Forever Yours

Elijah spent the next day and a half in Ianthe’s home barely venturing farther than the gates. He knew that if he went out then Ianthe’s threat would be true, he wouldn’t be able to enter again, so he contented himself with watching the interaction between the people currently within her home. There was nothing but warmth there as they plunged into ancient tomes that Elijah had been surprised existed and the mirrors that worked for communication, he had been bewildered and entranced as Ianthe held court with Jenna, Alaric, and her cousins, and her friends in England.

Matt Donovan, her ward, who despite being a handful of years younger then she had looked to her as a mother of sorts and had taken to young Edward Remus Lupin Potter-Black as a little brother. The child in question often looked to him with innocent curiosity, unbothered by the fact that he was so obviously a vampire. “He’s used to vampires being around him. He’s just trying to figure out who youare away from that.” Ianthe had told him offhandedly when he had enquired about it.

The child was endearing and sweet and reminded him of his younger siblings at that age, particularly of Henrik, though his love for magic seemed to be on par with Kol’s. Some of his mannerisms though… those reminded him alarmingly of Niklaus, perhaps it was a wolf thing? There were times when he would Teddy would turn to him, his smile that little mixture of innocently sweet and smugly impish that he would throw and his silvery blue eyes would flash with the slightest hint of green and Elijah felt like he was being thrown back into time to a version of Niklaus that grew up loved and unscathed.

This child, Elijah knew, would grow up to become a good and great man the likes of which Niklaus had been on track to becoming before Astrid had been lost and Elijah prayed to the gods that he had long since stopped believing in that no such thing would happen to derail this boy from that promising future. Elijah had seen the obvious love and care showered on the boy, even when his grandparents appeared to speak to him in the mirror or even any older relation appeared to talk, it had always been with a query on the boy’s health and a request to see him, every spoken word directed at the child was filled with affection and affirmations of love.

Even the scoldings the boy had received were gentle and stern. Ianthe was a wonderful mother, much unlike Elijah’s own. It made him wonder what type of man his brother would have been had he been able to wed Astrid and become the father that he was very much meant to be. Certainly a sight better than their own. Elijah could never imagine a scenario where Astrid would step aside and allow Niklaus to raise a hand or word to any of their children, in fact, Elijah could never imagine his brother doing it to a child of theirs.

He fingered his mother’s grimoire as he thought of the last two days, how the people within the house had come and gone. Tonight he was to confront the monster his brother had become and then… then perhaps he would be welcome here? Among this odd patchwork family of normal humans and vampires, of werewolves and witches. Surely Ianthe and Neville would allow him in, they’d even hinted at remembering certain events, though Ianthe had yet to speak of Niklaus save for when he had first arrived here.

“Tell me something Elijah.” Ianthe drawled as soon as she had closed the door to the library. “When were you going to tell me that I had been romantically if not sexually involved with your brother?”

Elijah glanced at her and saw that her cousins were watching them with weary eyes. “Had I my way, you would never have known. Not when he is so far from the man that you had loved.”

“Oh?”

“My brother had lost what good he had in him when he lost you. He loved us, but he controlled us as well. What was once a protective nature had turned into a domineering one and what was once caution had turned into paranoia. And this had inspired actions so cruel against others for the smallest of infractions or the daggering of our siblings for their disobedience though I will admit that I had helped him with those.”

“And this would lead you to kill your brother? You clearly care for him.”

“I love him and there was a time that I would have done anything for him but he has gone too far. He threw our siblings into the ocean, he made it so that I can never reach them again.” Elijah admitted vision red at the thought of his brother’s actions.

She stared at him. “Who kept them when they were daggered?” She asked quietly, hand reaching out to comfort him.

“He did. There were times when we needed to separate for our protection, he often took them with him.”

“And when did he throw them away?” She asked gently.

“About twenty or so years ago.”

“Nearly a millennia of watching over them, dragging them around, protecting them and suddenly he throws them into the water? That sounds rather contradictory to me.”

