a/n: Not sure how this chapter got long enough to be in two parts, I'll try and have Pt 2 posted tomorrow morning :) <3

Bonnie Bennett had ended up ditching her own Welcome Back party to spend time with Jeremy in a hotel at the edge of Mystic Falls, finally sharing the fact she felt every supernatural death with him.

That wasn't the only side effect of being The Anchor though.

She could see both sides, which meant she could see all the spirits.

As Bonnie left the hotel, about to head back to Whitmore, she froze.

"Hello again," Kol was waiting by her car.

She didn't respond, just staring at him warily.

"If I'm following what happened correctly," He pointed a finger at her, "You can see and hear me. Because Mira made you The Anchor."

Bonnie swallowed, "She did."

Silence.

"Look," She sighed, "If you're still trying for revenge - "

"I would love revenge," He agreed, "But what can I do now the veil's back?"

She eyed him up.

His demeanour became slightly less confrontational, "...I'm here to ask a favour..."

No reaction.

"MJ."

Bonnie's shoulders untensed.

"I saw her kill Silas," Kol continued, "I saw her in the bar with Stefan and Katerina...but she left last night."

Bonnie's tone softened, "You want me to tell you she's okay? That's the favour?"

"I know she's okay," He grinned, "I've been talking to her."

"Okay?"

He cleared his throat, "She's not due back anytime soon."

They didn't know what was about to happen with Katherine.

"Waiting weeks to talk to the person you care for is somewhat torturous."

Bonnie was really trying to keep her face unresponsive.

"Not knowing if their plane crashed, or if a family enemy has tried to harm them..."

"You can 'ghost' to New Orleans if you wanna check-in?"

Kol's expression became almost modest, eyes downcast and posture limp.

"Can't you?"

"Witches have more control of this realm," He reminded her, "And the universe seems to have trapped me here."

Bonnie frowned, "You can't see beyond Mystic Falls?"

He nodded.

"...Oh."

A second awkward silence.

"Well," Bonnie glanced to the hotel door, then to her car, moving towards it, letting him follow, "She has a nice group of friends."

"She's told me about them," He paused, "Then again, it's Mira. Are they 'nice' in the way you all are?"

Expecting Kol to not make a jab was too much.

"Or has she finally found people who respect her? Since I don't really trust her judgement in that department."

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

He back-tracked, "More targetted at the others than you."

She scoffed, opening her car door

"Is it too late to say that I'm sorry about your father?"

Bonnie stilled.

If he'd been trapped in Mystic Falls, he would've seen Silas's momentary take-over and attack.

"I am," He repeated, "Helplessly watching the people we care about in pain is a unique type of agony."

She blinked slowly.

"And it can't have been enjoyable to watch your friends fail to notice your death."

Her turn to look away.

"Something else I give you sympathies for."

"Your family barely mourned you too."

He didn't respond to that comment.

Bonnie closed the door to lean on it, "Come here."

Kol raised an eyebrow as she pulled out her phone.

When he hadn't moved, she waved it at him.

He crept closer, looking at the tiny screen.

"What do you already know," She opened up her social media first, "I don't want to just repeat things."

"MJ gave me names, showed me some pictures of a masquerade she went to - summed up her summer, but I didn't get any photos of those."

"I can show you these ones," Bonnie had about one photo from each stop, "Jeremy has tonnes more, including selfies."

"He does?" Kol complained, "I haven't seen him looking at them."

"He looked at them at the time," Bonnie managed a smile at him, "Pretty sure you'd be madder if he'd just been staring at her picture all summer."

His expression matched hers, "That may be true."

"Then there's this," She moved to their text messages, "I could 'haunt' her. Asked for some context to what I'd seen."

MJ had responded with a photo of Cami from music night, Davina from move-in day, and Sam outside of a food place, as well as some very brief pieces of information about them.

"You probably know names, but now you have faces," She added, "Cami the Human, Davina the Witch, Josh the Vampire, and Sam the Werewolf - apparently, they're very chill."

"Cold?"

Bonnie laughed, "Nice, relaxing, fun. Those type of words."

His genuine smiled kicked in.

"I don't really know what she's up to beyond that, but I know she's happy. And I know her plane landed - no crashes."

"Good."

Her phone alarm went off, "And that's my cue to go."

She did actually have to get back to the campus.

