After the funeral, MJ allocated herself until the end of the afternoon to stick around. That way, she could drive through the night again, take one of two rest stops for food and coffee, and be back in New Orleans by mid-morning if traffic wasn't too heavy.

She was with Stefan, Tyler, and Caroline by the lake in the Old Lockwood Property.

It had been Caroline's idea, a place away from people since Stefan was still adapting. MJ telling him about the little ceremony they'd done for Lexi there while showing him the videos they'd taken that day too. Videos of him rocking out while beating her at pool, driving his car, and smiling.

Proving to him that his life had moments worth being good for.

Once that was done, MJ and Tyler ended up sparring with some thick sticks they'd found by the water, both having too much energy and a lot of complicated emotions to work through.

"What are they doing?" Stefan asked Caroline.

The pair were sitting on a picnic blanket filled with every type of junk food they could bring, half watching.

"Hitting each other with sticks."

"Because?"

"They don't want to talk about their feelings."

MJ ducked the fallen branch Tyler swung her way, hitting hers into the back of his knee.

"And you're allowing this to happen because...?"

"When they finish, they'll be too tired to stop me from forcing them to talk about their feelings."

"You really want us talking about Bonnie, Care?" MJ called, jumping back, slamming both her sticks down towards Tyler's head, him quickly blocking, "Do you really?"

Neither were properly fighting. At the end of the day, unless MJ was rune-d up and prepped for a fight, Tyler would win. Super speed gave him that advantage, but he never wanted to hurt her, so he never hit hard enough to. The pair were just building up a rhythm; turning, making a move, jumping back, attacking, ducking, and repeating.

"Because Bonnie's why you guys are like this?" Caroline challenged.

Tyler faltered, meaning one of MJ's sticks actually hit his shoulder, snapping on impact and causing them both to freeze.

"You okay?" MJ checked.

He nodded.

They relaxed and straightened up, dropping the other ones.

A signal it was time to stop.

"Oh, wise one," MJ wandered over to the picnic blanket, flopping down and reaching out for some gummy bears weakly, "What is responsible for my sudden need to hit something, if not the death of a friend?"

Tyler sat down, a sweaty arm over Caroline's shoulder, giving MJ a 'no' look.

He was worried about something else.

"I don't know," Caroline handed her the packet after taking a few herself, "Why don't you start by telling me why you've still got that little ghost spotting rune on your head."

MJ shrugged, "If Bonnie pops in, I wanna know."

Caroline gave her a look.

"Jeremy and I are the only ones who can see her. If I'm coming and going, she deserves chances to be seen."

"And that's the only reason why?"

"If I happen to see some other people, I won't complain."

Stefan rubbed his face, "Who?"

There was a long list they hadn't exactly talked amnesiac him through.

"For starters," MJ pointed to the path while looking at Caroline, "Your dad sometimes flitters in."

She bolted up, "What?"

"He's not on The Other Side, so I don't know why I'm seeing him, but..."

There wasn't an obvious answer.

Human spirits and supernatural spirits went to different places, so all the human ghosts she saw in town were really throwing her.

"I think," MJ took the optimistic approach, "That people who find peace can occasionally see happy or calm moments of our life."

Henrik had been at peace, reliving happy memories with his family, then, he'd happened to see her and Kol in Italy.

"Moments we're surrounded by friends. Because that's part of their peace."

"Hippie," Tyler messed up her hair.

She winked, "Dah."

"You know," Caroline opened the bag of marshmallows and fed her one, "Maybe, you'd see the people you were looking for if you stuck around for a little bit longer..."

"Caroline," MJ turned, still laying down but grabbing her hand, "If you want me to stay, just ask."

Caroline went too, then stopped, "I can't do that."

MJ smiled.

She knew Caroline wouldn't be able to.

"You're genuinely happy?"

"Genuinely."

"Where exactly are you?" Stefan hadn't been caught up on her life at all.

"New Orleans."

"And what's so great about it?"

"It's where I grew up, it's beautiful, it's full of life and art and music," Her voice became wistful, "And it's kinda where my life is."

"She went looking for her dad," Tyler added.

"You're dad?" Stefan had taken the bag of chocolate mini muffins hostage, working his way through them, "Why'd you have to look for him?"

"I thought both my parents had been killed the day I watched my mum die. I was wrong. He was left alive, compelled to forget I exist."

"Wait, what!" Both Caroline and Tyler hadn't been told that yet.

MJ looked at them, "Catch-up on my life?"

"Yes," Caroline nodded.

"Very much so."

"I'd like to hear this bit," Kol appeared, sitting on her left, "Good morning, darling."

She went to respond, then noticed her friends staring at her, trying to work out why she'd paused and looked so firmly to her side.

"Okay," MJ rubbed her hands, "So the summer was great."

First points.

"Learnt loads of magic, got to see the world, you two know that."

Tyler and Caroline.

"Then I got to New Orleans. Klaus and I had a few days of fun messing with the guy that killed my mum."

"Can you video Marcel's murder for me?"

"I finally found my dad after meeting a werewolf who knew him, went to talk to him, found out he'd been compelled, almost killed the vampire responsible, decided not to, then came home."

"Mira," Kol whined, "You backed out?"

"It's complicated."

"Don't let Klaus sway – "

"Did you siphon the compulsion off him," Tyler didn't know he was interrupting.

She shook her head.

"Why not?"

"He has a life."

The words tumbled from her mouth.

"I can't take that from him."

As much as she wanted to.

"It's been eight years. If I told my dad everything, brought it all back, I'd be putting him in such an awful position."

"Parents are overrated, but if you want him – "

"MJ," Tyler had shifted to properly wrap an arm around her, "I should've been there. I should've been doing this stuff with you."

"No," She nudged him away, "I needed to do it alone, and honestly, I think I'm good."

"I think – "

"You think you're good?" Stefan asked.

"I got this far in life," She tossed another gummy bear into her mouth, "I'm gonna be okay."

"Mira – "

"And – "

"Ty," MJ stopped him, "Um, pause for a second."

Kol forced a smile, "Parents are overrated, but if you want yours back, you need to siphon the compulsion."

She wanted to respond, but doing so was difficult with her friends sharing a look around her.

"I think you'll be better off if you do."

MJ bobbed her head as a middle ground, trying to tell him that they could talk later.

Kol lifted a hand to signal that he was done.

"Now go," She looked back at her best friend.

Caroline was frowning, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just mentally checking I've told you the major bits of information. And I have. So, Ty..."

His voice was bitter, "What's going on with the Great Evil?"

"Well, he's gonna be a dad."

Caroline spat out her drink, "What?"

Stefan and MJ were laughing at her reaction while Tyler was just in shock.

"Um, Mira...?"

"Yeah, him and Hayley – "

"Hayley?" Tyler's eyes somehow got wider.

"She's pregnant," MJ summed up, "Turns out hybrids can have nature loophole babies, so,"

She pointed at the pair.

"I'd say 'stay safe' if Caroline wasn't a vampire herself."

"You're kidding."

"Nope," popping the 'p.'

Kol began to laugh, "No."

MJ nodded at him.

"Oh, that's brilliant – he knocked someone up!"

Good to know that Kol had the same type of reaction she had.

"That's going to be disastrous."

"Who is this guy?" Stefan asked.

"Half-vampire, half-werewolf, basically unkillable. You used to be his buddy in the 20s when you went off the rails, and you dated his sister."

"And he's a massive dick," Tyler finished.

"The tartness of his face certainly sours grapes."

MJ snorted, responding under breath, "The Tragedy of Coriolanus - really?"

Kol straightened up at the fact she'd named the play he'd been referencing.

"And," She spoke louder and clearer, looking at Tyler, "He's been keeping an eye on me."

"Because he likes to 'use' you. Because he uses everyone."

"And you're clearly not a fan," Stefan finally finished all the muffins.

"He ruined my life. He ruined a lot of lives."

"That's true," MJ couldn't deny it.

Caroline was focusing on the marshmallow packet in order to avoid being pulled into the conversation.

"But, right now he's trying to take over the supernatural factions of New Orleans, and having a baby, so things are a little different."

