Fated Marks

“Oh this is bad.” Kol said ducking into the booth.

“No shit, how did you not know?!” I whispered harshly.

“Everything here looks the same.” Kol whispered back.

“Okay we need to get out of here now.” I said. “The fronts a no go, back exit through the kitchen.”

“Don’t look up and walk don’t run.” Kol said.

“Not like I have a choice with this thing on.” I said tapping his shoe with my boot.

“Get up and wrap your arm around my waist.” Kol said.

“This never happens with Rebekah.” I said.

“You got kidnapped twice and flirted with your mom’s ex boyfriend. Stop whining.” Kol said getting up.

Two and Half Weeks Earlier-

“Miss Adams, Doctor Watson will see you now.” A nurse said.

Kol helped me up and I hobbled over. We went into a room and some x rays were taken before I was taken to John’s office where, surprise Kol was waiting.

“What happened to patient doctor confidentiality?” I asked.

“I’m here to keep you honest. Marcel will have my head if anything happens to you under my watch.” Kol said.

“No he won’t.” I said.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, just needed to check in with the radiologist to get your results.” John said holding up the X rays and putting them up on the screen. “How are you feeling Hayley?”

“Good.” I said.

“No pain, discomfort of any kind?” John asked.

“Nope, only discomfort is from how much these things itch.” I said.

“Let’s see what we can do about that.” John said looking at the x rays. “Your ribs are healing up nicely, that must make it easier to sleep.”

“Yup.” I lied. The ribs weren’t the issue there; it was more of the flashbacks haunting me.

“If she actually slept.” Kol said. John looked at him before turning to me. I probably looked like crap.

“There’s still a bit of swelling around your wrist but the sprain is healing nicely. You have been resting it right?” John asked.

“No heavy lifting.” I said.

“But she does spend hours in front of her computer typing.” Kol said.

John gave me a concerned look. “You really need to rest that wrist. It’s healing nicely and but the swelling still hasn’t gone down. I’m taking the cast off and putting on a brace. You can take it off twice a day to ice it for ten minutes but then it goes back on.”

“Yay.” I said “That might make showering less of a hassle.”

“As for your leg it still needs a few more weeks to heal. Especially your toes and ankle. Thankfully you won’t need surgery and since I can see you’re not using the crutches I’m changing you to a boot.” John said.

“So say I wanted to travel for a few weeks starting tomorrow would I be able to?” I asked.

“Would you be running, swimming or doing any extreme sports?” John asked.

“No.” Kol and I said at the same time.

“Then you’re good. If your leg starts bothering you or hurting stop and take a break.” John said.

“Awesome.” I said.

“So rest and ice that wrist.” John said again.

“Got it.” I said. “Thanks John.”

“Thanks mate.” Kol said shaking his hand.

“I’ll see you two when you get back. Have a safe trip.” John said leading us out.

Once we were out I turned to Kol.

“I’m cleared what time we heading out tomorrow?” I asked.

He shot me a concerned look and sighed. “Nine am tomorrow.”

“Works for me. Better get back and pack.” I said.

“Oh no you don’t. This is the first time in a week you’ve been out of the tower Rapunzel. You’re getting some air and something to eat.” Kol said.

“Do we have to?” I complained.

“Yes. There’s also something we have to do.” Kol said with a smirk.

Thirty minutes later I was sitting in a hair salon as I got a pep talk as to why it was a good idea to change my look a bit.

“I really don’t see the point.” I said.

“We’re going after some big players and probably into some questionable places. You need to change it up a bit.” Kol said.

“But going full on blonde? It’ll be like looking at my mom every time I look at the mirror.” I said.

“No you won’t, Rebekah says you’ll pull it off.” Kol said. “She also says to call her.”

“Fine, but I’m keeping the hair length and no fringe bangs.” I said.

“Relax, I thought girls liked getting pampered.” Kol said.

“I’m not your girlfriend Kol. Speaking of what happened to Davina? How’s she handling you being gone?” I asked.

“We’re uh taking a break.” Kol said.

“Oh… sorry.” I said feeling guilty for not knowing.

“Don’t be, more time to focus on the job. Now lean back relax and let Piper work her magic.” Kol said.

“I still think this is a bad idea.” I said.

“Course you do.” He said.

That’s how I ended up with side swept bangs and a haircut that ended around my shoulder blades and blonde hair. It was only a few shades lighter than my natural hair but it still felt strange every time I looked in the mirror. It looked like my mom was staring back at me giving me the chills. I was dying it back after all this was over.