"You have your info. There's nothing else I can do to you, so...goodbye. Not nice seeing you again."

"Eh," He smirked, "You'll be seeing me again."

"I'm not going to internet stalk MJ for you."

"Why not?"

"Because that's creepy!"

"Because you didn't do 'creepy' things when you were dead?"

Bonnie went to say no, then remembered that MJ had literally walked in on her checking out Jeremy.

He gestured out in victory, "And, even if you try to ignore me, you won't be able to."

She gave him a look.

"I have nothing to do other than haunt people who can't see me," He reminded her, "Which mainly includes listing all the methods I wish to kill the Gilbert Family since I can't leave Mystic Falls."

Bonnie wouldn't lie and say she was surprised by that announcement.

"You'll become wonderfully educated on all the different ways everyday objects can be used to torment people."

"I'm sure."

"I could become quite the buzzing fly in your vision," He nodded with false sympathy, "Every time you visit your little boyfriend, you'll have to deal with me narrating from the corner of the room."

"Because you want to watch the things we do when we're alone together?" Bonnie challenged.

"I can critique his technique."

They were locked in a stare-off.

"God knows he could probably use some advice, and I do have centuries of experience."

"Disgusting," Bonnie's face pinched, "Fine."

He grinned in victory.

"If MJ's already talking to you, do you just want me to play phone translator when she's away?"

"I'd rather her not find out you're doing this for me."

She raised a confused eyebrow.

"...I told her not to think about me when she's not here," He didn't really want to admit it, but he had to, "I don't want her to think she needs to report every moment of her life back to me, that I wouldn't get jealous of her living..."

Bonnie was staring at the way his eyes seemed to jump around her face, like he didn't want to give her a chance to see what he was really thinking.

"But, I don't know when I'm going to see her again."

And making that declaration was a lot easier said than done.

"I thought you might understand that wish to check-in."

"I have stuff to do today."

Against her better judgement, Bonnie felt herself understanding precisely what he was talking about.

"But I'll come back to Mystic Falls at some point tonight, and we can talk terms."

He nodded in thanks and vanished.

~***~

MJ had the joyful experience of reading through everything bad she'd missed by being in Mystic Falls during her taxi ride back to the city, thanks to texts from Cami, Josh, and Sam.

Sam had been with Hayley, so missed most of the drama, but then Davina had been brought back to the compound, passed out in Rebekah's arms. She'd woken up sobbing, lashed out at Klaus and Marcel, then locked herself in her room.

He'd texted MJ to get back soon.

Since Hayley wasn't leaving the compound, he'd been able to sit in the bedroom with Davina while still doing his 'job', learning that Klaus had killed Tim.

Oh, Klaus.

She was mentally facepalming over and over in the taxi.

Josh's messages gave a bit more context. He hadn't heard from Cami or Davina, and then he'd gotten a call from Klaus on an unknown number – Tim's. They'd gotten Davina back to the compound, Josh had gone with Rebekah and the pair to The Garden, so Rebekah could show them 'exactly who Marcel was', and then Tim had drunk poisoned water. They'd given it to Davina, too, except Marcel had made a deal with Sabine to make sure Davina woke up.

MJ had made a call to an estate agent, officially renting an apartment after that reveal, giving account details for the down payment, able to start moving things in the second she was back in the city.

Cami's texts were the last round of information.

She'd been with Davina, except, four witches had managed to track them down before they'd heard about Tim. She'd gotten knocked out, woken up alone, confronted Klaus in the street, but was otherwise completely okay. The witches had been 'dealt with' by Davina, Sabine as the only survivor.

MJ marched right into the compound, dumping her bag in the courtyard and listening out for voices.

She could hear Elijah monologuing from somewhere.

"The Italians call them Strega. The Yoruba of West Africa call them Aje – meaning mother."

Information MJ already knew from her travels.

"Where my mother was from, they called them Häxa, and here we call them witch."

He was in the downstairs living room, door open.

"Over the centuries, vampires have fought them and fought beside them. Bedded them and burned them."

A fun association to make.

"Whether adversary or ally, they are a force to be reckoned with."

Hayley was sitting on the sofa by the covered coffee table, Klaus standing near the door.

"Their ancestral magic anchors this city. There's never been one all-powerful witch until – "

MJ stormed in, "How dare you!"