Caroline had also officially caught all of them up on the things they'd missed by being out of town, and MJ had a point to make while they were talking about Klaus.

"The next time you guys see Katherine, can you please tell her to call me on whatever number she's now using."

"Why?" Caroline asked.

"Because she's a human doppelgänger and I have some theories to try out."

"MJ," Tyler grabbed her wrist, "No."

"You don't know what I'm thinking."

"You live with Klaus now, and you want a human doppelgänger, yeah I do."

"I wasn't aware werewolves had brains."

"I'm not handing her over to him!" She snatched her wrist free, "I'm not an idiot."

"Anything but."

"Even if she can make hybrids, Klaus would just drain her dry because it's Katherine. He can use that blood to make a set number for his pack without keeping her alive."

"Very true."

"Then what are you thinking," Tyler's intense focus on her made her a little uncomfortable.

"I just wanna see if it still works."

"Why?"

"Because," MJ kept her voice firm, staring him down, "Hybrids exist now. They're a thing. Nature allowed them to exist, which makes me think there has to be a way out there to make more."

"Use use Esther's immorality spell on untriggered werewolves," Kol rested back, a bored look on his face, "If Klaus is really that desperate."

"Klaus has Esther's Grimoire," MJ beamed at him on her left, "Or some other loophole."

Back to her friends.

"But I'm just curious."

"Loophole in nature," Tyler was clearly thinking about something, and she didn't like the fact she couldn't guess what it was, "...Nature Loophole..."

"Anyway," MJ chose to look at Caroline, "Tell her to call me."

"You want her to?"

"If she's on the run from Silas, well...he wants my help."

"You could play him."

"And I'm more than willing to make sure he never gets it, or her."

"If she's around you, and he knows that, you could get his resurrection spell then murder him."

"If her blood is now a key ingredient to powerful spells – not just hybrid making ones, but the general spell to make a vampire, well, I'm a witch. I kinda want it."

"Mira – "

"I heard you," She assured him quickly, covering up herself instantly for her other friends, "Ty. I heard you."

He didn't seem to hear her though.

"I wouldn't just hand her over to Klaus, but I need her to answer my messages for a lot of reasons."

Her phone buzzed, an email.

MJ cheered.

"What?" Caroline checked the time on her own phone.

"I just got hired."

"Hired?"

"I applied to be a press photographer for one of the city papers-slash-website."

Her interview and test run feedback.

"And some 'exclusive' photos of this masquerade charity event I went to got me hired as a regular – and it got me on their graphic design team."

Her summer practice paying off.

"Low level, but whatever, I'll work."

The best thing?

Very low office hours since she would basically get sent to things to take photos of them.

"From Monday," She pressed her hands into her chest, relaxing on the ground, "I have a salary, and my heart is whole again."

"Did Klaus cut you off?"

"I thought you were living off evil ancient vampire money?" Caroline mused, knowing MJ's joked about the situation.

"I feel dirty and unproductive if I don't make my own money," Her eyes jumped to Kol next to her, "I'm mainly using the 'evil vampire money' for donations and stuff."

He was smiling at her hand, trailing his own up it.

"And this masquerade charity event?" Caroline looked excited.

"Oh," MJ flicked open her phone, "Let me show you the pictures."

"Please tell me you have a picture of you looking gorgeous?"

"I have a picture of your old house looking gorgeous."

Another moment of realisation that her friends couldn't see Kol.

"I have lots of pictures of this old house – where the Mikaelson's used to live," She rephrased, "Looking amazing."

"I hated New Orleans, so that's not as appealing as a picture of you."

MJ felt herself smiling, turning her hand to squeeze his subtly.

~***~

MJ eventually had to say goodbye, leaving Mystic Falls feelings a lot nicer than arriving in it.

She'd been with her three favourite people in town, even if one of them was out of it, and they'd spent a morning at a heart-tugging funeral, the afternoon getting to be somewhat normal.

They'd gotten a break.

She'd spent a lot of time with Kol, and her heart felt a little less broken.

He'd sat with her in the car as she'd driven to the boarder, talking about how to potentially manipulate Silas, but then he'd vanished at the exit sign.

MJ had pulled over, walked back, and re-summoned him to say goodbye.

During the drive, MJ made a pretty simple to-do list in her head.
- Work out how to get Kol's spirit to NOLA
-          Find spells to free Matt from a Traveller
-          Contemplate calling her brother
-          Look into memory spells for Stefan
-          Lend a hand with whatever Mikaelson mischief was going down

She'd stopped twice on the drive back, once for dinner and once for a two and a half hour nap so she wouldn't be running on empty. Not sleeping the night to get back to Jeremy had hit her like a truck the following evening in Ric's, which was odd considering how often she used to go a day or two without sleep during High School.

After three months of not having to do that, she'd kinda lost her knack for it.

Or maybe it was the fact she hadn't had a single rune on, besides her spirit seeing one.

No magic to make her paranoid.

Or maybe it was because she'd technically fallen asleep on Kol, and she felt safe sleeping around him.

...whatever.

MJ could start using runes again now that her secret was out, and that feeling made her smile.

Strength and healing and her privacy marks helped her feel grounded and protected, even if she basically never used the strength one.

MJ was nearly back when her phone rang, answering it on speaker on the dashboard as she drove.

"Please tell me you're on your way home?" Klaus voice despite it being Rebekah's number.

"I'm under an hour away."

"Perfect!"

"Why?"

"Sophie," He announced, "Would you like to repeat what you just told us about Hayley's witchy attackers?"

"Seriously?" Sophie huffed, "You want me to repeat it all for her?"

"I do."

"Fine."

"Can I ask who can hear me?" MJ quickly asked, "Other than you two?"

"Hayley."

"and Rebekah."

Both said their own name.

"Well, first off, I had nothing to do with the attack."

"Obviously," MJ mused, "If Hayley dies, you die."

"And now I'm happy he called you! The Great Originals doesn't seem to be able to comprehend that!"

"Keep talking," Rebekah sounded unamused.

"They're a faction of extremists," Sophie sighed, "Sabine stupidly told them about some vision she had about the baby."

"The one where she causes all witches to die?" MJ remembered her conversation with Hayley but didn't have the faintest clue who Sabine was.

"And I grow fonder of this child by the second," Klaus cheered, making MJ roll her eyes.

"You do realise you're from a magic bloodline Nik," MJ pointed out, "Your baby's gonna be a witch."

"She's gonna be a wolf," Hayley corrected.

"She can be both," MJ's voice slowed as she said the words out loud, really processing them, "And when she dies, who knows, she'll be a hybrid at a minimum."

Wow.

Nature-loophole-baby indeed.

"Oh my god, this child is a mary sue on the power scaling...we gotta protect it from the world so bad..."

"And while we're doing that," Rebekah added information, "Elijah's been woken up and is talking to Davina."

"She'll have plenty to say about that crowd," Sophie sounded stressed.

"Such as?" MJ prompted.

"Um," Sophie paused, "I wasn't always an advocate for the witches."

Interesting.

"Had some less than fun experiences when I was learning magic growing up, and it made me question my faith in my ancestors."

MJ understood that feeling.

"My sister was devoted, like our parents, and our upbringing was very strict."

"Gross."

"It drove me nuts," Sophie agreed, "The minute I turned twenty-one, I left The Quarter to travel...and play...but I wanted to be a chef, so I came back to Rousseau's."

"Okay."

"And when I did, I learned that the elders had called a vote for a thing called The Harvest."

MJ tensed, "A mass sacrifice?"

"You know about it?" Sophie sounded confused.

"Different cultures call things different names; The Culling, The Harvest, The Cleaving," MJ listed the first three she could think of, "It's always code for sacrifice."

"Huh, you actually know your stuff."

"In France, The Harvest is mass death...what's it in New Orleans?"

"It's a ritual our coven does every three centuries so that the bond to our ancestral magic is restored."

MJ started to think.

"We appease our ancestors. They keep our ancestral power flowing."

"And yet I've never heard of it," Klaus said bluntly.

MJ clicked that he'd phoned her to fact check Sophie without seemingly completely accusatory.

"Because a Harvest always seemed like a myth," Sophie agreed, "A story, passed on through generations like Noah's ark, or the Buddha walking on water. The kind some people take literally, and some people don't."