“It looks… you look a lot like your mom.” Kol said.

“No.” I said sarcastically. “This better not back fire on us.”

“Everyone knows she’s dead, you’ll be fine. Besides your eyes are a brighter green not hazel green.” Kol said.

The Next morning we were off. We decided to start off in Romania. I figured if we ended up finding Delilah first that would distract him from the hit put out on him.

It was still early morning when we got to Bucharest and it was a bit early to start bar hopping in my opinion. Kol thought otherwise. Considering I had been out of the game for a while and had no idea how things worked over here, I figured I’d follow his lead on this one. We ended up downtown away from all the tourist areas.

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” I asked.

“For the hundredth time yes, I’ve been here before.” Kol said stopping by a door with graffiti painted all over it and knocking twice before knocking rapidly three times.

Someone moved a panel and looked at us. “Codeword.”

“Libertate.” Kol said. The panel closed and the door opened. We were ushered inside before being directed to some stairs that went down to what must’ve been the basement.

At the bottom of the stairs was a busy bar. People were taking bets. There was a huge chalkboard menu on the wall behind the bar. I could tell some people were hustling some drunks while playing pool. As I got a closer look I could tell almost everyone was armed.

I felt really out of place in my colorful floral dress. I should have gone with jeans but it was such a hassle with the cast.

“I’m going to check in over there, stay here and try not to draw attention to yourself.” Kol said.

“Too late.” I said as everyone kept looking over at me.

“I’m picking your outfits from now on.” Kol said before walking away.

I took a seat in the booth by the back and took my phone out. All I had was the usual good morning text from Tony. I set Jarvis up to run interference while I was out of London. I couldn’t risk anything leading back to them.

I felt someone slide in to the seat in front of me but when I looked up it wasn’t Kol it was a woman with long dark hair and dark eyes. She had tattoos all over her arms and some strange writing I didn’t recognize on her chest.

“My friend…” I started.

“Is a bit preoccupied at the moment.” She said looking over at the bar where Kol was caught up in his conversation with the bartender before taking out a wad of cash. “Besides he wasn’t the one I wanted to talk to.”

“Are you sure cuz…” I asked starting to get paranoid.

“Do you believe in destiny?” She asked interrupting me.

“Destiny? You mean like fate? That we’re all meant to end up somewhere and that’s going to happen no matter what? Not really, I like to believe in free will and that we make out own fate.” I said.

“Strange answer for someone who has as many soulmarks as you do.” She said making me grimace.

“How did you…” I started.

“You have one on each arm and judging by your reaction those aren’t your only ones. My name’s Ruby.” She said.

“Uh Grace.” I said.

“Sure let’s go with that. Can I see your hand?” Ruby said.

“I’m sorry?” I said getting more weirded out by the minute.

“Oh right I skipped over the explanation. I have a gift I can take a peek into a person’s future if I touch them. I’ve never seen the future of someone with multiple marks. I’m kind of curious about yours so you mind?” She said reaching out.

“I’m not sure.” I said.

“Oh come on, what do you have to loose?” She said with a smile.

Well what’s the worse thing that can happen? She was probably some sort of con artist. Let’s see what she came up with.

“Oh why not.” I said offering my hand. She smiled before taking my hand.

Suddenly her eyes turned white and her grip tightened.

“Your journey is almost at its end. You’ve made many sacrifices but your life will be the last one. Life is one big circle.” She said and I froze. The last person who ever said that to me was my mom. “Your circle ends where it began. The red star will push you over the edge. Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.”

And just like that here eyes turned back to normal and she pulled away startled.

“I-I have to go.” She said running as fast as she could.

Well that wasn’t creepy at all. I looked around and made sure I still had all my things. Huh, she was either a really bad con artist or she was the real deal. Nah psychics aren’t real.

“Well that was a bust.” Kol said.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“The guy I told you about, the potential lead on our missing person’s case, he’s in Prague. For the next two weeks on business.” Kol said.

“You mean we just wasted five hours we could have spent on the plane ride there and gathering intel in Prague to get my fortune told and find out we just missed our guy?” I asked.

“It’s not my fault! It’s not like this guy has a public itinerary.” Kol said.

“Look, Delilah’s flying under the radar it’s going to take time to find her. We need to focus on our deadline. The algorithm and Jarvis are keeping tabs on every camera and intelligence agency in case we get a hit. Until then let’s head to out next stop.” I said.