She slapped Klaus across the face.

"You poisoned her and her first love!"

He rubbed his cheek, "She was a threat!"

"I was a threat!" MJ was seething, "You were a threat! Everyone's a mother-freaking-threat, but she's also a teenager!"

Her shaking fists were stopping her from slapping him again.

"And you knew that if I'd been there, I would've torn you to shreds – so how dare you."

Hayley's eyes jumped between the pair.

Silence.

"I must say," Elijah cleared his throat, "I was going to finish that sentence by saying Davina, but your timing is impeccable, Mira."

"Yeah, well," She sighed, "Had to learn something useful from you people."

Their timing tended to be pretty spot on too.

"Sorry I had to disappear – brought Bonnie back to life."

A far too casual declaration.

"Ish, so, it was kinda important...I'm back, I know what happened, I'm royally pissed off at the cabrón, and I want to see Davina."

"She is tucked in, safe and sound," Klaus taunted, "Down the hall and under my protection."

A collection of A3 papers had been placed on the coffee table, pieced together like a collage, charcoal and pencil lines creating a massive face.

MJ turned a sheet to look at it, anger simmering slightly due to the momentary distraction.

"Your Celeste was quite beautiful," Klaus commented.

"Celeste?" MJ asked.

"A previous witch love of my dear brother here."

"She was one of the many bodies my younger brother has caused me to bury."

"And a portent of evil," Klaus justified, "According to our volatile artist in residence."

"Yes," Elijah's voice was low, eyes pinned to the table, "Perhaps Davina's mistaken what she calls evil for power. Celeste was certainly very powerful in her day."

He sunk to the sofa, head shaking, showing his exhaustion.

"But she's been dead for over two hundred years," His right hand drifted toward the display, "I don't understand. Why all these sketches now?"

MJ pointed out the obvious, "Witches are never truly gone."

They both looked at her.

"And that's even more true with New Orleans ones," She perched on the sofa arm, "They all get tied to the city."

Elijah shook his head, "She requested not to be consecrated, and I made sure she wasn't."

"...Fair enough."

Her mum hadn't wanted to be consecrated because she thought she'd be punished by the ancestors, but she'd also told MJ that once her spirit had found peace, it could be released or tethered to any plane, and it wouldn't make a difference. She'd still be free and at peace.

"So, she isn't just whispering in Davina's ear...hm," MJ didn't like it, "Witch feelings shouldn't be ignored, and it's too much of a coincidence for her to just be drawing one of your girlfriends."

There was a scream and a bang from upstairs.

"Go away!" Davina's voice.

"Come on!" Marcel, "You've got to be starving. You haven't eaten since – "

"Since your best friend killed my best friend?"

The voices got quieter, and MJ looked at the vampires, clearly still eavesdropping.

Klaus noticed her still pissed off face.

"I wonder, Little Bird," He bit into the cheek she'd hit, "Did whoever informed you of our recent events happen to mention the spells Davina was using?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"She forced Elijah to cough up 'innocent blood', and she almost forced me to shift."

"Good for her."

"Those are your tricks."

She blinked and considered it, "Davina was looking through my notebooks."

She'd used the first spell on Stefan and Elena.

"All the spells from the summer after the sacrifice were written for Original Vampires and hybrids – though technically I never used them on you."

He'd only seen the shifting spell on one of the hybrids.

Only one spell had ended up being used against Originals, and it had been on Finn – siphoning as her default with them.

"So," Elijah tried not to sound annoyed, "Not only does she now hate us, but she has knowledge of spells specifically written to take us down."

"Hey," MJ put her hands up, "I doubt she used the actual spells."

Davina hadn't had the time to learn them.

"She has the pure power to do it without a spell. They probably just gave her the ideas – and you guys should've learnt from your experience with me and not killed someone important to her."

The comment was aimed entirely at Klaus, not Elijah.

The vampire in question just poured a drink from the bar station, "Camille also told me you removed her compulsion."

"I told you I would."

"I'd told her to leave town," He huffed, angry, "I told her to never think twice about any of us."

"Knowing the truth actually could've made her do it on her own, and it's still her free will you were meddling with."

She'd lived the whole 'compelling away memories and moving them out of town story before.'

"Remember how you found Jeremy after he was compelled with that exact same instruction?"