"Three centuries?" MJ asked for clarification.

"That's what I've been told."

"New Orleans was only founded in 1718," MJ pointed out, "Three hundred years would be 2018. That's seven years from now, meaning it's only gonna have happened once."

"And you see why I might be sceptical about it," Sophie seemed much happier to be talking to her now, "People say it's how our ancestral well got made."

"That does make sense," She didn't like it, "Sacrifice created the Floare ancestral realm too, and probably The Other Side? It's defo tied to death because it's tied to the first immortals."

"Scratch my earlier statement. You really know your stuff."

"I am living with the Original family. Of course I do."

MJ couldn't believe Sophie still hadn't clicked that she was a witch.

"And you know about Floare? That's deep-cut witch knowledge."

She wanted to laugh, "I know a thing or two."

"That was the original plan, actually."

MJ's good mood vanished, "Huh?"

"I told you about the crazy lady who used defect magic."

"You did," Klaus responded carefully.

"She was a Floare Siphoner."

MJ wanted to scream.

"The Harvest was a myth, the Floare version had two thousand years of evidence."

Thanks to Travellers and the Asey keeping it alive in the modern era.

"The elders considered performing it to fix our fading connection with our ancestors."

The fading magic Nandi had told MJ about her first trip back to town. Klaus had then told her that was wrong, magic was just being controlled, but in reality, it was both.

"That didn't end up happening, though," MJ muttered.

"Nope," Sophie admitted, "She died like eight years ago, and no one really knows what happened to her magic."

Eleven-Year-Old-MJ had happened.

"She started a fight in a coven meeting, killed some vampires, tried to kill an elder, and was then taken out by a vampire. No one ever got to learn if we could make the sacrifice back then, and now, here we are."

"Here we are."

"The Harvest was the only option left, and they had the girls of our community preparing for months."

MJ needed to talk to Marcel.

She hadn't needed to know the context of her mother's death when dealing with him, and part of her still didn't want to. It felt like opening an unnecessary can of worms that'd only get her hurt.

It was starting to seem like she had to know though.

Her family were the only Floare in New Orleans, so Sophie had to be talking about her mother, but none of it made any sense.

"Four would be chosen for the Harvest."

MJ's voice was distant, "Four teenagers?"

"Yeah."

"And they wanted to do it?"

"They'd been pushing for it for years, but losing the siphoner got it pushed back – a ceasefire between witches and vampires...All the deaths were her fault. Once she was gone, people wanted to try for peace."

MJ was driving a car. She couldn't get distracted, "Witches wanted to kill teenagers?"

"They said that it was an honour. That the girls were special...I thought it was a myth."

MJ hated it.

She'd wanted to join the witches, to save the witches so kids wouldn't get hurt, and now she was learning that the witches were happy to just sacrifice four girls for power?

It was disgraceful.

"Was it just a myth?" Rebekah asked.

Before she could answer, Klaus's phone beeped.

A second call.

MJ waited, hearing Rebekah's phone handed back to her while Klaus answered his own.

"Marcel!"

Faux peppiness in Klaus's voice.

"Bit early in the day for you, isn't it?... Rather you than me. All that responsibility seems like such a bore...Dead witches in the Bayou. Sounds like less of a problem and more like a cause for celebration...Oh, why not? Haven't been to the Bayou in ages. I'm on my way."

The call ended.

MJ knew that the dead witches were from Hayley's attack, and she knew Hayley claimed a wolf had saved her, like, an actual wolf.

"You can't go out there," Sophie said, panicked, "I need to gather the remains and consecrate them. If I don't get to them before sundown, we'll lose the link to their magic."

And the witches were desperate for any kind of magic.

"Those witches tried to kill Hayley," Klaus said simply, "I'd prefer for Marcel's informant not to find anything that would lead him back to us, to her, or to...you know...That."

"You are all class," Hayley's eye-roll carried into her tone.

MJ smiled, "That's my line."

"We'll share it."

"You three need to stay put. And save the rest of your story 'til I return," Klaus spoke closer to the phone, "And you need to get back to the city."

"Like I said, be there in under an hour."

The call ended, and about ten seconds later, MJ was receiving another one.

Klaus.

Klaus on his own, far from the house thanks to vamp-speed.

"Sophie's comments about Floare – their sacrifice is the thing you told me about in Italy when we met your brother?"

MJ was pretty sure Kol had done the talking since she'd been frozen in fear, but close enough.

"There are actually two – well, no. There's one thing."

Why were Travellers suddenly relevant again!

It was irritating!

MJ was stressed enough about the stuff going on with Matt and the Travellers, the fact it was affecting her New Orleans world too felt like the universe telling her it was time to die, and she didn't like that.

"The Second Siphon Sacrifice; when performed by a Floare, usually the older sibling, provides a magic boost to them, and all the withes partaking. Plus, it blesses the area of the spell, turning it into sacred land."

"So exactly what The French Quarter Coven would want."

She'd put her charm bracelet back on, and suddenly it weighed like a brick on her wrist.

"The second use?"

"The ceremony, with a slightly altered spell, performed by a Traveller, I...I don't actually know."

Spells that old were vague.

"I've heard two versions. One says a siphoner can be used to break a two-thousand-year-old curse on them. The other says it can up their magic and give them a place to live because part of the curse is that they can never settle in one place altogether."

"And your mother?"

"Was not a siphoner."

"Sophie's story?"

"I have no clue why anyone would think she was unless she told them that."

And Ana Ruiz was a liar.

"I just have no clue why she'd tell them that."

"That part's obvious love."

MJ pursed her lips.

"If the witches had learnt about it as an option, they were probably going to kill you."

"They didn't know about me," She argued.

"And making them think she was the siphoner was probably your mother's way of making sure they never found out."

Of course MJ had thought of that.

She just hadn't wanted to believe it because, if she believed it, it meant there was a huge chance she was the reason her mother had died. MJ didn't think she could really live with that information.

"Mira," Klaus's voice went surprisingly softer, "Whoever told them about the ritual is at fault. Not you."

MJ also didn't have a clue how they might've learnt about it, "No."

She was starting to see city life around her.

"Sacrificial magic is evil. The fact that elders wanted something sacrificial makes them the problem."

Or maybe she was just a curse.

Siphoners were cursed.

They destroyed everything they touched, and if MJ really thought about her life, she saw a lot of evidence to support that idea.

"Good to see we're on the same page, love," Klaus was grinning, "The witches are a problem."

"The witches are the problem," She repeated.

"And they will be dealt with accordingly. Once I have Davina fully under my wing and Hayley free from Sophie's link, any of them that dare stand against us will fail."

"Hm."

"You don't wish them dead for how they talk of your family?"

"I want peace in the city, Nik. If that means taking down a few witches? Count me in."

Peace was complicated, but she had to have faith they could get there.

And she knew, deep down, that's what Klaus probably wanted too. He wouldn't want to be fearing for his kid's life every time he left the house. He'd want loyalty from as many factions as possible, and he'd probably use violence to get it, but eh, where he'd cause trouble, she'd be there to clean it up and gain favour.

"You sound oddly chipper for someone who's just been to a funeral," Klaus noted, "And listened to someone bad mouth their mother."

"Am I?"

"I expected more rage."

MJ smiled a little, "I had a good-ish day."

"Hm?"

"...I saw Kol."

She didn't want to tell her friends in Mystic Falls, but Klaus was different.

It was his brother.

"Got to chat to him, so yeah," MJ squished her shoulders up, voice going slightly higher, "I'm in a good mood despite the situation."

The sound of Klaus's steps came to a stop.

"Klaus?"

Silence.

MJ started to panic, "Nik - "

"How was he?" His footsteps kicked back in.

"Dead, so, not the best, but I think talking to me helped."

"I'm sure."

There was an amount of tension in his tone that MJ didn't quite understand.

"Have you been talking to him all summer?"

"No," MJ tried to work out what he was thinking, "This was the first time."

"Okay."

"Klaus - "

"You can explain later," He sounded relaxed again, MJ relaxing too, "See you soon."

Once she was back in the city, MJ came to a bit of a realisation.