“He was angry at me and father got too close…” Elijah froze at exposing too much but she tilted her head, something in her eyes gleamed with recognition at the mention of their father. There was anger there, anger and disgust.

“He was angry, yes, but he trusted you all the same. Perhaps the problem lies in your lack of trust. But I do remember your father, he was a beastly man. I remember he was often angry and was physically violent but why would he wish to kill you all?”

“He was disgusted at the monstrosity that we had become and that we had chosen to side with Niklaus when he killed mother in the heat of the moment after the curse had been enacted. He has hunted us ever since.”

“Do you know when a person is safest from those that hunt them?” She asked suddenly.

He looked at her curious at the sudden turn in the conversation.

“When people no longer know that you exist.” She said before striding towards her cousins.

It had seemed as though she had been hinting at something. Was she truly for or against Niklaus’ death? Did she still have some sort of feelings for his brother? But there was a tone of caution in her voice as though she were trying to warn him to choose carefully. But what choice did he have? Kill Niklaus and avenge his siblings as they would want, leaving him all alone or return to Niklaus and pretend that he could live with the fact that he had destroyed their family.

A phone call had interrupted his thoughts and even without his enhanced hearing, he knew what it was about. The look on Ianthe’s face told him everything. It was time. “Klaus has Elena.” She announced as soon as the call was dropped.

“Then I suppose this would be my cue to leave. We’ve already spent too long trying to find another way.” Elijah said as he stood, Alaric following him.

Ianthe followed them to the door but they were intercepted by Teddy who grabbed a hold of his pant leg. He turned to the child a bit bewildered by his actions. The child reached up for him, a hug or a carry and Elijah gave in and scooped the child into his arms. “It’s going to be okay, Mr. Elijah. Aunty Luna said you’ll know soon.” The boy whispered. He stiffened at the mention of the confusing seer, he had been told that she was hardly, if ever wrong.

“Goodbye, Teddy. Be good to your mother.” He said as he returned the child to his feet.

“Bye bye Mr. Elijah.” Teddy said with a grin and a wave. He turned to Alaric and gave him a grin as well before dashing away.

Alaric went out first and allowed him time to say his farewell to his once friend. “Thank you for allowing me to stay.”

“It wasn’t a problem. I’ll see you soon, Elijah. May things play out better than what we all fear.” She said and gave him a surprising hug.

Elijah turned away, something in her eyes screamed resignation and death, it was truly discomfiting. There had been something that she refused to tell him, something privy only to her cousins and it felt important. It was like a part of the picture was missing yet you couldn’t fathom what it was.

As soon as Elijah and Rick had gone, she sighed and called the adults to her study. Matt was at work and she thanked Merlin for that. He would know that she was up to something dangerous immediately and she didn’t know if she could look at him and lie that everything was going to be okay. Jenna was still clueless as to the truth of the situation and had been barely able to keep her composure at the thought of her niece in danger.

“Tell me you have something!” Jenna demanded as soon as she reached her study.

Ianthe looked at her, the woman was frazzled and desperate. “We have something.”

Jenna relaxed. “Okay, now tell me the truth.”

“We have something.”

“Really?” Jenna blinked in surprise before she smiled. “Oh, I knew it. I knew I could count on you. When did you find out?”

“As soon as we got home and I reread the letter.”

“That’s practically been two days. Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Jenna asked in shock.

Ianthe shared a glance with her cousins. “Because we needed things to play out the way that they did. I needed them to react accordingly.”

“And what did you find out?” Jenna asked she knew better than to question them about strategies. Unlike Elena and her friends, the three magicals had grown up trained for combat, had learned at the feet of one of the greatest (but well-meaning) manipulators and strategists, and had led people into a war and come out of it alive.

“It wasn’t Elena’s blood that was used.” Ianthe began and saw Jenna relax further. “It was mine.”

Jenna sprung up again, tightly wound and looking at her with fear. “But… but how is that any better?” She asked.