“And that would be… Budapest.” Kol said.

“Next flight leaves in two hours.” I said.

“Then there’s one last place I want to check for intel then we’ll head to the airport.” He said.

October 2001-

Callie followed Marcel down the hall where she could here classical music slowly get louder the closer they got. Finally they turned and she could see a huge day room. There was someone playing music on the piano while two kids were playing a board game and another man was sketching.

“Ehem.” Marcel cleared his throat. The music stopped and everyone looked up. “Everyone this is Callie. Callie these are my brothers and sister, Elijah.” He was the one playing the piano. He gave Callie a small smile. “Nik,” He was the one sketching. “And Rebekah and Kol.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Elijah said giving her a smile and coming closer. Callie immediately hid behind Marcel.

“She’s a bit shy.” Allison said.

“It’s alright.” Nik said. “Why don’t you come over and play with Rebekah and Kol?”

“We were just about to start, we’re playing Mouse Trap.” Kol said.

“Actually Brunch is almost served, why don’t we head over?” Marcel said.

With that everyone moved to the dining room and took their seat. Callie was sitting next to her mom and across from Kol and Rebekah.

Everyone served themselves with what they liked and began eating.

“What grade are you in Callie?” Elijah asked helping ease the awkward silence in the dining room.

“Second grade.” Callie whispered.

“Second grade? I thought six year olds…” Kol started.

“Callie is gifted. She scored really high on an exam and they moved her up a grade.” Allison said proudly.

“How do you like your school? Kol and Rebekah also went to St. Martha’s.” Marcel said.

“It’s okay.” Callie said.

“Who’s your teacher?” Nik asked.

“Sister Evangelina.” Callie said.

“Ouch.” Kol and Rebekah said at the same time.

“That old bat is still around?” Kol asked.

“Kol.” Elijah said warning him.

“Sorry I just mean she’s really old and mean.” Kol said.

“She’s a wonderful teacher isn’t she Calliope?” Allison asked.

“Your name’s Calliope?” Rebekah said laughing making Callie feel bad.

“Rebekah!” Marcel said giving her a stern look.

“I’m sorry it’s just… What kind of name...” She said laughing.

“Alright love time out for you.” Nik said leading his sister out of the dining room.

“Sorry about that.” Marcel said.

“It’s okay, kids at school tease me too.” Callie said.

“Callie!” Allison said warning her daughter to drop the subject.

“They’re probably just jealous of how smart you are. You should be proud of yourself and keep working hard.” Marcel said.

“I know, Sister Evangelina wants to move me up again.” Callie said.

“You didn’t tell me that.” Allison said.

“She sent a note home. I left it on your desk.” Callie said.

At that Nik and a grimacing Rebekah walked back in.

“Rebekah would like to say something.” Nik said.

“I’m sorry I made fun of your name.” Rebekah grumbled.

“It’s okay.” Callie said with a shrug.

“Why don’t you kids go up to the game room?” Elijah suggested giving Kol a look.

“Sure.” Kol said. Rebekah rolled her eyes and followed after him.

“Behave.” Allison told her daughter.

“Yes Mom. Thank you for brunch, the waffles were yummy.” Callie told Marcel before following after Kol and Rebekah.

“That went well.” Nik said.

Istanbul- One Week Later

Budapest led us to Bogdan Duric. He was a horrible guy but he was very well connected and as it turned out he was also an informant for the CIA. One very awkward run in with a CIA surveillance team and we were on the run again. We had to use our spare identities and they still managed to corner us. I had to pull the SHIELD consultant ID Badge for them to let us go.

Then Came Prague, where Giovanni De Luca was trying to impress his girlfriend with a night out at the opera. Too bad the Czech Prime minister happened to show up for opening night and we couldn’t get anywhere near him not even to try and hear what he was saying. On the plus side I got to wear a gorgeous ivory beaded gown that Kol had surprisingly picked out.

I later found out he thought it would show off my assets well enough to get Giovanni’s attention so I could get close enough to him and learn where he was going to be and the best place to get him would be. I was really starting to miss Rebekah. At least when she had me flirt with someone she gave me a heads up.

Since the first two were a bust that left us with lucky number three or in this case, unlucky number three. Karim Nassar. He moved around a lot. That made him hard to pin down but also made it easy to catch him out in the open. Especially since he had a tendency to travel light and stay in four or five star hotels.

