Chapter Text
“I want Jeremy to kill Kol.”
Of course, she wasn’t lying when she said that. She truthfully meant it. Jeremy needed to complete the hunter’s map in order to direct them all to the cure. It was a crucial part of the plan - actually, the plan wouldn’t begin until after he’s done the deed - so it was more like the step up bit just before everything goes down.
He could, obviously, take out a couple more vampires that Stefan or Damon would manage to trick into coming to Mystic Falls - or Jeremy could go searching for them instead, like she would allow that.
Hell, even Klaus might offer a helping hand - presenting them the remaining vampires needed on a silver plate after getting a few of his hybrids to hunt them down. She no doubt thought the hybrid himself had a kill list with how paranoid and old he is. And he’d been unusually docile him and Stefan came to an agreement.
It struck her as weird that he - the big, bad Original hybrid who brutally sacrificed her to unlock his wolf side - would want the cure. He had been desperate for the last millennium, and Elena seriously doubted he suddenly wanted a taste of modern human life - after all, he wasn’t Rebekah.
He had a ploy, she knew at least that much, but he was helping nonetheless.
In all honestly, Elena herself was probably the one most against this whole ‘searching for a cure’ plan. Not that she had told anyone, they all seemed pretty desperate to get it for her. Why? She couldn’t tell you.
When Elena first heard that there was a cure, she internally laughed. Because, it must have been a lie, right? In the thousand years that vampires existed, somehow news of the elixir only got out once she turned into a vampire? The doppelgänger with the most twisted fate in the world - hell, ever.
But it was true, she couldn’t deny that - not with how much proof everyone had to convince her otherwise - but that didn’t mean she wanted it. Yea, Elena never wanted to a vampire, that hasn’t necessarily changed since becoming one. Although, she’s found herself enjoying a lot more - now that she knew about the sire bond.
Or, now that Damon knew about the sire bond. He was a lot less demanding, like he was trying to be careful to not accidentally force her into anything, and that made her eternal life a lot more enjoyable.
Elena still felt for him, yet something in her shivered every time she thought about the passionate nights the two spent together. He wanted that, he said as much, but did she? Or was it the bond. It disgusted her to think that the love she felt wasn’t her own choice, so she’d been keeping her distance to prevent the tugs of nausea she felt anytime he was around.
Even now thinking about the Salvatore’s ‘master plan’, she questioned if she truly wanted to follow through with it. Every time Elena thought about taking the cure - since the two obviously wanted to shove down her throat, as they’ve done with many other things before in the name of her ‘safety’ or ‘benefit’ - her mind racked with two different arguments.
Take it and don’t take it.
Something told her that the tiny, little voice that was nearly a faded whisper was her own - since Damon had already eluded to the prior.
Going after Silas for a cure she doesn’t want, potentially risking her brothers and her own life to finish the map, twisted her insides into a damming knot. This was dangerous, stupid, and yet she felt compelled to do it.
Logically, they didn’t have to risk their life’s trying to kill Kol. Or his life, really, since Klaus was dead set on punishing his brother for interfering anyways. Yet her mind was blissfully blank with only one bleeding thought circling the space.
Yea, getting rid of an Original and completing the hunters map in one fell swoop sounded like a deliciously sweet deal, but everything in her that, well, felt like her screamed for her not to.
Her skin tingled with a sharp pinch, a feeling - the type of gut feeling that she always got before making a major mistake that would end up costing her more than the initial act was worth - swimming desperately throughout her body.
Elena wasn’t an idiot. Damon had used the sire bond to make her want to kill Kol, to make her want the cure, and Stefan was obviously in on it. No, she wouldn’t deny that. She had been compelled, in his own little, sick way. And she wasn’t going to follow it. To give in.
Tonight, she’ll meet Kol as planned, but when she tells him that the search for Silas is off. That he could kill anyone he wanted who would still try to go after it - of course, barring her best friends - and she wouldn’t stop him, Elena would mean it.
Even if she’d have to stake herself in order to not attack the Original.
The plan that she was going to botch was in motion, although she wanted to call off the entire thing and meet up with Kol separately - she thought she might as well take the opportunity to do so without any of her friends becoming suspicious and interfering.