“It’s better because I, at least, will come back through my next life. Elena doesn’t have that privilege.” Ianthe said.

“Teddy, Matt, your family? What about them?”

“I’ve rarely made it past 25, Jenna. Compared to my other deaths, this would be tame and relatively painless.” Ianthe assured her but her cousins were grim-faced.

“No, there has to be something we can do!”

“If I had the moonstone than we could have delayed it, sent it to Bill and see if anything could be done and negotiated from there but we don’t.”

“Somehow,” Jenna began with a groan as she sat. “it all leads to Elena and her friends making a lot of bad decisions that have lead us to this cluster fuck that you and a few other innocents paying for. That girl is so grounded for life and Jeremy too, come to think of it. And Alaric is definitely sleeping on the couch for a month.”

“There’s another thing…” Ianthe said. “on the off chance that Bonnie survives that suicidal bout of magic, I want you to try and train her, it isn’t the same as our magic but she’s immersing herself far too deep into dark magic.”

Jenna nodded solemnly because even her friend knew the consequences of dark magic. Had heard about what had happened to those who immersed themselves in it. The girl was too young to fully understand the consequences, the loss of oneself that came with it.

“Good. Thank you for being a good friend, Jenna. Now I have to get ready.” Ianthe said as she strode out of the room.

Klaus listened half-heartedly as his minion milled about gathering the things for tonight’s rituals. The pained groans of the werewolf came from the laptop but he paid it no mind. Katherine was knocked out in preparation for her place in the sacrifice and Elena was restrained by magic in another room. Klaus smiled as he read through the information on Ianthe Potter-Black and Neville Longbottom, but mostly on Ianthe.

Her records showed nothing less than a brilliant student with a bleeding heart. A single mother with a six-year-old son, she was a few months shy of finishing a surgical residency. Yes, there weren’t much in the way of anything truly personal, nothing to show him what she liked, what gifts he could give her but he could see that her personality seemed to be similar to how she’d been unlike the doppelgangers.

She and her cousin were members of the Peer. And though there were no listed name on the father of her child, it was clear from the features that he was at least of aristocratic descent. Now, how did one go about winning a child over? Compelling him had been the first thing on his mind but he shook that away, if the child developed a strong enough will then he would begin to fight through his compulsion, nearly impossible but he wouldn’t put it past a child of Astrid’s to be able to break it, that woman was the most bull-headed person he’d ever met.

Perhaps toys would work? And if it didn’t, well… there was always boarding school. He’d just have to put up with the brat during the holidays and have Astrid to himself throughout the rest of the year. After his father was dealt with and his siblings saw that they were finally safe, they would be able to live together as a family. Maybe even caring for the child would help ease Rebekah’s desire of becoming a human and it might even give Finn a thirst for life.

Kol would have to be reeled in somehow. Women or magic? Maybe both. Give him a secluded village to massacre and vent his frustrations and then pick him up. Hmm… there are a few villages isolated within forests. Maybe cover it up with some natural disaster? Elijah could take care of the paperwork necessary, especially for the boy’s schooling, he could even try to instill the same sense of honor that he liked to preach. Yes, that would definitely help.

“Klaus,” Greta purred as she approached him. “it’s time. Everything’s ready.”

He stood up and smirked as she blushed under her gaze. Poor girl, she was so besotted with him. Never mind that, she was disposable, just needed to get through the night then she’d be gone. He dropped the file and grabbed his blazer, his hand brushing the leather around his neck, a gift from Astrid all those long years ago.

Elijah gathered with his ‘allies’ (though that was a stretch considering they’ve already gone back on their word twice) right outside of the clearing when the magical trio came. It took him a moment to realize that Ianthe was wearing an outfit identical to Ms. Gilbert. He was worried about the conflict in the eyes of the men.

“Ianthe!” Alaric called out in whispered surprise.

Stefan was concerned and hopeful. “Did you find something that could save Elena?”

“Yes.” The answer was short and worrying.

“Are we going to like this?” Alaric asked hesitantly.

