have any questions, it might be better to contact me on Tumblr ( deathsweetqueen), because I don't check that much and it's just simpler!

Thank you, everyone, so much, again!

Reviews:

LunaEvanna Longbottom: Aliyah in 1969 was still getting used to life without Klaus, and she was just so stricken at seeing him that night that she didn't really focus on what he was saying to her, but his message to her definitely did stick. And you got it right, fucking Bill Forbes. The man is a child abuser, let's not diminish that.

I'm-a-Klaus-addict: Yeah, he is.

Hawk2010: I'm definitely going to do that, split it up into each episode and then finally, what I was planning on doing with The Originals.

svls1234: Definitely not.

Naelove14: Thank you!

SakiHanajima1: I actually don't do that at all. All of these decisions (and chapters) were done a very long time ago. In fact, this chapter was actually written in March 2018, if you would believe it. It's a frustrating bunch of characters, I can see that, I totally agree. But without drama, there's no interest, at least that's how I see it.

Shiko-Rae: Thank you!

Wikked: I have done that so many times. It's so precious that I'm the reason for other people doing that for my fics. Thank you!

singlemompride: Thank you!

Arkytior's Song: Yeah, that chapter wasn't fun at all.

NicoleR85: As you can tell, she's really, really angry.

aGirlCalledPablo: Yeah, uh, it's gonna be a cliffie for a little while, unfortunately!

Thenchick: Unfortunately not.

.Winchester.17: Thank you!

zara131: Not at all, but it's not gonna happen, unfortunately!

Lilrobo02: Thank you!

Vixencute101: Thank you, but unfortunately not!

Guest: Thank you!

yasminasfeir1: Thank you!

Layla347: Thank you!

lovestoread: I think you hit the nail right on the head!

tvtaughtmetohowtofeell: Well, to be fair, Aliyah has been celibate since she left him, and her relationship with Elijah is completely separate to any fidelity promise she had going on with Klaus. As far as I'm concerned, she did not cheat on Klaus by marrying Elijah. But I'm glad you liked it!