"When Rebekah called me and told me that Alaric Saltzman had been turned by our mother, she sounded serious," Elijah told them as they settled around the table. "When she called again to say that Niklaus was missing, I called Finn, and we came back as quickly as we could."

It was interesting to see all of the siblings from the Mikaelson family, save for Nik, sitting around the kitchen table, Artemis thought to herself as the kettle began to whistle. Elijah sat at one end of the table, while Rebekah sat at the other. Finn and Sage sat opposite of Kol and the empty chair that Artemis would soon occupy.

"Nik was in the middle of packing everything up to leave," Rebekah explained. "He was going to get the doppelganger, and be on his way. I came back, just before sunset, to make sure that he was gone, only to find that his house was a mess and he was gone."

"We came up with a plan to stop Alaric," Kol told them, looking around at all of his siblings. "Bonnie's mum did this spell on Mikael years ago that dessicated him. Bonnie did the same spell tonight, only the aim was to dessicate mother's new creation."

Artemis frowned. "Nik got out," she stated. "He got out of the school, and took Elena with him."

Rebekah copied her frown. "But that doesn't make any sense," she said. "I've known Nik for years. He would never travel to a new place without his art collection. He's far too selfish to go without them."

There was silence as Artemis passed out tea cups and poured the hot water. Normally, she brewed her tea loose leaf, since she and Kol had come to enjoy the same blends. But when company was present, she kept a stash of a variety of different blends in one of the cupboards, so that she could offer whatever suited her guests' fancies. As she put her kettle back down on the stove, her phone chimed.

The dessication spell worked. Not on Ric, but Klaus. Elena is finally safe. – Bonnie

"I know where Nik is," Artemis said quietly, looking from her phone to the family in front of here. All five pairs of eyes were fixed on her as she made her way to sit at the table. "Bonnie's dessication spell was performed on Nik for some reason, instead of Ric. If I know Damon, he's probably already on his way to the Atlantic Ocean to toss him in."

Rebekah's chair scraped the floor as she abruptly stood. "Well, what are we waiting for?" she asked, a dangerous smile dancing across her lips. "Let's go pay the doppelganger wench a visit. Threaten her, and they'll return Nik's body to us."

"For once, I agree with Barbie," Sage said, rising as well. "Let's strong arm 'em. I've been looking for a reason to pick a fight with the Salvatores since I came back to town."

"Sage, we can't walk into this fight with our fists raised," Finn told her, gently placing his hand on her elbow. "While I agree that we should get Nik back, we can't fight them to do it. Not if mother's creation is still out there. We can't afford to draw more attention to ourselves than we already have."

"Finn is right," Elijah agreed. "Alaric is probably under the impression that every Original sibling, save for Niklaus and Kol, has left town. We need to operate as under the radar as possible."

Rebekah's eyes narrowed as she looked at her older brother. "Then what do you suggest, oh noble one?"

"A trade," Elijah said simply. "Elena Gilbert has become the object of Niklaus's desire, and it has taken a toll on her and her friends, and getting him out of their life has been their number one priority. Perhaps we should collect Niklaus and scatter, as we have done many times before."

"I like this plan," Finn agreed with a nod. "Our dear brother kept a dagger in my chest for nine hundred years, and never once had one stuck in his own. Perhaps it is time for him to have a taste of his own medicine." He turned to look at Sage. "And we would be free to travel the world, anywhere you want to go, together."

Sage smiled softly. "I'd quite like that, Finn."

"I have no problem with leaving him in a coffin for a little while," Kol said. "Although, Artemis and I will probably stay around here for a little while. She's replacing Alaric as the new history teacher at Mystic Falls High School. Perhaps I will also take this time to take a page out of my wife's book, and go back to school as well. I've heard Whitmore College has an excellent education program."

They all turned to Rebekah expectantly, waiting to see if she would agree or not. "Have all of you forgotten that Nik is our brother?" she asked, her eyes wide with shock. "What kind of siblings would we be if we just left him to rot?"

"We're not going to let him for forever, Rebekah," Elijah told her sternly. "Just until Elena's human life has passed, and her childrens' lives have passed, to make it harder for Niklaus to track down the next doppelganger. We are still a family, Rebekah, and we will forgive Niklaus's actions, but we would also like to see him endure the pain that we have all endured on his behalf."