“No. We don’t like it but she’s made up her mind.” Dudley hissed angrily, the hand holding Ianthe’s tightening.

“What is it?” Elijah asked worriedly.

“Tatia’s blood wasn’t used for the ritual. Elena doesn’t have to be sacrificed.” Neville said. Elijah blinked, then whose blood had his mother used? He remembered the scent of the blood, so sweet, so intoxicating.

“So we can tell Klaus and he can call this whole thing off.” Stefan said hopeful.

“No, he said Tatia’s blood wasn’t used but someone else’s blood was.” Dudley said tightly. “And that someone is here.”

Elijah’s felt as if he had been doused in cold water as pieces fell into place. No, surely their mother wasn’t sick enough too… “It was my blood. I’ll take Elena’s place in the ritual.” Ianthe said resolutely.

“No.” Elijah croaked. “No, you can’t.”

“I can. I’ve already prepared a potion that would allow me to take on Elena’s appearance and I’ll use a switching spell to take her place with Klaus none the wiser.” She said.

“You’re very well prepared for this. How long have you known?” Alaric asked with suspicion.

“Since I came home and reread that letter. I needed everyone to react the way they would so Klaus wouldn’t suspect anything.” She said with a sigh. “If I had the moonstone it might be different, I could have sent it to someone who specializes in breaking curses but we don’t have the time.”

She turned her gaze to the ritual. Klaus was nearly prepared for everything and the moon was almost at its peak. If Klaus survived and realized what he would have done… Elijah shuddered at the thought of his brother’s further descent into madness.

Ianthe brought out a vial of liquid… well, he didn’t know what it was, it was muddy and bubbled. “It was a good thing I got a few strands of Elena’s hair earlier.” She said as she dropped the strands into the vial and they watched as the liquid glowed and shifted to a warm blue color. “This looks promising and tastier than my first go around with this.” She said lightly as she downed it.

The effects were immediate as her skin shifted turning darker and her hair changed from it’s vibrant red to Elena’s brown. Soon enough, a Petrova doppelganger was standing in front of them. She raised a brow at them, perhaps due to their shocked faces.

“So how’d she taste?” Dudley asked bored. Clearly, he’d seen this before.

“Way better than Crabbe. I think… hmm… cinnamons.” Ianthe said.

“The ceremony should start soon, and it’s a good thing too. That potion only lasts for an hour.” Neville said. Elijah could hear the voices of Ms. Gilbert and Katerina. It seems his brother had finally had it with her.

“Please, we had a deal!” Katerina begged.

“We did. You promised to deliver the moonstone, the doppelganger, the werewolf, and the vampire and yet I had to do all of the work. I lacked a vampire and you were there. Gotta work with what you’ve got. You promised me a vampire, I now have it. I promised you that I would stop hunting you, and with you dead… well… you get your wish. It all works out well, love.” Klaus said cheerily.

“Neville, Dudley… Teddy…” Ianthe began forcing Elijah to refocus on her.

“Teddy will know that you love him. He’ll be safe and cared for.” Neville assured her, taking her hand.

“And Matt…”

“He’ll be given his options as a ward of our house. We’ll probably bring him back to England with us.” Dudley said.

“You’ll bring me home too?” She asked carefully.

“We’ll always bring you home.” Neville said kissing her on the forehead.

“You don’t have to do this.” Elijah said as he stepped closer.

“Yes, I do.” She said with a sad smile. “I’ll come back in a few decades.”

“You’ve already died enough times.” Elijah protested.

“I’ve only ever reached twenty-five years thrice in all of my reincarnations. I’ve suspected this would happen.” She said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Take care of yourself, Lij.” She said as she waved her hand, turned and disappeared. Elena Gilbert appeared a moment later looking confused.

Lij. She’d called him Lij just like she’d done back then. She remembered. She was going to her death at the hands of the man that she loved, a man who loved her and would tear the world apart for her. His brother was going to unknowingly kill the woman he loved in his quest to break his curse.