He'd lived the story before too.

"Remember how you sent Kol to use him as blackmail?" MJ stood her ground, "Cami is a part of this now, and she needs memories and free will to stay safe. I'm not repeating old mistakes."

There was another scream, a wave of power.

"Well, that's going well," Klaus grimaced.

"If you were trying to win the girl's trust," Elijah's turn to state the obvious, "Perhaps poisoning her one true love was not the most splendid idea."

"Oh," Klaus rolled his eyes, "Are there any more inopportune deaths you'd like to wave in my face?"

"Give me a month," Elijah said with faux cheeriness, "I'll get you list."

"Can I contribute?" MJ smiled sweetly at him, "And can I just write Carol over and over until he remembers I can hex him to feel nothing but acid burning his throat for the rest of his life?"

"Carol wasn't an inopportune death!" Klaus defended.

"But she was a somewhat unnecessary one."

"Young, old, dead, or alive," He brushed into her shoulder, "Witches are a pain in the ass."

He pushed her off the arm and onto the sofa with a light thump, MJ glaring up at him.

There was another smash.

Then a problem.

A beating drum making the room flash yellow in MJ's eyes.

"Davina!" Marcel yelled, panicking.

MJ jumped to her feet and ran to the bedroom, Klaus close behind her.

"Oh my god!" MJ looked at the girl hunched over on her bed.

She was coughing up soil over the white sheets while Sam held her hair back, Marcel kneeling down in front of her.

"What's with all the racket?" Klaus froze at the sight, "Bloody hell."

With each flash pulsing through the air, Davina coughed up more and more, barely able to breathe.

"Look at me," MJ shoved past Sam and Marcel to grip her shoulders, jolted back as a wave of power electrocuted her, "Ooohhh, not good."

She stopped coughing.

"Davina," MJ kept her voice soft, "I'm not doing anything, just stay calm."

She used her fingers to open Davina's eyes wide, inspecting the pupils, the irises, and the tear ducts. Once they'd told her everything they could, she cupped around her jaw to feel her pulse, lastly checking her ears.

"Can you open your mouth for me?"

Davina's jaw slowly opened, looking to the ceiling so MJ could check around her tonsils and throat.

"That's slightly better," MJ stared around the teeth, "No blood, no physical damage yet. Just dirt..."

Marcel still had a hand on the back of her head, "What are you thinking?"

Before she could answer, the pictures on the walls started to shake.

Davina's grip on the sheets got tighter and tighter, desperately trying to keep her mouth shut.

"Davina," Sam grabbed her wrist, only for her hand to wrap around his in a flash, nails digging down, "Ah – aah – "

"Scream," MJ shared a look with Klaus, "Don't hold in – just scream."

She did.

Books crashed off shelves, furniture breaking like brittle bark, MJ barely able to keep herself standing as an earthquake hit the entire building. She was forced to retreat back, hands out to the side as she tried to help.

"Phasmatos Fumos Extas, Tribum Exum Sue."

The shaking got worse.

Marcel and Klaus bolted for the door, grabbing onto the interior balcony railing and watching the daywalkers milling in the courtyard freaking out too, a few rushing in from outside, yelling about how it was in the entire street. MJ refused to leave, especially when Sam was stuck as Davina's stabiliser and looking at her for help.

"Phasmatos Fumos Extas, Tribum Exum Sue," She needed to keep her tone calm, "Phasmatos Fumos Extas, Tribum Exum Sue."

The halting spell wasn't working.

"Davina," MJ bit her lip, "I'm sorry."

She practically leapt forward to make sure Davina didn't try to stop her, hands making contact, turning red, and ripping the power out of her body. For a moment, her scream was even louder, but then, she passed out.

The natural disaster stopped.

Marcel was instantly back in the room, staring at her, "What the hell just happened?"

"Not good," MJ shook out her arms, jumping as she walked back, "Not good at all."

"That's not helpful commentary, Mira," Klaus frowned, standing in the doorway.

They could all hear car alarms filling the streets through the windows, most lamps broken around the yelling pedestrians. MJ was pretty sure she heard someone shouting about the end of the world through the open window in the room, trying to focus on Sam's careful readjustment of Davina's body rather than that.

"Yeah, well," She shuddered, an odd noise in her head, "I...I'm trying to work out what to tell you."