Rebekah scowled and crossed her arms. She knew that her siblings were right, but that didn't mean that it had to sit well with her. "Fine," she grumbled. "But if a single one of them steps out of line, then the deal is off."

The rest of the siblings and their significant others nodded in agreement, while Elijah sighed deeply. "That's fair," he relented, before standing. "I'll go over to the Gilbert house, and present our terms. You will all remain here until I do."

"Oh, come on brother, what did you think we were gonna do?" Kol said with a chuckle. "Stand menacingly outside the Gilbert house the whole time?"

"I think that's exactly what he thought was going to happen," Artemis whispered as Elijah glared at his younger brother.

That night changed everything.

It is perhaps easiest to begin with the death of Niklaus. Upon hearing the news, Kol and Finn both stilled, solemn expressions on their faces. It was no secret that if the two of them had favorite siblings, Nik was not among them. After being forced into and held in a state of limbo between life and death for so long at the hands on their hybrid half-brother had caused some serious deterioration in their relationship. Finn had nodded stiffly when he heard the news, his jaw clenched, before turning and leaving. Sage trailed behind him, saying goodbye for them as they left, unsure of how Finn would process the news.

Elijah was stoic as well, as stoicism seemed to be a familial trait. While Nik had indeed at time taken him for granted, the middle of the Mikealson brothers still recalled the "always and forever" oath that he had once sworn. He was angry, upset at the betrayal of the Salvatore brothers, and his mother for her part in bringing about their demise. But he was also angry with himself, for not forseeing the scenario that ended this way. He too took his leave, before his dark side emerged to seek revenge on those who had helped facilitate Nik's death.

Rebekah was very clearly distraught when she returned, but, unlike her older brother, relished in the response that her dark side created. She acted on the emotional reaction that came from her brother's death, and went to go, what Artemis assumed, as something very impulsive and stupid. There was no stopping her, or talking her down. Nik had been the one constant thing in her life, the only thing that she could rely on, and now he was gone.

Kol hadn't said a word since hearing the news in the woods, and he and Artemis walked back to their house in silence. As Artemis always did, she supported Kol in every way that she was able. She knew that he had experienced a loss like this before, when the youngest Mikealson brother, Henrik, had been killed.

"I should feel bad, but I don't," Kol suddenly spoke from the kitchen table where he sat. Artemis's head shot up to look at him. He sighed. "He was my brother, and I should feel something over his death, but I'm struggling to. After mother turned us, our relationship went sour, and after everything he's done recently…" He trailed off, his hands fidgeting on the table as he tried to voice his thoughts.

"After everything that's happened recently, you feel as though you no longer know him," Artemis whispered, taking one of his hands in her own. "The brother that you had as a child was not the same brother you've had as an adult."

He nodded. Somehow, she knew the exact thoughts that were in his head before he did.

"I know it seems like a struggle to reconcile the two," she continued. "He's not the same person that he used to be, but that's okay. People change. But he's still, deep down, the same person he once was. Perhaps it wasn't on the surface, but the person he once was still existed somewhere."

Kol was silent for a moment. "We had some good times together as children," he whispered hoarsely.

"Come on, let's head upstairs to bed," she said softly, before helping him rise to his feet. She could sense that the waves of sadness were crashing down on him, even if his expression never changed, and that out of the two of them, he would likely not get much sleep that night. All Artemis could do was hold him close.

The next morning, Artemis woke to pounding on the door. Kol was still fast asleep, his head resting on her chest while her arms wrapped around him. It had taken him a while to fall asleep, and she felt guilty as she slid out from under him to answer the door. She was surprised to see Bonnie and Jeremy on the other side, although it appeared that Jeremy was equally surprised to see her.

"Bonnie, Jeremy, come in," Artemis greeted with a smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Elena's in transition," Bonnie stated, taking a step inside. "We want to know how to stop it, so she can go back to living a normal human life. She didn't ask for this, and she doesn't want this, so we want to know how to stop it."

Artemis frowned as she ushered them into the living room. "How did this happen?" she asked, confused. As far as she knew, Elena had been human last night, as she had tried to race back to Mystic Falls to see Stefan.

"Rebekah caused Matt to drive off the edge of the Wickery bridge," Jeremy told her. "Elena died with Damon's blood in her system."