Hayley didn't listen to instructions, Sophie wasn't about to take orders from Klaus either, and Rebekah wouldn't let them go off without her. MJ was sure that the three of them would be at the Bayou collecting witch bodies, investigating the wolf who saved Hayley.

MJ had never been to the Bayou before, and yeah, she could just use a tracking spell on Rebekah, but that would still leave her, a witch, in an environment where a wolf was supposedly killing witches.

She texted for Sam to meet her at one of the entrances.

"A walk in the Bayou?" He hopped off a bike, "Something tells me you're the type to carry candles in your purse."

"And you figured me out," MJ didn't think it was a hard puzzle, "Congrats."

"Witch."

"Ish," MJ pulled a face, "Let's just go with 'witch' for now. It's easier."

They started to walk, Sam leading the way.

"Why a late-morning stroll in The Bayou?" He looked around awkwardly, "And why call me?"

"It's wolf-territory. I'm not about to walk into that without one with me."

"It's kinda wolf-territory," He corrected.

"Kinda?"

"What do you know about wolves and The Quarter?"

"I know they're not welcome there."

"True."

"Yet here you are," MJ looked through the trees to the blue-day sky, "Right in the heart of the vampire nest."

"Eh," He shrugged, "Vampires are cocky dicks."

He had a point.

"They're so up their own asses that they'd never suspect a wolf would be able to pull one over on them after over ten years of nothing."

She laughed.

"I'm right."

"Not saying you're not, just curious," She'd said sentences like that before, "How are you pulling one over on them?"

"I was born in The Quarter, lived here my whole life, and before I just give you the run down, I need to ask who on earth you are to Marcel Gerard?"

"He killed my mum."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Sam thought about that, "But you were getting chatted up by him?"

"No, I wasn't," She shook her head, "He owed me a drink."

"For killing your mum?"

"Eh..." She closed her eyes, twisted her wrists, trying to get a feel for what direction to go, "If you're trying to find out if I'm selling you out to him, I'm not."

"And why should I believe that?"

"Because you already do," MJ smiled, opening her eyes and taking a left, following the spirits in the air.

"Do I?"

"If you didn't, you wouldn't be here."

He paused, tilted his head, then half-nodded.

"Why are you trusting me?" She had to ask.

"I..." Sam exhaled, "I like to think I can read people pretty well, and you don't seem like you'd want the one werewolf in The Quarter to get hurt."

"I don't," She really didn't.

Peace meant peace for all species.

"Now," MJ looped back a few sentences, "You've lived here your whole life, but you're triggered?"

"I am..."

She gave him a soft look, "Supernatural life means no judgement."

It was an awkward question.

"I guarantee I've done worse. Or know people who have."

"You've really decided I'm not a serial killer?"

"If you were, you would've been discovered by now," MJ dismissed, "You smelt of wolfsbane that day we met, which meant you weaken yourself. And I've worked shop jobs. There's no way you have the time."

"Oh!" He laughed, "So I'm putting my faith in you because I think you seem like a good person. You're putting it in me because you've done a character profile."

"I'm not an idiot."

"Neither am I!"

She laughed, "Just talk to me."

"You want me to tell you how I killed someone?"

"I wanna understand how you can live in a vampire-witch war city where werewolves seem to be non-existent."

"Okay," He kicked at the ground as they walked, "I guess that's fair."

"And like I said, no judging."

"It's not a fun story."

The energy he seemed to carry with him vanished.

MJ felt bad for pushing, it wasn't her right to know, but she did want to talk to him about everything werewolf related. Getting the big thing out of the way just seemed smart.

"My best friend triggered it when he was seventeen," She started.

Leaves were crunching beneath their feet, underscored by the squelch of saturated mud.

"A vampire compelled two people to attack him until he killed someone."

Katherine really didn't make liking her easy.

"One was his other best friend, who'd got him drunk then started beating him up. The other was a girl who tried to stab him, only to have him shove her too hard into a desk, breaking her spine on the corner of it, cracking her head on the ground."

"Oh my god."

"Yeah. The vampire wanted a werewolf for a sacrifice. Her first choice died, so she needed to trigger him."

Her dynamic with Katherine had formed out of such an awful situation.

"You don't need to tell me. I told you that so you could see that I kinda know how bad it can be," MJ fiddled with her fingers, "I was asking to work out how old you were when it happened."

"Sixteen."

She nodded.

"And to be honest, my story is kinda the easier one."

"Okay?"

"We didn't know about the curse until my mum triggered it."

"Oh."

"Yeah," Sam's turn to pause, blinking and looking around nervously, "You aren't leading me into a trap, are you?"

"Big move, just flat out asking me like I wouldn't lie if I was."

He snorted.

"And no. Though, there's a wolf, a witch, and a vampire out here. And a collection of witch bodies – mauled by a wolf."

"Oh!" He scrunched up his face, "It's witch bodies I'm smelling!"

"Probably should've warned you."

MJ was thrilled her sense of smell was only heightened for flowers, herbs, and flavours.

"Though, if you wouldn't mind using the super senses to lead the way?"

"I mean, I've gotten this far," He ran his hand through his hair, breaking up the gelled front, "Might as well."

He pointed down a forest section, and MJ realised she was going to have to start learning the Bayou the way she'd learnt the woods in Mystic Falls.

"How was realising your mother was a werewolf?"

"Terrifying," He answered honestly, "The first time she turned, she hadn't known it was going to happen. We lived in an apartment back then, and she tore the place to pieces while I locked myself in the bathroom."

"How'd she learn about it after?"

"She googled a lot of stuff, fact and fiction, realised she needed to think genetics."

"So went to her parents?"

"Learnt she'd been adopted," Sam nodded, "Tracked down her real parents before the next full moon."

"That's efficient."

"She basically didn't sleep and ended up using a witch."

"Makes sense."

"Only ended up finding her mum. Her mum had triggered the gene growing up, turned once after giving birth, freaked at the possibility of getting out of a basement and hurting her baby, so gave her up."

"Wow."

"Yeah, the reunion wasn't good beyond giving us some answers."

"How old were you?"

"Five."

"And you saw your mum destroy your apartment?"

"Yeah," He rubbed his neck, "One way to get your first real nightmare."

"And how'd you guys stay hidden? If you didn't even know about werewolves and them not being allowed and stuff."

"My step-dad is a witch."

MJ perked up.

"Well, ish, he never tapped into it," Sam gave her a small smile, "My mum started asking questions, met a woman who basically told her to run for the hills, turned out to be his little sister. That was how they met."

"And they didn't snitch on you?"

"Nope. And no one outside of them two ever found out...Until you just knew."

"My supernatural sixth sense is amazing - and that was good of them."

"They aren't fans of city covens, so didn't have anyone to tell."

MJ smiled warmly.

"And they know better than to make deals with vampires."

She nodded.

"Plus, it was only my mum back then," He started to sound nervous, "One wolf is manageable."

"Then you happened."

"Yeah...that made things more complicated," Sam sighed, "But we make it work."

"I assume you leave town on full moons?"

"I now live in a house. The basement and the shed have been converted to keep us contained, and my step-dad may not practise magic, but he can still purchase silencing stuff to stop us from getting discovered."

"You smelt of wolfsbane, but buying that must get you caught?"

"We get it sent in from out-of-town and have a stash of self-grown stuff too," He summed up, "My half-siblings did tap into their power and love growing stuff."

"And you've never slipped up with super strength at school?"

"Nope."

"Wow."

Maybe she and her friends were just useless. It wasn't like MJ tried to be subtle.

"What's your story, then?" Sam turned it back on her, "What happened with your dad?"

"He and my mum were together, they had two kids, stuff went wrong, my mum got killed, and he was compelled to forget that portion of his life per my brother's request."

Every time she said it, she got madder about it.

"I left town, I came back, I decided not to get him uncompelled."

Sam blinked.

"And that's not even the half of it!" MJ found making it into a joke made it all easier to think about.

"How'd your mum die...other than by vampire? If you don't mind me asking?"

"Heart ripped out."

"Oof."

"I was in the closet, watching, and then I found the heart."

"And you officially win on the worst real-life nightmare experience."