Elijah watched as Stefan Salvatore ushered Miss Gilbert away (though she quietly protested at the impending death of Ianthe). There was one thing that stood out to Elijah, one key difference between Elena Gilbert’s outfit and Ianthe’s, she had no silver bracelet on. Ianthe’s ‘brothers’ stood watching everything going on, they were tense and it was clear that they wanted nothing more than to stop this madness. The question was, would Klaus stop it if he knew that it was Ianthe who stood in the doppelganger's place? Would he care if he didn’t know that she was Astrid reborn and not just some doppelganger?

For the first time in his life, Elijah was unsure of his brother’s course of actions. He could no longer predict his brother. He missed the days when a flash of long red hair from a woman would have Klaus seducing her because it was an established pattern. His brother trying to fill the void left by his beloved’s death… but would he really endanger or kill his beloved’s doppelganger? The mere though settled so heavy on his shoulders, it was like ash had filled his mouth. No, there was no telling what his brother would do but he was at least sixty percent sure that he wouldn’t.

The werewolf ran, Katerina fought, and Ianthe… she stood still. Elijah heard the moment her heartbeat stopped as Alaric shot the witch but it was too late. The curse was broken and Klaus was in transition. He heard his brother laughing loudly as Elijah sped to his brother. Her brothers stood behind, this was no longer their fight. They were here for her body.

He heard his brother stop laughing and let out a strangled gasp. A glance showed that her death had nullified the potion and Ianthe was laying on the ground. “No.” His brother whispered and it looked as if he were about to reach out to grab her when his head snapped up and their eyes met.

“Stop!” He yelled out but Elijah came at him. A blast of powerful magic from the Bennet witch blew them both back.

“Why should I, brother.” Elijah snarled. “After you threw our siblings into the sea, surely you knew that I would come after you.”

“No. I still have them.” Klaus said desperately and it made Elijah pause. “If you kill me, you’ll never find them.”

“You will take me to them.” Elijah snarled but his mind drifted to his conversation with Ianthe. She had known what type of man Niklaus was, even to this day. She had known him far better than Elijah did.

“Yes.”

Elijah lowered his dagger and ran after his brother as he completed his transition. Both he and Niklaus threw one last glance at Ianthe’s body before they ran into the forest. Elijah was mentally preparing himself for the fallout of her second (that they were aware of) death.

“Elijah betrayed us.” Alaric said numbly as he approached Ianthe’s body. Dudley reaching out to pick her up, face melancholy and gentle.

“She knew that Elijah wouldn’t go through with it, just like she knew Niklaus Mikaelson enough to know that he would never just throw away his family like that. He was always far too protective of them, far too… wolf-like. Wolves like being in packs, they protect them.” Neville said as he turned to him from where he was standing by the witch’s body.

“She knew?” Alaric asked.

“You did betray him twice. Besides, they were brothers. It would have always been the outsiders versus them. And those two? They were best friends, when they were growing up… Elijah would often turn to Klaus for help in taking care of their little siblings. Finn, their eldest… he was a bit distant with them.” Neville explained.

“What about how Klaus reacted?” Alaric prompted.

“They were in love in her last life. She died a few days before they were to be married. Klaus lost his youngest brother, his betrothed, and their unborn child within the span of two minutes and being turned into a vampire and having his other nature suppressed? It didn’t help.” Neville told him an Alaric was dumbfounded at that. It explained Klaus’ reaction when he saw Ianthe’s body.

“Does… does Jenna know about this? About Ia’s relationship with Klaus? About the sacrifice? About Elijah’s betrayal?”

“Yes.” And that was clearly the end of the conversation because the cousins strode out of the clearing. He rushed after them.

The moment she entered the boarding house, everyone stared at her in disbelief. “Elena?” Caroline asked in shock.

“Hey, Caroline.” Elena said weakly as she thought of Ianthe and Teddy. The boy was going to grow up an orphan because of Klaus.