Elena picked up her brothers phone - she had only just realized that she hadn’t gotten the Originals number, which is weird since she always seemed to get her ‘enemy’s’ numbers one way or another. She had Klaus’s contact - and dialed Kol’s number.
It took a few rings before the line picked up. “Jeremy Gilbert. Nice to see I'm still on your speed dial, mate. Hey, you want to meet up at the batting cages in Denver?” Elena rolled her eyes at his sarcastic tone before reminding herself she had to keep her tone steady.
“Actually, it's Elena Gilbert.” Elena shooed her brother and Matt out ear shot, going to the living room when they refuse to. Jeremy was ready to follow, but thankfully Matt kept him back to continue setting out their weapons - which they weren’t ever going to use, she wasn’t going to let them get anywhere near the Original.
“What a treat.” She bit back a groan, rolling her eyes once again. “Yeah, I was just thinking of all the clever ways I could have your brother killed, but I'd settle for ripping off his illustrated arm instead.”
“Funny,” She pushed past his little comment. From what Elena had gathered, Kol was quite the jokester - in his own cruel, sadistic way that is. “I need to talk to you – in person. I wanna call a truce, in the name of Silas.”
Her sensitive ears picked up on the lack of shuffling. Good, he was now fully paying attention.
“You want to talk about Silas?” His tone was full of masked paranoia. If she hadn’t checked the contact idea before calling him, she would have thought she dialed the wrong Mikaelson.
“Yea, I'll meet you wherever you want. I'll come to you.” The two stayed silent for a considerable moment, Elena turned to catch her brother and Matt starring with worried etched along their faces. She managed a tight smile, not entirely comfortable with the lack of response either, and turned her attention back to the phone.
“I'll tell you what. How about I come to you?” The doorbell rung immediately, sending pricks over her skin. The two boys shuffled towards the door cautiously, slow and steady, yet ready to attack if need be. Elena pushed past the two as Jeremy cocked his hand gun.
Sometimes she wondered where they got the confidence, as humans, even as a vampire herself she was struggling to see herself fighting the thousand year old - let alone winning - yet they faced the challenge head on, without any hesitation.
She was by no means scared. No, this didn’t scare her, just like how his brother or being the doppelgänger or Katharine never scared her. But she wasn’t delusional.
“If you want a truce, open the door and invite me in.” Kol yelled through the door, she pictured a smug smirk curling at his lips - she certainly had seen such a smile before, during the most eventful ball of her life - and everything about his tone suggested he was wearing it proudly. “Hello?” He hummed pleasantly.
She didn’t want to invite him in, her home was Jeremys safe space - well, as safe as it could be with the amount of supernatural that could already get in - but that would defeat the purpose. She needed him to trust her.
Elena moved to the door, despite Jeremy reaching out to try and stop her, and swings it open. “Hello, darling.” Bingo, he was smirking.
“Kol,” she leans on the open door, crossing her arms. “I’ll invite you in if you promise my brother and friend can leave.” This was non-negotiable. Not only was she not going to endanger the two by letting him in without getting his word to leave the two alone, she also didn’t want them in the room as she tosses the plan away - right in their faces.
She was doing it for them - well, Jeremy - but she had a feeling they wouldn’t see it as such in the moment. The two would act out and try a move against the Original, then she would have no choice but to kill Kol as if her life depended on it.
“I can't personally kill your brother, darling, or I'll suffer the hunter's curse and spend the next twenty - or so - years trying to off myself in the most gruesome ways possible,” He winks. “And trust me, I know a thing or two about tastefully, torturous deaths.”
“Oh, I've also heard that vervain's back in town, so I can't compel you to kill him either. I think it's fair to say you're semi-safe, for now.” He added on lazily, stepping closer as if he already had an invite. Which he would, soon.
“Invite him in, Jeremy.” Elena’s gaze kept firmly locked on the Originals, unwavering even as he stared back with mirth dancing along the rim of his honey, brown eyes. Jeremy made a noise of protest that fell on deaf ears as she finally turns back, a stern frown simmering along her face.
The argument died in his throat with a small groan. “You can come in.” Her brother frowns back, grabbing Matt by the arm as he tugs him out of the house through their back door.
“You'd think being alive for over a thousand years would teach me some manners, unfortunately I couldn't resist stopping by.” Kol took a cheerfully, heavy step past the front entrance, towering over her for a brief moment before Elena found herself back away.