Artemis sat down on the couch, looking between the two teens that stood in front of her, her mind racing through everything she knew about vampires in transition. "I've heard of attempts to reverse the transition process, but none of them have been successes," she stated quietly. "When a vampire is in transition, they exist for about a day in between life and death. Her soul has been divided in two. One half is in this realm, with her body, and the other half is on the Other Side. The end of the transition will determine where her soul will end up. If she feeds on human blood and completes the transition, then her soul will return to her body. If she does not feed, then her soul will join the Other Side."

"Then what can we do?" Bonnie pressed. "What can I do?"

"The only way that I can imagine that the transition process can be reversed is to somehow find a way to reunite Elena's soul in her human body," Artemis said carefully. "But you have to be careful, Bonnie. The magic that one has to tap into to give life to those who have died is one of the darkest magics to exist. Even attempting to perform a spell like this will not come without consequences. Are you prepared to accept the consequences that the spirits enforce?"

Jeremy looked at Bonnie expectantly, waiting for her to make her choice. After a moment or two of silent internal debate, Bonnie nodded slowly. "I am prepared to accept the consequences, whatever they are, if it means that my best friend stays human," she stated slowly.

"You're a very powerful witch, Bonnie," Artemis said, rising to her feet. "Remember that even with all the power you possess, some things just aren't possible to do. But if anyone can do this, you can."

Bonnie nodded. "Thanks, Artemis," she whispered, before looking at Jeremy. "Come on, Jer. We have work to do."

Artemis released the breath she had been holding as the two teenagers left, shutting the door behind them. While she believed that Bonnie had admirable intentions, keeping her friend safe from harm, she knew that reversing the vampire curse was a fool's errand. As she headed back to the kitchen to begin making herself something to eat, a knock once again came to the door. Apparently, today was the day for visitors.

The men on the other side of the door were unfamiliar to her. She supposed that they were people from the town that she had yet to meet, but she smiled anyway. "Good morning," Artemis greeted. "Is there something I can do for you?"

The man with the clerical collar seemed to be their leader, as he reached out and gently put his hand on her shoulder. "Are you Artemis Mikealson?" he asked softly, his eyes seeming to pity her. She nodded slowly, and he smiled. "My name is Pastor Young, and I'm here to rescue you."

Artemis was startled, and took a step back. "Rescue me?" she asked. "I don't need rescuing."

Pastor Young sighed. "It's worse than we thought," he said, turning to the men behind him. "He's compelled her to believe that she loves him."

The men from behind advanced on Artemis, the butts of their rifles raised as she continued to back away from them. "Wait, there must be some kind of confusion here," she said quickly.

"I'm sorry," she heard Pastor Young say before one of the men swung his rifle at the side of her head and knocked her to the ground.

He could hear the incessant wailing of sirens as he came to, his head pounding and body aching. Kol could still feel that they had forgotten to remove one of the wooden bullets in his abdomen, as it occasionally scraped up against his ribs. The vervain-soaked ropes that bound his wrists bit angrily into his skin, causing him to hiss every time he moved. At least neither of the two people in front of him were Artemis. As long as she wasn't here, she was probably safe.

His sister and Caroline sat across from him, tied with their own ropes. Caroline met his eyes sadly, and he gave a small nod to indicate that he was fine, before they both turned to look at Rebekah. It was hard for him to watch his younger sister struggle against the ropes that held her, fighting blindly to free herself.

"Vervain ropes," Caroline whispered as Rebekah cried out in agony. Rebekah stilled, and turned to look at Caroline, surprise on her face. "Looks like Alaric outed us to the council."

"The council…" Rebekah whispered with bewilderment, shaking her head and looking to Kol. "What exactly do they think they can do to us?"

Kol could hear the gunning of the engine before he felt the impact of the rougue car on the side of whatever van they were being held in. The impact came before his answer, knocking the van onto its side. Glass from the windows shattered into tiny projectiles, lacerating his cheek as the shards flew freely in the air. When the vehicle came to a rest, he was suspended in the air, held by the ropes wrapped around his wrists, torso, and ankles, looking down at Rebekah and Caroline.

Rebekah coughed and groaned. "What the hell happened?" she nearly shouted.

One of the doors from the back of the van was ripped off its hinges, causing all three van occupants to turn their heads. The head of a male was revealed, before he dipped down to rip off the other door and crawled inside. Kol had never seen this individual before in his life.

Caroline simply looked confused. "Tyler?" she asked, as the stranger knelt down to undo the ropes that bound her.