“Is Klaus dead?” Damon asked as he inspected her. She was still human, he could hear her heartbeat.

Elena shook her head. “It wasn’t my blood that was needed. It was Ianthe’s. She took my place.”

Damon looked shocked but he nodded. John pulled her into a hug and for once, she let him. Bonnie and Jeremy came next, then Jenna. It was almost two hours later when Alaric strode through the door.

“Elijah betrayed us.” He announced as he sat down. “But you already knew that he would. Didn’t you, Jenna?”

They all turned to her but she was watching them. “Ianthe told me that he would. She knew that Klaus would never just throw away his siblings, not after dragging them around and protecting them for nine hundred years. With their siblings safe, Elijah wouldn’t have a reason to kill his best friend and favorite brother.”

“Then Klaus is still out there?” Elena asked.

“Yes. On the bright side, Katherine’s dead. I watched her body burn. It turns out Ianthe’s cousins knew a pretty powerful spell and it turned her and the witch into ashes within seconds.” Alaric told them.

“We have to start planning, we have to be…” Elena said.

“WE…” Jenna emphasized sharply. “will not be doing anything. Klaus has gotten what he wanted, his curse is broken, he has his brother and he’s going to leave.”

“But…”

“No.” She said firmly. “You and Jeremy will be grounded for the entirety of summer. Your cellphones, laptops, everything will be limited. You have to ask permission before you go out, I’m taking away your car keys and you’ll only be allowed to see your friends and Stefan for an hour a week. That goes for you too, Jeremy.”

“Jenna, that’s not fair!” Elena complained because it really wasn’t. She’d done nothing wrong.

“Yes, it is. You both lied to me. You kept secrets. You acted impulsively and made decisions that have gotten people killed. Instead of trusting that adults could help you, you thought you knew what was best. Both of you. You have just proven that your irresponsible and immature and while I commend you for being willing to lay down your life to prevent further bloodshed, it was already too little too late for a lot of people. And maybe I should have pushed the matter beforehand but I tried… I tried to stay the cool fun aunt, I tried to remain your friend but that didn’t work so I’m using my parental authority and I expect you both to follow it.” She told them angrily.

“That wasn’t my fault. That was Katherine’s.” Elena protested again.

“While she shares some of the blame, you all have blood on your hands. The tomb vampires weren’t Katherine’s fault, that was yours. The werewolves coming here and starting a war? That was yours.”

“Jenna…”

“We are done discussing this. Now, I want you to say goodbye to your friends.” Jenna said sternly.

“And Bonnie…” Jenna said as she turned to Elena’s friend. “I promised Ianthe I would help you out with your magic. I might not use magic the same way but I know the basics and she was concerned by how much dark magic you’ve been using. Especially since it causes people to go mad and it chips at their soul.”

Elena turned to her friend who looked just as horrified as she did. Bonnie nodded numbly while Caroline pulled her into a hug. John stood up as well, walking to the door with them.

“Alaric, I’ll see you at the house. We still have a lot of things to talk about.” And with that, Jenna slammed the door.

Klaus stood up and stretched, his body satisfied and full, the wolf sleeping but there inside of him. His smile dropped as he remembered the body on the ground just before he’d shifted. Elijah’s scent drifted to him.

“It’s been two days. The full moon has come and gone.”

“Nice to know I can change at will.” He said as he caught the clothes his brother threw at him.

“I spent the past two days cleaning up your messes.” Elijah said disgruntled.

“No change there.” Klaus said as he turned to his brother fully clothed. “I remember every kill.”

Elijah was watching him closely. “What do you remember of the ritual?”

“I… I remember glancing down and it was Astrid, not Elena Gilbert on the ground.” Klaus said with a frown. “That was just a hallucination, right?” He asked.

“No, it wasn’t. She took Elena’s place and used an illusion to fool you until after it was over.” Elijah told him carefully.

Klaus’ breath hitched. “But for my curse to break using her blood meant…” Klaus paused as everything sunk in, the sheer travesty of what his mother had done. “That bitch!” He growled.