Obviously, it had to be The Harvest – but that was too vague of an answer.

"You okay?" She asked Sam instead.

He nodded, making sure Davina's head was on the pillow, pulling the blanket around her, "I'll get her to eat something when she wakes up."

"Thank you."

Trusting him to handle that, the three of them moved out of the room. It was clear Davina didn't want Marcel's help, so he had to put his faith in the new hybrid – something easier to do when Rebekah quickly joined that room. She'd rather comfort Davina than spend time with her brothers after everything.

MJ started to flick her temples.

Her mind was foggy, but it wasn't like the usual voices she'd hear after siphoning dark magic. These voices weren't trying to make her go insane; they just didn't feel right in her head. MJ hadn't heard New Orleans Ancestral whispers since she'd been eleven. When she'd come back to the city, it had been more like a humming under her steps to remind her magic was literally in the streets.

Siphoning Davina seemed to have got her back on the wavelength.

"This is madness," Klaus was pacing through the study, Elijah leaning on the fireplace at the other end, "How can a seventeen-year-old girl shake the entire French quarter?"

Marcel had his arms crossed, "I've seen her rock the church, but I've never seen anything like this."

"How did you control her when she was in the attic?"

"I didn't have to," Marcel glared, "But then again, I never killed her boyfriend."

"Yes, yes," Klaus sounded exhausted, "We've been over this part already. The point is, in her present state, she's useless as a tool against the witches."

MJ sat on the desk, "She is not a tool."

"Something's wrong with her," Marcel agreed.

"She has too much power, and she can't control it," Elijah stated simply, "That much we already knew."

He walked to the window.

"But why is it manifesting itself in such an aggressive manner?"

They all looked at her.

"I mean..." MJ half-stared at the floor, "It's gonna be Harvest related, right? The Reaping's soon. All that power isn't actually hers – and now it's trying to get out."

Marcel's mouth opened slightly, "Get out?"

"The plan," She gestured to him, "Was to hide her until after The Reaping – so that magic could fade?"

"That was the idea."

"Well, Davina's acting as a host," She stressed, "If the magic's in her, and she's alive, it can't fade."

Something MJ hadn't really thought about until that moment.

"She's a 'real' witch. Her body has two options."

They all exchanged a confused look.

"She can either retain magic or die from too much power," MJ's voice went a little quieter, "Magic doesn't just vanish. That's not how it works."

Part of the reason she didn't understand the whole story of magic fading in the Quarter.

"It's nulled, or moved to a new place...unless the witch is a 'defect.'"

It wasn't fading. It was just getting released. The spirits would stop being a community power store and go back to being personal ones, working through The Other Side the way other witch spirits did.

"Right now, it's in Davina, and my best guess is to say that it's burning her alive," She forced herself to look them in the eye, "To try and return to the city – escape her."

MJ waved a hand.

"That's why I was checking her mouth and hair and eyes. Blood? Tooth decay? Hair coming out? All small signs that mean your body can't take it."

"Way to sugar-coat it," Marcel sighed.

"I'm not sure how else to put it."

Elijah stood up, grabbing his jacket and heading to the door.

Klaus stopped him, "Where are you going?"

"This is Quarter witch business. Let's ask one of them."

MJ nodded, "Just because I know what The Harvest is doesn't mean I know how it works."

Upstairs, Davina was officially awake, barely able to sit up and wrapped up in her blanket, Rebekah retreating away after having a very nervous conversation with her. She didn't really want to talk to any of the Mikaelson Family, staring at the ceiling.

"You have to eat something," Sam was next to her on the bed, sitting on top of the covers, "Davi – "

"I don't want to."

He paused.

The silence meant Davina actually looked at him.

"Davi," He repeated, "D...Vina..."

She shifted up a little, only to get lightheaded.

"No, no, no," He guided her back down, "Either you eat, or you rest."

She glared.

"Vina," Sam picked, "Eat."

"No."

"You really wanna test a hybrid?"

She rolled her eyes.

Another pause.

She snuggled into the pillow, head slowly starting to hurt, "Can you hear what they're saying?"

"Yeah..."

"When did MJ get back?"

"Just before she came in," He let his hand drift onto her covered shoulder, rubbing it, "I heard her slap Klaus on the way up."

"She should kill Klaus."