“No gold medals for bravery, I see. You know the thing I love about the modern age is...music, anytime you like.” The original pockets his phone and earphones, making a show of the White oak stake he has stored in the other pocket.
Elena sighs with a small frown, picking up on the subtle challenge that the action held. “You don’t have to do that, Kol, I meant what I said. This is just going to be a conversation.” The two continued their little staring game before the former let in with a raised brow.
“So,” He hums. “This is the part where you offer me a drink so we can have a proper chat.” Elena moves out the doorway, offering the room a tad bit sarcastically before moving into the kitchen. Kol followed closely behind, scanning the place over for any sort of trap or gimmick.
——
The two were seated on opposite ends of the couch, Elena had managed to dig up some of her dad’s old wine - she had always wanted to take a sip of it but was too scared to in case her dad found out, and after he died she couldn’t bare looking at anything to closely connected to her father.
She was hopping to use it as a sort of ice breaker, or to ease her nerves, both would work out perfectly swell for her.
“Sorry if it’s not quite to your taste, my dad always had an itch for the sweeter tasting drinks.” She poured them both a drink, crossing her legs as she leaned a bit on the couches back.
“See, that's the problem with people today. They have no drinking imagination. Turn-of-the-century New Orleans – now, they knew how to make a drink.” His lips curled into a smug smirk as he took a sip of his drink, humming at the rich flavor. Elena was not enjoying it as much as she wished she was.
“You lived in New Orleans?” She raised a brow. New Orleans was a top tier location on her vacation list, now with the fact that it was practically a supernatural hotspot - she was even more desperate to go.
“We all did,” His smirk faltered, an uneasy tone settling over his smug exposition. “Untill Niklaus shoved a dagger in my heart.” Elena could feel the rhythmic hatred rolling of his tongue.
“Why? What did you do?” She blurted without thinking, immediately regretting her words as her companion clicked his tongue.
“What makes you think I did anything? Has your alliance with my brother softened you to his horrors?” Being connected to Klaus in a friendly way left a bitter casting over her tongue despite the sweetness of her wine, she cocked a brow before sighing gently. There was no reason to get mad, let alone antagonize the man she was trying to make a truce with, and again, he was right.
“You’re right, I’m sorry,” Her heart carry’s along a stable speed, hopefully he would hear that she wasn’t lying. “You scream mischievous, little brother energy, like Jeremy, but Klaus is a paranoid bastard. I wouldn’t put it past him to do it without a proper reason.”
She doesn’t miss the surprised glaze that travels over his eyes before it’s masked by cockiness once again. “Good, so you’ve not been brainwashed just yet.” He relaxes into his chair, finally, as her mouths twist into a small smile - despite herself.
“Also, I am not in an ‘alliance’ with your bother, the Salvatore’s are, I was simply dragged along.” Which, again, was true. Elena hated the man as if she’s hated no other, she’d rather but tortured than have any sort of relationship with him. “I be a moron to rely on him.”
“Our mutual interest is no longer mutual, anyways.” She adds as an after thought.
“Is it now, darling, so you’re serious then?” He struts an eyebrow, curiously studying her body - and posture, and heartbeat, and breathing no doubt.
“Yea. The cure isn’t a priority to me - my brother is,” Elena’s expression shifted into that of a serious one, filled with warning - though not for the man she’s directing it at, and she had a feeling he already noticed such. “Anyways, i have no interest in the cure. Not anymore.”
“What made you change your mind?” Kol hummed, swirling the liquid in the glass around the brim.
A lot of things changed her mind, his appearance being one of them. She could handle being the human doppelgänger - that wasn’t a problem for her, it never had been - but now her brother was a hunter, and any vampire would kill him as soon as they got the chance.
She couldn’t go back to being little, old, defenseless, human Elena if it meant not being able to protect her only remaining family and instead putting a massive target on their backs because of her blood.
“Living it.” She rested back into her seat, positive that her warning got across. “I was seriously against vampirism before, I loved being a human, but I’d be an utter fool if I tried to go back.”