"Let's not make it a competition," She smiled, "It's all relative."

"You might be right."

Her thing may be awful, but her mum had died.

He'd had to watch his mum become a beast capable of tearing the world apart, then sleep in the same place as her, not understanding what had happened or whether it might happen again.

That was pretty screwed up.

"Also, I tend to nearly die a lot," MJ kept her voice flat, "My nightmares last about two weeks before something else happens to scar me forever."

"Should I take that to mean you've killed someone before?"

"Yeah."

He curled his lips in, "...It was an accident."

And he was opening up.

"For both of us."

"I feel like it usually is," MJ brushed into him, "And not just with werewolves. The first supernatural kill is usually an accident."

That first human life you take stays with you.

"For me," He bobbed his head, "I was an idiot."

MJ kept quiet so he could just talk.

"I'd just gotten my licence. I thought I was hilarious," Sam cringed, "Screwing about because I'd actually passed my test the first time when most of my friends had failed more than once."

...Sam had arrived on a bike...

"And I didn't really have a clue what I was doing."

"Car crash."

"Drunk car crash," He scrunched up his face, "I'd gone to a party, was the designated driver for two friends and my girlfriend at the time, and I was dumb."

She could feel the guilt in his tone.

"I thought I was sober enough to drive, but it was winter, dark and icy, and I wasn't. They were all yelling along with the radio, and I crashed the car."

"I'm so sorry."

"Only one of my friends died, which is kind of amazing – as awful as that sounds to say."

Numbers mattered with guilt.

"But considering four of us were in the car..."

"That's lucky."

"Yeah," Sam admitted, "He was the only one who hadn't been wearing his seatbelt...When we were all in hospital, I healed right up, so I knew someone had died."

"That must've sucked."

"In all honesty, my brain just went into this bad place."

"Bad place?"

"I was just praying it wasn't my girlfriend...I wasn't even thinking about anyone else."

"Thinking that doesn't make you evil."

"I know it's not full-evil," Sam bit his cheek, "But like, it wasn't a deep relationship. We broke up, and it was nothing, but at the time, thinking it might've been her? It felt like everything."

"High School does that to people."

He snorted, "Looking back, I'm also grateful it wasn't her, because killing my date feels super cliché."

MJ didn't want to laugh, but he wasn't wrong.

"Turning is the punishment I deserve...I mean, it'll never undo what happened, but it feels like something."

Someone who genuinely valued life.

It was nice to see.

MJ wondered how long it would last.

"My mum..."

"You don't have to tell me," She assured him, "Not if - "

"My birth dad was pretty violent," Sam's eyes focused on the floor, voice harsh, "It was self-defence."

MJ instantly stepped closer to him.

"She doesn't deserve to be stuck turning."

"Being a werewolf isn't all bad," She tried.

"We live in hiding because vampires will kill us. The witches are crazy, and the only pack we could join is MIA and possibly cursed."

MJ straightened up, "Cursed?"

"I don't know. Witch-chatter."

"You listen to much witch chatter?"

"I started to after I triggered it," He glanced at her nervously, "I don't know much about what happened to the wolves."

"Do you want to?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Do you know?"

"No, but I know other people who want to."

"Seriously?"

Suddenly, it was like she was waving candy in his face.

"Yeah."

"Yes – wait," He stopped in his tracks.

"You okay?"

"I wanna snoop - of course, I want a pack," He shook his head, "But if I'm seen doing supernatural things around The Quarter..."

"Vampires would figure you out."

"Not just that, I can deal with vampires – I have siblings."

The half-siblings he'd mentioned.

"They're kids, not triggered, just magical, but the vampires hate wolves and witches. I can't put them at risk like that."

MJ could respect that answer.

"If you tell me there's a wolf who needs a friend – reassurance they can live in The Quarter, I'm in, but I'm not putting them at risk."

She felt her body relaxing, "How old are they?"

"Spencer, she's four. Jace is two."

She couldn't not smile at the cute look on his face.

"Spence is actually friends with your half-sister."

MJ looked down.

"...Her name's Alice."

"Alice?" Her voice was weak.

"Yeah," Sam put a hand on her arm, "She's really into swimming, and, the last I checked, she was also super into Tangled. Plays the soundtrack when she goes to bed."

She was talking to someone who babysat for her family.

MJ looked at him, "Thank you."

"Hey," He rubbed his hands, "It's your family. A vampire screwed it up. You're protecting them by staying away, I get it. But you deserve to know about them."

"They're not all bad," She mumbled, "Vampires, I mean."

"Aren't they?"

"No," MJ said firmly, "Every species has good and bad among it."

"And your best friend's a werewolf?"

"Ones a werewolf, ones a vampire, next billing is also a vampire."

"You know any humans?" He jabbed.

"One...and a half?"

He grinned, "Half?"

"Was human, became a supernatural hunter."

"Wow, okay – that's a thing."

"And I'm living with a mix at the moment too," MJ didn't want to just announce she was with Klaus.

If Sam was a werewolf, connected to The Quarter, he might know of Klaus, and if other werewolves were anything to go off, he wouldn't be a fan.

"You ever been friends with witches, or you just listen to witch chatter the past two years?"

"I've had a few friends," He shrugged, "Always been wary in case they figured me out."

MJ had questions for witches about that.

She didn't get how no witch in The Quarter seemed to have a clue about how to sense other species.

"You know anything about The Harvest?"

"I know the girls selected were two years below me."

"Oh."

"Yeah – they all got pulled from school super randomly during prep for it."

MJ appreciated the confused tone of voice.

"No one heard from them, so it was a bit of a school myth – theories about what happened since most people didn't know they were witches."

"You know their names?"

"I know one of them was called Cassie – she was in Eco-Soc with me," Sam added, "I also know all The French Quarter witches were majorly freaking out about it."

"And the other covens?"

"By doing it, The French Quarter Coven basically got kicked out of the main circle."

MJ hadn't known that, "Really?"

"Yep," He nodded, "I was friends with a Garden District guy and French Quarter girl, and they just stopped talking to each other. It was super awkward."

"Do you know what The Harvest is?"

"I know it was some magic ritual, and I know Sophie Devereaux – this chef at Rousseau's, basically made herself everyone's enemy."

"She did?"

"Yep," Sam made another turn through the trees, "All the other witches were talking about it twenty-four-seven..."

He smelt the air, gagged, then carried on walking,

"Everyone was saying what an honour it was. How they'd have enough power to rule the city because of it."

"Do you know what was supposed to happen to the girls?"

"Like I said, they all disappeared, taken out of school. Other than that, I know Sophie was trying to stop it."

"You know Sophie?"

"Not beyond her Gumbo – but, I do know her sister's kid was one of them."

MJ froze, "What?"

"Yeah. Her niece," He didn't notice her panic, "Don't know her name, but saw her at school a few times."

"Sam," MJ tried to keep her voice calm, "Those girls...they died."

His eyes went wide, "What?"

"Three out of four of them were killed. The Harvest is a sacrifice."

He breathed out slowly.

MJ let him take a moment.

He kept a toe in the supernatural pond but clearly didn't know much about how dark species other than vampires could get.

"Well," Sam forced himself to talk, "That explains Sophie a little more."

"Her trying to stop it."

"That, and," He paused, looking around again and narrowing his eyes, "It's also a pretty well-known fact that she was hooking up with a vampire. The witches were all mad about it."

Also new information.

"And the vampires were the ones who got in the middle."

Marcel had gotten in the middle.

He'd gotten Davina.

"Hence Vampire-Witch war city," Sam referenced her earlier phrasing, "I also know that witches think they have a way to undo the damage."

"They do?"

"Like I said, Sophie hasn't exactly been subtle recently."

Blackmailing the Originals.

"The witches have been trying to figure out what to do. She's been on the outs with a lot of them for being part of it going wrong. Now, she's sneaking around with the ones who still talk to her."

"And you noticed?"

"When you're trying to avoid being discovered, you get good at spotting other people doing it."

"Fair warning, if we find who I'm looking for, you might be a little discovered."

He pulled a face.

"Like I said, one's a werewolf, and I can wipe you from the minds of the others."

"A vampire trick?"