He laughed, "I think she's more focused on you right now."

Davina didn't respond.

"Please eat," Sam's eyes drifted to the plate of food Rebekah had brought up, placed on a bedside table, "If you don't eat..."

He didn't finish the sentence.

"Do you think I'm dying?"

"I think not eating isn't gonna help you live," Sam lifted the plate, "Please."

She unwrapped herself slightly so her arms could move, taking it.

"Thank you."

"I don't want to die."

"Then you won't."

"But – "

"We'll figure it out, Davina," He shuffled closer, "Coughing up dirt is hardly the weirdest thing to have happened recently."

She didn't look convinced.

"Okay – no, let's not think about this," Sam couldn't help but feel uncomfortable, still able to hear the conversation downstairs, "Something else. Wanna tell me about Tim?"

"There isn't really much to tell, considering I've been locked in an attic for a year."

"Then tell me about you."

"I'm pretty boring."

"Harsh on yourself."

"Well, I wasn't in the crowd you were at school," She shrugged, finally taking a bite of her breakfast, "You're a sports kid. You're not gonna care about the stuff I was into."

"Harsh on me!" He teased, "My life is not summed up in the word 'football' – I don't even play anymore."

"You don't?"

"Don't have the time."

"...Then what do you do?"

"Work," He admitted, voice slightly higher, "I'm somewhat trapped here at the moment, meaning I'm basically compelling my bosses to keep my paycheck."

Davina raised an eyebrow, "You're not at college?"

He shook his head.

"Oh."

"There's something surprising about that?"

"I guess."

"Now that I've shared," Sam settled a little into his spot, "Your turn."

She quietened down.

"You play piano," He said for her, "You like pop tarts."

She curled her lips in.

"You're a....only child?"

"How'd you know that?"

"You give off that energy."

"Hey!" She actually managed to sit up a little, "That's an insult."

He winked.

"Mean."

"You insulted me first. Now talk."

"What's the point in getting to know me if I'm going to die?"

"Because you're not going to die – should I keep guessing, or are you gonna put me out of my misery?"

"Okay," She still felt pretty faint, but she could try not to think about it for a moment.

Elijah was back with Sophie quite quickly, so they could catch her up on their situation, wanting to see if she knew, for certain, what was going on. That ended up with her catching them up on what she'd been up to the previous day; her deal with Hayley.

The wolf would snoop to try and find where Elijah buried Celeste, Sophie digging up the bones.

The same person Davina had been drawing.

MJ was shivering again.

It was definitely a witch omen, and she did, not, like, it.

MJ had done a whole summer of travelling to stop the death shivers, and she did not want to start dealing with that again just because she'd siphoned power from Davina. She didn't even think she'd even taken that much. Being siphoned was painful and tiring, so she hadn't needed to take much to make someone like Davina, young and weak (physical strength wise), pass out.

"You happen to have stolen the remains of the very person that Davina's been drawing for months," Elijah had sat behind the desk, "Would you care to explain this startling coincidence?"

MJ was still sitting on the desk, cross-legged and on his left side as she read through spells she thought might help, a pencil behind her ear so she could edit them.

Rebekah had also decided to join them for this conversation, sitting on the sofa, Klaus by the drinks cabinet, and Hayley... nowhere to be seen.

Marcel had also vanished off somewhere, probably trying to get his own source of information.

"I can't," Sophie looked at the portrait on the table, "I didn't even know who Celeste Dubois was until I – "

There was another scream, the building starting to shake again.

Sophie flinched, attaching herself onto the nearest piece of furniture in shock while the rest of them just sighed.

Even if she wasn't as bothered, MJ did end up gripping onto the table to keep herself steady.

She heard a floating giggle and found herself looking around for the cause.

Sophie looked at their irritated but unsurprised facial expressions once it stopped, "Was that Davina?"

"Charming little habit she's developed," Klaus smiled uncomfortably.

"And the earthquake I felt today?"

"Also Davina," Rebekah confirmed, "And, she's taken to vomiting dirt."

"Oh," Sophie was starting to panic, "We have a huge problem."

She had all of their attention.

"I thought that we had more time," She shook her head, "But we need to complete the Harvest now."

"Said the desperate witch," Klaus took a drink, "Conveniently."