The new figure grinned. "I'm harder to kill than you think," he told her with a grin.

The sound of sirens grew closer as he continued his work, while Caroline was still stunned. "You're alive?" Tears started to fall from her eyes. "Tyler, you're alive!"

"No time," he said urgently as he broke the last rope and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, we have to go."

Rebekah looked between her brother and Tyler. "Wait, what about us?" she asked, fear edging into her voice.

As Caroline sped off, Tyler leaned back into the truck, a grin on his face. "Keep them busy, little sister, little brother," he said, before disappearing.

Rebekah's eyes widened as she renewed her struggle against the ropes. "That's impossible!" she screeched, but when the brakes of the squad car squealed, and the deputy appeared in the doorway of the van, she went still. A single tear fell from her cheek.

Kol himself was having some difficulty processing the news of his younger brother somehow having taken over the body of another being. "It's going to be okay, Bekah," he whispered as the deputies began to argue. He could see her nod as the tears began to flow from her eyes, as if she believed him. But Kol knew that in that moment, her heart had broken. Their brother had chosen his unrequited love over his family. Even if he told her that it was going to be okay, he had a hard time believing it himself.

Kol had heard that inhaling vervain felt like inhaling razor blades. He had once come across a vampire named Juliette, who had been nearly tortured to death by her parents, who had told him the most unpleasant stories about vervain he had ever heard. He had always felt that as an Original vampire, he was safe from all of the awful things that could happen to vampires, but he was wrong. They were blowing vervain pollen everywhere in whatever place they were being held.

He tried to make his breathing shallow, to minimize the pain and damage that the vervain pollen was causing. He could hear his sister breathing in the cell next to his, and Stefan breathing in the cell diagonal to him. Both breathed as shallowly as Kol did, feeling the awful effects of vervain in their system.

The only person he could hear breathe normally was Elena, who had just recently been thrown in the cell across from him. Kol frowned as he watched them deposit her body on the dirty floor of the cattle pen. Was she not human, like the hunters who had come for him that morning? Her heart still beat normally, and she still smelled human, but yet, she seemed weaker and more pathetic than other humans.

"I thought I killed you," Rebekah called from her cell as the girl began to move.

It all made sense in Kol's head then. If Rebekah had killed her, then it would have happened last night, almost twenty-four hours prior. The poor girl probably hadn't had the chance to feed on human blood. The reason she looked weak was probably because she hadn't yet completed her transition.

"Where am I?" Elena whispered hoarsely, her body slowly pulling itself into a sitting position. She glanced around the dirty barn that they were in, her eyes lingering on Kol for a split second before moving to Rebekah.

"They thought you were a vampire, so they stuck you in here with us," Rebekah grumbled, before coughing. Talking invited more air, and more vervain, into the lungs, and coughing got it out."

"She's not a vampire yet, Bekah," Kol murmured from the other cell.

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked, ignoring the two siblings. Her only concern was that Stefan was still okay.

"Elena, I'm right here," Stefan said from the floor of his cell. "Are you okay?"

"Stefan!" the girl cried, trying to scramble to her feet. Her hands grasped at the bars as she tried to tug herself up, but her strength failed her and she collapsed, coughing with the exertion. "I need to feed," she whispered.

Kol could almost hear the grin that broke out across Rebekah's face as she watched the girl that she hated struggle. "You died with vampire blood in your system and you didn't feed and now you're locked up in here without a drop of human blood in sight," she said smugly. "That is a problem. If my math is correct, you have just about three hours to feed before I get to watch you die."

"You don't have to be cruel, sister," Kol chastised from his cell as Elena began to feebly rattle the bars of her cell. "I'm sure that the Salvatores have a very good reason for not helping Elena feed the moment she woke up."

Stefan sighed, and ran his hand over his face. "We were hoping that Bonnie would find some way to reverse the spell so that Elena could remain human," he mumbled.

"Huh," Kol replied. "I take it back. You know that there has never been a successful reversal of an immortality spell that resulted in a restoration of humanity. Entire covens have banded their magic together and failed."

"At least she tried," Elena whispered.

Kol nodded in a agreement. "Yes, at least she did."

Artemis's eyes opened slowly as her head pounded. She was sure that there was at least a bruise, if not more damage, where the butt of the rifle had connected with her head. Her surroundings were completely unfamiliar to her. She was lying on a twin bed in a room that seemed to belong to a younger girl, in a house she didn't recognize. Closing her eyes for another moment, she focused on listening to her surroundings. Just faintly, she could hear the sound of a kettle whistling.