"Meddling with memories is just as much a witch thing as it is a vampire one."

Sam bit his lip, "Okay..."

"Sorry."

"...you said three girls died?"

She nodded.

"If I can help with something, I want to."

Damn, good people made her nervous.

"So," Sam was working a few things out, "Sophie's niece was one of the girls, so she's dead...and Sophie's sister died a few months back."

Jane-Anne. The witch Marcel had killed on Bourbon Street when Klaus had called MJ before graduation.

"If that was me," He commented, "I'd be on a bit of a war path."

"So would I," MJ's voice was low, trying to work out just what that meant about Sophie.

Sophie was on the warpath against Marcel, which meant she was working with them, but what was her end goal?

Her sister and her niece were dead.

And Sophie was willing to risk death herself to find Davina for the witches, and Sam seemed to think the witches had a way to fix what had gone wrong...

In MJ's mind, that meant they would kill Davina to get the power they wanted.

If the witches had sent her niece to slaughter, why would Sophie want them to win?

What was the part they were missing?

Suddenly, Sam yanked her arm sharply, pressing them into a tree.

There was a rush nearby – a guy looking around, pausing to listen, and then taking off further into the woods.

MJ raised an eyebrow, holding up a hand to count down from five, really wishing she'd already drawn her privacy runes on during the drive.

Her thumb curled in.

"He didn't hear us?"

"He's probably listening to," Sam pointed diagonally left in front of them, "The very loud voices coming from that direction."

MJ sometimes forgot that werewolves had super hearing.

It was weaker than vampire-hearing, they couldn't really hear through walls, but an open space like the Bayou? His turf was probably easy. The naturally existing magic in nature would be lending him a hand.

"Three female voices – you're friends, I assume?"

"Yep," MJ began to run, "And they're totally gonna get caught."

She needed to warn them.

"GUYS!"

If the vampire had heard people talking, he'd pause to listen, her voice hopefully clouding any incriminating information and alerting Rebekah.

Sam was running next to her, "What are you doing!"

"Warning."

She skidded down a slopped part and could smell the dead bodies herself, landing roughly after the drop onto the new path.

Then she could see blonde hair.

"MJ!" Rebekah called.

"Vampire looking for you guys," She slowed to a stop in front of Hayley, Rebekah, and Sophie.

"Yeah," Rebekah looked Sam up and down, "He just took off."

Sophie gave him a look too.

"Hayley," MJ pointed at her, "Meet a friend."

Hayley clicked what that meant, "You're kidding!"

"She's not," Sam cleared his throat, "Assuming she's the werewolf,"

Then he pointed to Rebekah.

"And she's the vampire."

"Original Vampire," Rebekah corrected.

Sam spun to look at MJ, "You're with the Originals?"

"Maybe."

"Wait – wait," He started to freak, "If you're with – no!"

"Sam?"

"You're with the hybrid!"

"Not the time," MJ chose to focus on the dead witch bodies they were standing among.

Sophie.

"Where you gonna mention your niece was one of the sacrifices?"

Sophie froze, "How'd you learn that?"

"Did our phone call earlier not clue you in to the fact I'm an info store," MJ challenged, "I figure things out."

She wasn't going to just dump Sam in it.

"Wait, what?" Hayley and Rebekah looked at her.

"Monique," Sophie said softly, "My sister's daughter – but shouldn't we be more worried about Marcel's guy running off?"

Rebekah closed her eyes, "Yes."

"Call Klaus?"

"Could you?" Rebekah said pleadingly, "He'll be less of a wanker about it if it's you."

"Wow, so you're like," Sam was connecting the dots in his head, MJ able to watch it happen, "...Friends with Originals..."

She needed him to kinda stop.

"Hayley! Why don't you and Sam talk while Sophie consecrates."

Adapt, overcome, and hope he didn't realise anything too big.

"Rebekah and I deal with the immortal five-year-old."

"Sounds like a plan," Rebekah nodded.

Sophie was already on it, pulling out things for consecration while Rebekah tugged MJ away.

"You and wolves," She tutted, raising an eyebrow, "Is this a type I need to be worried about?"

"Ha, ha," MJ pulled out her phone, "It's not like that. He's the only wolf in The Quarter. I was nosy."

"And you talked him into a field trip?"

"Didn't really talk. Asked him to come. He knew stuff about the Harvest."

She pressed call.

"Little bird."

MJ could hear the noise of a bar somewhere.

"Take this call away from listening ears, please," She said innocently, "I'm not in the mood to be overheard."

"Ah, Marcel, you heard the lady."

She heard a laugh in the background that meant Klaus had definitely given a suggestive facial expression.

Rebekah rolled her eyes, thinking the same thing.

Marcel may have learnt she was a witch, but they hadn't really gone into her present-day dynamic with Klaus. Just the dark pre-New Orleans bits, and the general gist of good to explain why she was happy to hang around them.

"And you can talk," Klaus said a few moments later.

"Rebekah?" MJ held the phone out.

"You said you'd do it!"

"I said I'd call him. I've called him."

"Little sister?"

Rebekah explained how the three of them had gone against his wishes to consecrate the witch spirits and wolf hunt, MJ tracking them down with a werewolf for Hayley to talk to.

"Let me understand this," Klaus was shaking his head, "Against all logic, you and Hayley went to the Bayou, where you ran into a man you think may be Marcel's informant, and then you lost him?"

"Yes," Rebekah whined, "And now that we've established that I am a failure as a sister. And a friend. And an Original."

MJ laughed at the overdramatic-ness of the list.

"You should probably know he's on his way to Marcel right now to rat me out. Skinny guy in a hurry. Looks like he saw a ghost."

"I'll handle it, but I'll need a distraction."

"I'm on my way."

"I'm coming too," MJ decided, "I have some questions for Marcel."

"I've been getting him to talk about the Harvest to see just how he managed to get his hands on Davina."

"He and Sophie were hooking up," MJ assumed based on Sam's information.

"I know," Klaus's mood seemed to lift, "He just revealed that to me."

"Urgh," Rebekah pulled a disgusted face.

"And she told him about the ritual," MJ added.

"She asked him to stay out of it," Klaus lowkey one-upped her, "She went to the local priest."

"Father Kieran?" MJ wanted to check, "He's in the know, by the way."

"I noticed."

"He is?" Rebekah paused, "I compelled him the other day."

"He takes vervain," MJ caught her up, "And snitched on you to Marcel while I was with him during Music Night."

"Good to know," Klaus chuckled, "We're at Big Auggie's Bayou Bar."

"Please say that again."

There was something wonderful about hearing Klaus say such a stupid combination of words.

"Does the name amuse you, Mira?"

"It really does."

"Why? What could possibly be funny about Big Auggie's Bayou - "

Rebekah cut them off, "We'll be there shortly,"

They did have a time limit, hanging up and heading back to the others.

Hayley's face was bright, lips moving rapidly as she talked to Sam about her research quest and the wolf who saved her, him nodding enthusiastically too, looking around like he wanted to spot the thing.

They were pack animals at the end of the day.

"We're needed elsewhere," MJ put a hand up, "See you all later."

"Wait," Sam pointed, "MiMi Pasare."

Sophie jolted up, "MiMi Pasare?"

"You're her?" Sam took a step forward, "Right?"

MJ gave an awkward smile.

"You're a witch, you're with the Originals, and you said a vampire triggered your buddy for a sacrifice."

She hadn't been vague enough.

"A sacrifice was how hybrids became a thing, and anyone keeping up with supernatural stuff knows she's the witch who broke the hybrid curse."

"You're a witch!"

Realisation spread across Sophie's face.

"I'm an idiot! Of course you're a witch."

"MJ," Rebekah tugged her arm, "We need to go."

"No, no, no," Sophie shook her head, "You were asking about – wait."

MJ didn't understand what Sophie was figuring out.

"You were talking about Floare – telling me off about Siphoner hating – you!"

"Me."

"You're Ana Ruiz's daughter!"

It was like the air turned colder.

"You're the actual siphoner."

Hayley and Rebekah both inched closer to MJ.

"The elders said they couldn't find Ana's spirit – that the sacrifice wasn't possible! I thought it was just because she'd been killed by a vampire, not a witch, but other people said it was because her spirit was rejected."