Elena took another sip of her drink before setting it down on the table, she really hated the sweetness that attacked her teeth as she swallowed. Maybe she’d go get different one. Kol finishes considering her reasons - or whatever, the man definetly knew how to keep a poker face - and softened his features.
“I was a witch, before we were turned.” Elena perked up, meeting his regretful gaze curiously. “I miss it, always, but I wouldn’t be able to confidently say I’d give up being what I am now - who I am - in order to get it back.”
Elena nods, not offering any pity or sympathy, much to her companions pleasure. She reckoned he only shared as much due to her own confession, not because he wanted a reaction - and she understood that.
Elena came strolling back in after going to get herself another drink - a more savory one this time, she wasn’t a big fan of the former one - and finds Kol playing one of Jeremys games.
It was weird, watching a thousand year old act and look like a boy - she couldn’t help but constantly be reminded of Jeremy - and her heart tinged as she reminded herself of what the Original had lost. He had every right to act childish, at least around her.
Pouring herself and him a glass, she sits back down in her previous seat - now next to Kol as he moved to play the game - in silence for another couple of minutes. “You're really good at the game. Definitely considering you've been locked up in a coffin for a hundred years.”
“I'm a quick learner. Speedy reflexes.” He pauses the game to take the drink she offered, smiling tentatively towards her. “It's not much like the real thing, though, is it?”
“You've killed, haven't you?” His brow raises questionably. “Or are you one of those Mary Sue vampires?”
“I've killed. Once.” Elena struggles to hold back a wince, she hated having killed someone - but being a vampire, especially one so young, took away any chance of self-control. “I'm guessing your number's a lot higher than mine.” She managed to tease, smirking softly at the brutal killer next to her.
“You lose track over the years.” He shrugs as if the number meant nothing to him. She bites back a hum as his expression turns slightly hesitant. “You meant it.” She tilts her head in question. “Not wanting the cure, hating my brother. You aren’t lying.”
Something about his tone told her that he meant it as both a statement and question. good, this truce would be harder if he thought she was. “Can I ask you why you believe Silas exists, despite everyone else thinking otherwise.”
“I used to run with some witches.” Kol continued when she nodded. “Africa in the fourteenth century, Haiti in the seventeenth century, New Orleans in the nineteen hundreds. They all knew about Silas; that he needed to stay buried.” He quickly added with a small smile. “I actually hold witches in high esteem.”
“I have no reason to doubt you, so I trust that what you’re saying is true. That’s why I wouldn’t want to follow through with it, even if I had wanted the cure.” Her gut soothed as she firmly stated her stance on the matter.
Why would she ignore the advice of such a well versed ‘witch-o-pedia’? She wasn’t a Salvatore, so every truth be told - even if he was being slightly paranoid - she’d take to heart.
Shock flickered under his eyes, momentarily softening them before he forcibly pushed himself out of the daze. Her heart burned thinking of the amount of times others denied him any accountability, ignoring his warnings and labeling him as paranoid as his brother.
“I believe you, Kol.” She captured his eyes, not allowing any shred of emotion to escape her gaze - he needed to know that she was serious.
The air around them simmered softly as the two avoided each other’s eyes. She couldn’t lie and say she wasn’t feeling a bit embarrassed after that, but that doesn’t meant she had to admit it outright.
“Thank you.” He whispered, a low sound that only vampire ears would be able to pick up on. He stood abruptly. “I should go now. I’ll be in touch, darling.”
The two exchange meaningful looks. “Be careful with the stake.” Elena reminds as he moves to leave, a bit hurriedly then what she would have expected. His smug energy was all but gone now, replaced by a genuine calm.
Kol hums, not turning back - she could only wonder if it had anything to do with his slightly quicker heart beat - before vamping out of the house, the door gently clicking shut behind him.
Elena places her wine glass down, pulling out her phone to call Jeremy. “Elena, are you alright? Bonnie and I are on our way.” She sighed, thankful that her and Kol had talked without any interference - but dreading the explanation that would follow it. She knew it would be full of hurt, betrayal and maybe a but of aggression - drowning if any Salvatore shows up - but she was dead set on making sure the rest of them gave up like she did.
“Yes, he’s gone, Jer, so come back quickly - oh, and bring the rest of them with you.” She paused briefly. “Anyone that picks up, that is.” This was using to be a hell of a night, might as well keep it to the one.