“Yes, mother stole some of Astrid’s blood and used it to bind you.”

He snarled and punched a tree. “I’ll wait and find her doppelganger.” Because doppelgangers have a cycle that they stick too, he knew that from his experiences with Katherine and another thousand years of waiting would be hell but worth it.

“It wasn’t a doppelganger, Niklaus.” Elijah said softly and he froze. It had to be a doppelganger, what else would it be?

“She and Neville, Asbjorn, they both remember. She called me Lij just before she switched places with Elena Gilbert. They don’t remember much but… she knew who you were when she walked in there.”

Klaus dropped to the ground, his earlier euphoria was completely forgotten. He had killed her. He had killed the woman he loved. She knew who he was and she’d walked in there knowing that he was going to kill her. She was… when he realized that her doppelganger was there he’d been determined to find her and woo her, turn her and protect her… now none of that would happen. This time, this time he’d been the one to kill her.

Elijah grabbed his arm and pulled him up. His brother leading him out of the forest and speaking to him. He couldn’t make out the words but he knew the tone well. It was the voice he used to soothe their little siblings, the voice he used after Astrid had died and he’d discovered that she was with child. He was more focused by the time they’d made it to the edge of the forest.

“You said that you spoke to her.” Klaus said as he stepped away from his brother. He was angry at Elijah for trying to kill him, for believing that he would be capable of doing that to their siblings and he’d wanted to dagger him but that was before… well… before Astrid.

“Yes.” Elijah’s tone was level as they walked.

“Tell me.” He all but begged his brother. He needed to know, how much she remembered, what signs to look for to know that she’d been reincarnated.

“She didn’t believe that you could throw away our siblings, she warned me that I had to be sure. She knew you… a thousand years later and she knew you better than I did.” Elijah said, head down as they entered the apartment building.

She knew him, knew what he wanted. Did she do this because she believed that this was what he wanted? Had she truly believed that breaking the curse would mean more to him than having her in his arms? Did she believe that losing her again would be easier? That being free of the curse at the cost of her life would make him happy?

No, he sat beside his brother and when he felt Stefan approach… well, his façade slipped back on. He could grieve later, he would talk to Elijah as well. Later. He promised as he watched Stefan practically grovel at his feet.

He demonstrated the cure to Stefan, used him as the guinea pig and then sent Elijah with the blood. Later, he would find out more about his beloved. He packed up his things as Elijah returned. The only things he truly wanted to bring were the scrapbook and her file and those he took priority over.

“What happened to Miss Potter-Black’s remains?” Elijah asked Stefan once they were in the car.

Stefan glanced at them. “Her cousins brought her back to England where their family is. Matt Donovan went with them.”

England, yes, he’d have someone track down her grave and then he’d send flowers to it daily until he could visit her. It was another thing he added to his laters. He pursed his lips.

“And young Teddy?” Elijah asked again.

“His mother’s gone. What do you think?” Stefan said angrily.

So Teddy was what she called her son. Klaus filed that away for later use. Perhaps he should send the boy something. What did it matter? With Astrid gone he would never have to interact with the boy.

“The poor boy, to have lost his mother when he’s already so close to shifting.” Elijah said and Klaus turned to his brother in surprise.

“What?” Stefan asked.

“Teddy, his father is a different type of werewolf. He was bitten by one when he was six and he became a werewolf. I was told that it was a different strain from the genetic ones. Teddy inherited active genes so he’s going to be shifting and Ianthe told me it would be happening soon.” Elijah told them.

Klaus felt like crying. A werewolf, he broke his curse so that he could tap into that side of himself. A werewolf had killed her twice. And her lover and son were both werewolves. Was that why she was determined to go through with it? So that he could embrace both sides of himself? The child would need a guide and he found himself wanting to know more about the boy. Clearly Elijah and Stefan knew him well. He would find the boy and offer him a place of honor in his pack. Later, he promised once more.