Which brings us to how awkward to felt to try and look flirty in a short skirt when you have a boot and a wrist brace on.

“How are things on your end?” Kol said through the coms.

“Have I ever mentioned how much I hate wearing short skirts? Not to mention I stick out like a sore thumb with this boot on.” I said.

“That’s the point, you’re adventurous. A teenager back packing through Europe, visiting exotic locals and you’re injured. You have a story to tell. You’re interesting.” Kol said.

“You want me to flirt with this creep? You do remember why he’s a candidate right?” I said.

“You’re not his specialty but you may be his type.” Kol said.

“I hate you.” I said as I spotted out guy out of the corner of my eye. “He’s here.” I said in French.

“You can do this, just pretend he’s one of your soulmates or even better pretend to be Natasha.” Kol said.

I flipped my hair to one side and looked over to make eye contact with him. When he met my gaze I smiled before shyly looking away.

“Nicely done.” Kol said. “Now bite your lip.”

“What?” I said.

“Take it from a guy, that’ll drive him crazy.” Kol said.

“No one likes a back seat driver.” I muttered but did as he said.

“Keep reading, don’t bother to look over at him.” Kol said.

“I got it.” I said continuing to read my copy of Hamlet.

“Did my heart love till now? Forswear it sight: I had never seen true beauty till this night.” Karim said.

“You know your Shakespeare well.” I said faking an accent to match Kol’s. It made it easier to pull of the sibling act when we needed it and with the amount of time we had spent together lately it was perfect. “Shame you got the play wrong.” I teased.

“Oh I know but no quote from Hamlet would do your beauty justice.” He said. I had to admit he was a smooth talker. “Karim Nassar and who might you be?”

“Amelia Williams.” I said taking his offered hand. He lifted it up to his lips and kissed the back of my hand. He was practically drooling.

“That is quite the injury.” He said looking down at my leg.

“I’m such a clutz. Decided to try and climb Mount Vesuvius and my coordination was not as great as I thought it was.” I said.

“A world traveler. Is that why you’re in Istanbul?” he asked.

“I’ve taken it upon myself to visit each country surrounding the Mediterranean. Istanbul is the halfway point. What about you?” I asked.

“Business and a bit of pleasure.” He said with a smirk I forced a giggle.

“Hayley try and look like you’re not plotting to send him to his death. Get a business card or put a tracker on him.” Kol said over the coms.

“And what business are you in?” I asked.

“I’m as a business associate once said I’m a people person.” He said. This guy was sick, he was making puns about what he did.

“Interesting. That must take you to some interesting places.” I said.

“It does, but Marrakesh is home. Are you planning to visit?” Karim asked.

“Of course, I’ve heard it’s quite beautiful.” I said.

“Well, here.” He said taking out an agenda from his coat pocket and taking out a business card. “I own various establishments in Marrakesh. Come visit and I shall show you all the hidden gems my city has to offer.”

“Maybe I will.” I said putting the card in my clutch. Karim stood up and I did so but pretended to fall into him as I stood up. “Oh I’m so sorry. I lost my footing for a second.”

“It’s no problem, It was nice talking to you Amelia, I look forward to your visit.” He said before leaving.

“Nicely done.” Kol said.

“Let’s get out of here, I need a shower I feel dirty.” I said.

“I would too if I got drooled on the way you just did.” Kol said leading me out. “Your accent is excellent by the way.”

“I had a good teacher.” I said.

We stayed for another two days in Istanbul making sure Nassar was actually going back to Marrakesh like he said he was before following him. We mostly did surveillance and found the chink in his armor. His right hand man had a serious gambling problem. We had our in now we just had to make a move.

Present Day-

I wore my comfiest jeans and a white tank that I topped with an olive army jacket. Kol gave me a look of approval before we headed to a dive bar frequented by most of the underground in Marrakesh.

Everything was going according to plan. Turns out that Nassar’s right hand man had learned a little to well from him and wanted to take over. The fact that he was in huge debt with his bookie was a really good motivator.

“We know you owe money to Hamza,” Kol said.

“Five hundred thousand Euro to be exact.” I said.

“And?” He retorted.

“Hamza isn’t a very patient person.” Kol said.

“He’s expecting payment soon isn’t he?” I asked.

“We have a proposition for you one that benefits you.” Kol said.

“Money?” he said.

“For now but also an opportunity. You’ve worked under Nassar for how many years? Don’t you want to be the one calling the shots for once?” I said.