MJ's eyes darted to Rebekah.

Rebekah released her arm and stepped back, nodding.

Sam and Hayley shared a confused look.

"Her spirit would get rejected if she wasn't the problem! It was you!"

MJ's voice was high, "That's quite a leap,"

"You..."

Sophie was right in front of her.

"You'd work – you could work!"

Her arm went up like she was about to grab her, but Rebekah was faster, holding Sophie's arms while MJ's hands went to her temples.

"Let me – "

Before Sophie could finish, MJ started muttering, eyes closing.

Sophie lost the fight, relaxing into Rebekah's grip while MJ wiped her mind of that little realisation. Then, Rebekah lowered her body down, MJ following it, leaving Sophie kneeling among the remains like she was still consecrating them, momentarily zoning out.

Both girls stood back up.

"She looked ready to kill you," Rebekah tugged at her hair.

MJ crossed her arms, "Agreed."

"Sorry?" Sam didn't understand what had just happened, "I didn't – "

"It's fine. I planted a spell to make her forget about you being here too once she leaves the Bayou," MJ didn't blame him, "And to answer your question, yes. I may be MiMi Pasare."

"..." He smiled, "That's kinda cool."

She straightened up.

"Not the working with Originals bit, or the sacrifice stuff," Sam was definitely holding himself slightly differently to before, "But like, you're supernatural history."

Hybrid creation was supernatural history, and she'd been the witch enabling it.

MJ rubbed her arms nervously, "Thanks?"

"Anyway," Rebekah gave her a judging look, "Mira?"

"Let's go."

Rebekah rushed them both to the bar. Klaus and Marcel were drinking their day away like responsible adults, while the girls did all the work. Society. Inspecting the place, there was an outside seating area, a tall blue fence caging it in, and a wooden sign on the front filled by large white chalk lettering.

'Big Auggie's Bayou Bar'

Something about the name really did just make MJ smile.

The outside seating area had thin lights hanging in arcs, mosquito attractors displayed in the nicest way they could, music playing inside.

They spotted the pair at the bar, tiny wine glasses and a bourbon bottle in between them.

Odd way to drink, but whatever.

"I'm protecting her," Marcel was saying, "A lot of them would like to get their hands on her. Kill her to finish the Harvest. If they don't, the other girls stay dead, and they lose their power."

And MJ had her answer as to why Sophie was willing to die to find Davina.

If they found Davina, there was a chance her niece came back.

"And if they do, you lose yours. "

"And Davina loses her life," Marcel says firmly, shaking his head.

"Isn't this like old times?" Rebekah said with a fake pleasant smile, "Just how drunk are you two? "

"Skating on the razor's edge," Klaus slurred his words, "I'm gonna use the loo. Back in a tick."

He held out a hand, MJ pulling him to his feet. Klaus had put up with her playing drunk enough times for her to have to help him; Homecoming and her first night in town – though, she'd just been overly ditzy in her act. He half fell into her with a dumb smile on his face, playing with her hair while a low noise filled his throat.

"Dude."

He cleared his throat, then excused himself.

"I haven't seen him this lushy since the '20s," Rebekah was glaring after him.

"So you two came to take him home?" He scanned Rebekah, eyes harsh.

"A little," MJ took Klaus's now empty seat, "I also take back what I said. Tell me why my mum wanted you to kill her?"

That woke him up.

Rebekah put a hand on her back, "MJ?"

"I know the witches wanted a sacrifice of power. Why'd my mum think dying was the way out?"

Marcel downed his glass, "You really wanna know?"

She nodded.

"Because you were pretty adamant you didn't two days back."

"Things have changed."

"Okay," He glanced at Rebekah, her grip on MJ turning firmer.

She wasn't going anywhere.

"You're still the guy that killed her," MJ said plainly, "Now tell me why you did."

"I didn't want to."

"You said that the other day."

"And it's the truth," He repeated, even firmer than before, "I didn't...your mum? We were friends."

"She told my brother and I that you were evil and would kill off the witches."

He smiled, almost fondly.

"How is that your reaction to that!"

"She didn't even tell me she had kids until the day before you guys left."

"Yet you claim you were friends?"

"Your mum was something else, MJ," He scratched the top of his head, remembering good things while looking up, "...God, Ana Ruiz..."

MJ's eyes went wide, "Please don't tell me you guys were sleeping together – please – no – if that's where this going, I don't – "

"We weren't," He swished his drink, "I flirted, sure. She never let anything happen. Never even flirted back."

She shivered, closed her eyes, took a breath, "Okay."

Her mum hadn't cheated.

She hadn't flirted back.

"I can live with that."

He laughed.

"That is okay."

"She didn't do making friends," He continued, "Pissed off all the witches by being better than them, avoided all vampires bar myself. Kept the fact she was happily in a relationship, with kids completely hidden."

"And then you ended up killing her."

"I thought she had a plan," His bravado faltered, "It was all a trick or something."

"You ripped her heart out, Marcel," MJ lacked sympathy for that justification, "Bulllshit."

"Yeah," He sighed, "I deserve your hate for that."

"You think?"

"But it was all down to the witches."

"They wanted to perform a sacrifice."

He nodded, "Ana was the first person to warn me about it."

Eight years earlier.

"She told me magic was fading a year before everything went down. She also told me that if one more witch died, the elders would be killing four more to get a power boost to take out the vampires."

"She was your inside agent," Rebekah realised.

"No!"

MJ still didn't feel comfortable hearing the emotion in his voice.

"We were genuinely just friends."

She shifted.

"She joined The French Quarter Coven because I asked her too."

The coven charm on her bracelet was heavy again.

She chose to focus on the silver animals Kol had given her.

"Not because I wanted info, but because I wanted peace, and she was the only reasonable person."

"She didn't tell you things?"

"Not until she thought her kids were in danger."

"Which is when you found out about us," MJ was staring at his glass.

His hands.

Her heart was beating normally.

No jumping, no panic attack, just a fixation on anything other than his face.

"Exactly," Marcel confirmed, "We made a deal...well, no, it wasn't even really a deal."

The one part of Ryos's version of the story that seemed to be true.

"She asked me to get your family out of The Quarter – protected from the witches, because she had this feeling that if she didn't get you out. You guys would die."

Sacrifice.

"She told me this Spanish proverb as her justification."

"Gobernar es prever."

The words tumbled out of MJ's mouth, and her eyes finally rose to meet his.

"To govern is to foresee," He finished, "She told me I needed to think more about what could happen instead of just waiting for things to happen and then responding."

MJ straightened up, "...You got her the bench."

"I didn't think a grave was really her style," He shrugged, "And those kids she used to teach loved getting to paint on the back of it."

Her shoulders dropped as she continued to stare at him.

"And then I got you guys out. Like I said, Mira, I kept track of you."

She blinked, still focused.

"Only stopped because I thought you died in New York."

So much of her hate was just slipping away.

"The fact your brother was off in England didn't do much to make me think otherwise."

A long breath in.

"I've got a whole file of stuff on him," He stressed, "Needed to know in case he ever need help. Cash or, I don't know..."

If Marcel hadn't thought she'd died, he was implying he would've shown up to help when MJ had been fifteen and homeless during school holidays.

"He was getting scholarship after scholarship. I thought you were dead and he was growing up."

Silence.

MJ felt her lip quivering.

"Hey - "

"And then you stopped the Harvest too."

"I don't roll with child sacrifice. Nope," Marcel didn't even question how she knew about that stuff, having to assume Klaus told her, "Your mum told me about it during her rant."

Her mum had assumed the worst in people, and the New Orleans Witches had acted precisely as she'd predicted.

"Her death? Ana went out with a bang, taking down vampires and making herself an enemy of the witches. Killing her made me into a hero figure. A ceasefire between everyone."

"A mutual person to blame," MJ had stopped blinking, "To make it seem like all your issues were just her."

"And it worked."

Ana Ruiz, the martyr.

Good to reaffirm where MJ got it from.

"For seven years, it worked, but the magic was still fading. The French Quarter Coven decided to take action and do their second plan."

She stood up, words failing her, "I – I – I..."