With a groan, she pulled herself into a sitting position, and waited for the pounding in her head to subside before standing carefully. She walked slowly to the door of the room and pushed it open. There was no one on the other side, no one to stand guard. Artemis turned the corner towards the place where the kettle was whistling, and was surprised to see only a single man in the house's small kitchen.

The pastor looked up from the steak he had been carving, and smiled at her. "Artemis, right?" he asked warmly. "I apologize for taking you in the way that we did, but it was the only way that we could be sure you were safe from that vampire's clutches."

She took a step closer to him, a dark expression crossing her face. "What have you done to him?" Artemis asked slowly, her fists curling.

"Like I told you, we're rescuing you," Pastor Young answered simply. "The vampire has corrupted your mind and spirit. With his death, you will be free."

"You listen here, and you listen good," she growled, grasping him by his collar and raising him to his feet. It felt like a small victory when she saw a flicker of fear flash across his eyes. "If he dies, I die, but not before you and every one of your little friends do."

"Very well," the pastor answered, a grim expression coming over his face. "I can see now that his influence over you is too great. If you want to be with that monster, then who am I to stand in the way?"

She heard the gunfire before she felt it, the wooden bullets peppering her back, before she finally fell to the darkness of death. The pastor looked down at the girl on the floor with a frown on his face. A necessary casualty in the war for the greater good, he reminded himself, before ordering his guards to drag her in and reunite her with the vampire that she so desperately yearned for.

The two guards dragged Artemis's body into the barn, not caring that the knees of her pajama bottoms scraped against the dirty concrete floor. Stefan paused as he watched the woman being taken past his cell, the agony from the bullet holes temporarily forgotten as he wondered why they would bring a non-vampire into the barn. One guard opened the door of Kol's cell slightly, while keeping his weapon trained on the vampire in the corner, who had suddenly scrambled to his feet at his wife's appearance. The second guard roughly shoved Artemis inside, barely giving Kol enough time to catch her before she hit the ground.

"She insisted on being here," one of the guards growled. "You convinced her to throw her life away, so her punishment is to wait here, with you, until you get hungry enough to drain her blood."

Kol snarled at the guards, but didn't look at them. Instead, he used whatever speed he had to pull all of the bullets from her wounds. Eight wooden bullets dropped to the floor in the time that it took one of the guards to change the vervain. The first guard then left, presumably to grab another vampire that they had found. Kol rested his wife's head on his lap, and ran his fingers through her hair. He could tell that her body was beginning to heal, as her chest had just started to move again.

"Excuse me?" he could hear Rebekah call hoarsely. "Hello? Sir?" She broke into a renewed fit of coughing that Kol could sense was fake.

The guard loaded his gun with a click, before whirling around to face Rebekah. "I thought I told you to shut up," he growled.

"Here's the thing, my family, we have money," Rebekah continued. "Castles, apartments, jewelry. Just name your price, and let me and my brother go."

"You're married," Kol added from the cell next door. He had noticed the man's wedding band when he had thrown Artemis in the cell. "Come on, what wife wouldn't love an anniversary trip to the Caribbean, all expenses paid?"

As the man took a few steps towards Kol's cell, Kol gently laid Artemis on the ground, preparing to strike. The man looked down at Kol with a dark expression. "I'd much rather watch you die," he replied angrily.

The man's mistake was coming too close to the bars of Kol's cell. In a flash, Kol was nose-to-nose with him, causing him to side-step, startled. Rebekah's face frightened him as well, the distended veins and enhanced canines causing him to stumble backwards. He hadn't experienced a vampire face up close before, and seeing the inhumanity that appeared on their faces was enough to throw him off his game. But then Stefan reached out, as the man approached his cell, and bashed the guard's head off the bars, before tossing his body in Elena's direction.

Kol watched with baited breath as the nearly dead girl struggled to reach the pool of blood that was slowly growing towards her. As much of her arm as possible stretched out between the bars, her fingers scrabbling for the red liquid that oozed towards her. He silently cheered for her as her fingertips finally touched, and slowly brought the red liquid to her mouth. For a brief moment, he thought that she was just too late, and his heart fell.

But then, Elena Gilbert's eyes snapped open.