He stayed quiet but we could tell we had peaked his interest.

“You don’t have to do anything. We’ll give you the money to pay off your debt and some extra to hold you over during the transition. All you have to do is give us a peak at Nassar’s itinerary. Give us his schedule for the next two weeks and this.” Kol said placing the envelope full of cash on the table. “Is all yours.”

“Well do the work and when the time comes you can take over. You’ll never have to worry about money again.” I said.

“What are you going to do?” He asked.

“Don’t worry about it.” I said.

“So what will it be? Lose your limbs and get burned alive or get rich quick?” Kol said.

“Nassar doesn’t like technology but he does send his guards their schedules on their phones. I have it here.” He said taking his phone out. I reached out into my bag and took out the blank to cone his phone. Better safe than sorry and take everything.

“Perfect.” I said taking the phone and uploading it. Within minutes we were done and the coward was gone.

“This is it.” Kol said. “We got him.”

“We got him.” I confirmed.

“I say we celebrate. Let’s stop by Amsterdam and celebrate.” Kol said.

“I’ll pass, I’d rather save it for the big one.” I said. As the door opened and the bar went quiet.

“Shit.” Kol said.

“Fuck.” I said noticing as Demitri and Oleg walked in accompanied by Karim.

“Oh this is bad.” Kol said ducking into the booth.

“No shit, how did you not know?!” I whispered harshly.

“Everything here looks the same.” Kol whispered back.

“Okay we need to get out of here now.” I said. “The fronts a no go, back exit through the kitchen.”

“Don’t look up and walk don’t run.” Kol said.

“Not like I have a choice with this thing on.” I said tapping his shoe with my boot.

“Get up and wrap your arm around my waist.” Kol said.

“This never happens with Rebekah.” I said.

“You got kidnapped twice and flirted with your mom’s ex boyfriend. Stop whining.” Kol said getting up.

I got up and did as Kol said. I don’t know why but I felt the need to look over. My eyes met Oleg’s and they widened in realization.

“Allison?” he said.

“Shit move.” Kol said rushing making me trip. I landed next to someone’s bag which was full of smoke bombs and flash grenades. I quickly took a flash grenade and threw it over before grabbing Kol and running into the back.

“AH!” People shouted.

“After them!” I heard someone shout.

“In here.” Kol said pulling me into a room which turned out to be the men’s bathroom.

“Ew, it stinks.” I said grossed out.

“We’re trapped.” Kol said.

“No we’re not.” I said opening the window.

“Go, go go!” He rushed. We quickly climbed out and landed in an alley.

“I told you going blonde was a bad idea.” I said. “I look way too much like my mom.”

“I forgot how many people your mom pissed off.” Kol said.

“I didn’t.” I said as my phone beeped. I quickly took it out. It was a message from Tony.

Hales 911 Need you in Italy ASAP. It’s life or death.

Then I got an address.

“Hayley you can update your Facebook status later we need to move.” Kol said.

“We need to go to Italy, Life or death.” I said.

“Uh crap we need to get out of Marrakesh first.” Kol said.

I don’t know how long or how we even did it but we finally made it to Italy. We looked like hell and literally had nothing but our clothes and my laptop on us but we made it to Tony’s address. It was some hotel, very nice by the looks of it. We walked in and I immediately spotted Tony.

“Tony!” I said running and pulling him into a hug.

“Oh Hayley.” He said hugging me back. “Where the hell have you been!? What happened to you? Why are you blonde?”

“It’s been a long few weeks. What’s going on? What’s the emergency?” I said freaking out.

“Oh yeah about that…” he started. “So Pepper decided to bring up the wedding. She needs a bridesmaid and I need a date so…”

“What?!” Kol and I said at the same time.

“It’s her wedding, our first official couple event.” Tony said with a smile.

“You mean to tell me I dropped a flash grenade, climbed out the window of the grossest smelliest most disgusting restroom that’s ever existed, dodged bullets, rode on a pooping camel for an entire night, before picking pockets in Nador for an entire day so we could pay a drug smuggler to get us to Melilla and board a plane here just so you wouldn’t have to go stag to a wedding?” I said.

“Uh Pretty much.” Tony said. In that moment I really wanted to strangle Tony. “Did I mention everyone else is also coming? They should be here for dinner. Well except Thor obviously. I rented a private villa here for all of us so it’ll be like old times.”

“I need a drink.” Kol said walking away.