"The witches kinda ruined her reputation. They wanted to erase her from The Quarter and their history."

MJ closed her eyes.

"The bench was my way of honouring her. Making sure they couldn't just get rid of it all."

Now that she had the context to the quote, the entire bench just seemed perfect.

"Got her a grave too. One the witches have never found."

"...Thank you."

He nodded.

"It doesn't change the past few years of my life and how much I needed my mum."

In-person, not in a necklace.

"Or how much you were the source of my insomnia, but...thank you."

"And I'm sorry about that."

MJ took a step back, Rebekah's hand sliding from her shoulder to her side.

"She told all the witches she was something called a siphoner. That got all my guys spooked about it, too, after. Nasty stories about what they did to people."

"A witch who can steal magic," MJ felt time slowly restart.

"If the witches had been the ones to kill her, they would've realised she was lying about it.  Their initial plan for a power boost would've failed. I don't know, maybe it was her way of really making sure they'd hate her enough to make peace with me, to shift the blame – "

"It's because I'm the siphoner."

It needed to be said out loud.

"My mum died, so I wouldn't have to."

Silence.

"That's why she was so sure our family was in danger...Because I was the only option for the first sacrifice."

It wasn't her fault – it wasn't her fault – it wasn't her fault.

Inhale. Exhale.

Child sacrifice was the problem.

"You were right," Marcel tapped the glass, "When you said I was wrong to think you'd be okay without your parents because I was. Yours were miles better than mine."

"Yeah."

Just thinking about her dad again had her ready to cry.

Her mum had died so she could escape death.

"I – I need air."

Rebekah nodded that she'd be fine to keep Marcel occupied a little while longer since Klaus still wasn't back.

Outside the bar, she saw Klaus standing with someone, the vampire.

"Mira?" He paused.

"I'll meet you guys back at the house."

She needed a moment to process, alone.

~***~

MJ had gone back to her car and driven into The Quarter. Then she'd gotten out and walked to the bench, sitting on it for a little while.

To anyone who noticed her? She'd probably looked really weird at the start; knees curled up to her chest, arms wrapped around them, just sitting in the middle of the bench, staring at the Flower Shop she'd once been so familiar with, desperately wanting to summon her mum.

Her mum was at peace.

Kol?

It seemed unfair to try and contact Kol when he said he hadn't been able to follow her, just because she was sad.

He was dead.

His situation was worse.

She couldn't rely on him to comfort her when his situation was worse.

MJ could just tell him about it whenever she was called back to Mystic Falls.

That decision had her relaxing a little, legs stretching down to the floor as she pulled her travel-sized notebook out. One he'd technically bought her. Getting to sketch the street, getting lost in the lines, from the brushing short ones creating the shapes, to the firm outline, helped her un-muddle her mind.

MJ couldn't change her memories or the years of hate.

She didn't really want to either.

It was a lot easier to hate a vampire than her own people.

It was a lot easier to hate the guy who'd literally held her mother's heart in his hands when she could come up with fifty million other ways the scenario could've ended. Marcel hadn't needed to kill her. But she was also too tired to really come up with another way.

MJ had felt peace by the riverside.

She felt ease sitting on the bench.

MJ wanted to be a New Orleans witch, but the New Orleans witches had sacrificed children for the possibility of power, and she wasn't down with that. She also wasn't down with how quickly Sophie had jumped towards her, exclaiming, 'You could work.'

She'd told the Floare in Tibet that she wanted to be strong to protect kids, and that seemed like the opposite of what the New Orleans witches wanted to do.

When MJ finished the page, she closed up the book, going back to her car, driving back to the house.

"Hey," She announced, somewhat cheerily while going through the door, "Who's home?"

"In here!" Rebekah called from the side patio.

She was pouring a collection of drinks while Hayley lounged on a deck chair.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," MJ nodded, taking a seat too, "Just needed to clear my head."

"Your mother was a bit of a martyr."

"Seems so."

The more MJ learnt about her, the more accurate it became.

"Compulsive liar, talented witch, natural musician..."

The list seemed to describe Ryos too.

"Loving mother...who was anything but perfect."

Rebekah gave her a cautious look.

"And martyr."

Her summer of memories.

"From seventeen until the end of the line," MJ could accept it, "I think Sophie might be one too. We've gotta be careful about that."

"Definitely," Rebekah finished pouring, lifting a cup towards Hayley, "And you. I don't care if we have to get you a leash. That was your last trip to the Bayou."

Hayley rolled her eyes.

"What is it with you and those wolves, anyway?"

"I feel like we're connected somehow," Hayley looked down in embarrassment, "I don't know."

She held her hands out.

"Maybe it's just some pipe dream I have of finding any real family out there. But sometimes, when I feel like it's me against the world, it keeps me going."

Rebekah then handed her the drink, and Hayley side-eyed them both drinking theirs.

"And you're pregnant," MJ took the glass from her and downed it, "Oh no, what a shame."

"And if you ask me," Rebekah gulped her own down too, "Family is a pain in the behind."

MJ had no clue where she stood on family anymore.

She really needed to talk to her brother, and she really didn't want to.

"And, as for being in it alone? How dare you!" Rebekah turned up her nose, "I don't ruin a perfectly fabulous pair of boots traipsing through the Bayou for just anyone."

"Exactly," MJ held up her own glass like a toast, "We stick together."

"Non-judging-breakfast club," Hayley grinned.

"Precisely."

"Can we go get drunk and dance on bars once this is all over?"

"It's cute that you think this is ever gonna end."

Rebekah snorted in agreement with MJ's sentiment.

"Thank you for finding Sam," Hayley added.

"I was nosy anyway," MJ grinned, "Was talking to him good?"

"He said he wants to help me figure out what's going on with the wolf following me," She gave a thumbs up, "And I've really missed not travelling with a pack. I needed an hour of down time with a wolf."

"He wasn't half as scruffy as I was expecting wolves in this town to be," Rebekah commented as the door opened, "Nik!"

She rushed out, and MJ half followed.

"Finally! What took – "

Elijah was standing behind his brother.

Rebekah ran to give him a tight hug.

"Elijah!" MJ cheered, "Welcome back to the realm of the not daggered."

"Mira Jung," He raised a puzzled eyebrow, "You decided to take the offer and join us then."

"I did."

His focus was drawn away from her, over her shoulder, and he let go of Rebekah.

Hayley was behind them.

She turned to let the group have their moment, returning back outside.

"You're safe!" Rebekah relaxed for the first time since she'd gotten to New Orleans, "Now that you're home, is your first plan to kill Niklaus?"

Klaus pulled a face at her.

Elijah just smiled, tapping her on the shoulder, "Excuse me, just a moment."

"Where's he going?" Rebekah frowned.

He went out after Hayley.

MJ looked after him, then to Klaus, then she shook her head.

"That's not awkward at all."

Klaus made an unimpressed noise.

Once Hayley and Elijah had had a quick conversation, the group all ended up gathered in the study. Elijah was standing behind his desk, tracing his hand over all the journals MJ had picking up around the world. He was smiling fondly at the covers while talking them through what he'd learnt from Davina.

"Everything that brought us to New Orleans was a lie," He said firmly, "This story that Sophie Deveraux fabricated – this struggle for control of The French Quarter, a war between vampires and witches, wasn't over territory at all. This was over Davina."

A war for a teenager.

"Eight months ago, Sophie Deveraux and her sister Jane-Anne lost everything."

They'd all been filled in about Sophie's niece being one of the four girls.

"Now, four months after that, a young pregnant girl wanders into their restaurant," He picked up a pen, "Suddenly, all hope is renewed. Jane-Anne sacrificed her life so that her sister can use you to find Davina."

Hayley shifted.

"If Sophie Deveraux is successful in capturing Davina, she can return Jane-Anne's daughter back to life."

If the Harvest was true.

And if it still worked despite being interrupted.

If it didn't, all four girls would just be dead.

"We thought we'd come here to wage war for power, but this is about family."

'Always and Forever.'

"To return her niece to life, Sophie Deveraux will fight to the death. That makes her more dangerous than anyone."

Family was the motivator for all of their returns to New Orleans. It made sense that their potential enemy was being driven by it too.