"I'm serious," Sophie had a convincing look on her face, "That earthquake you just felt is a preview of the disaster movie that is about to hit us."

MJ slid off the table, pulled to the window.

"Why should we believe you?"

"You've met Davina," Sophie gestured towards the doorway, "You know her story. For months now, she's been holding all the power of the three girls sacrificed in the Harvest ritual."

What MJ had said earlier.

"A force that was meant to flow through her and back into the earth. One person was never meant to hold that much power!"

Confirming her assumption as accurate.

"It's tearing her apart, and it will take us down with it."

Elijah focused on her, "Mira?"

She tapped on the glass windowpane, head tilting as she inspected it, not sure what she was looking for.

Suddenly, Rebekah's hand touched her shoulder, making her jump, "MJ?"

She hadn't heard Rebekah get up.

A quick throat clear, and MJ turned to face them, "I already told you that it was the power trying to get out."

"What would you know about it?" Sophie frowned.

MJ laughed, "I forgot I wiped you!"

She snapped her fingers, and Sophie doubled over, every conversation where MJ had shown magic knowledge and the moment of revelation in the Bayou hitting her at once.

Klaus shot her a look, "Is that a good idea?"

"I have the book back. Turns out the spell wouldn't even work for them."

Unsurprisingly, they'd need a Floare, born on New Orleans soil, to do it.

"And the vampires all know now, so it's only a matter of time before the witches do."

"Oh my god!" Sophie shot back up to her proper height, stepping away, "You-you're a siphoner."

"I am."

"You broke the hybrid curse."

"I did."

"You're..." Sophie paused, then frowned, "I mean, talking of people not meant to have power."

MJ rolled her eyes.

"She'd know all about it," Her arms crossed, "Siphoners are perfect examples of what happens to witches who steal power from other people. It never ends well."

"Davina didn't steal power, though," MJ sneered, "She had it forced into her by your crazy coven."

"Which is why she can be saved."

MJ curled her lips in.

"In the Floare sacrifice, you die. In ours, the girls come back - that says everything about what nature wants."

"Supposedly," Elijah finally spoke again.

"You want Davina to have a shot? The Harvest needs to be completed."

"Or what?"

Sophie started to explain what was happening to Davina according to the book the Harvest Ritual had come from, and MJ couldn't help but be intrigued by the fact the information had been recorded somewhere. Looking at the timeline, it genuinely seemed like the Harvest had only been performed once before, which made her think the first time must've gone a little wrong too, or they wouldn't have had the faintest clue about what might happen if the Harvest wasn't completed.

As Sophie talked, MJ found herself being pulled to the window again.

She was listening – she was...but...she couldn't ignore the feeling in her gut.

It was a warning, and she needed to work out why.

If the ancestors were seriously trying to offer her guidance, MJ was willing to listen for once – as long as it wasn't completely bogus. She'd listen to try and save Davina.

Once Sophie had finished, everyone split up to share the information; Klaus going to Kieran, Rebekah and MJ going to Davina and Sam, Elijah sticking with Sophie until Marcel arrived for his briefing.

"Hey," MJ approached Davina cautiously, "I'm so sorry about earlier."

Sam stood up so she could shift in the sheets, "You made it stop."

"Ish," MJ twitched a little, "Listen..."

"We've spoken to Sophie Deveraux," Rebekah had a smoother delivery, "And we have an idea about what's going on with you."

Davina nodded.

Both of them took a seat on the bed, Davina shuffling closer to them, eyes darting to Sam, who just tried for an encouraging smile.

"All that power from the Harvest," MJ really didn't wanna say it, "It's consuming you."

"You were helping me control it, though."

"This isn't about control," MJ took her hand softly, "It's about the natural cycle of magic. Since you escaped the Harvest, all that power's been building up inside of you, and you've finally hit the max you can physically take."

Davina started to understand what MJ was saying, shaking her head while lying back down on the bed.

She couldn't sit up anymore.

That wasn't a good sign.

"But there's a plan?" Sam prompted, "Right?"

"Her body's self-destructing."

"As you grow weaker, Davina," Rebekah phrased it a little bit better, "You're going to cycle through the four elements."

"Dirt," Davina realised, "Earth."

"Then comes wind," She confirmed, "And since each stage is more intense than the last...let's just say you'll blow the roof off this place."

Tears started to form in Davina's eyes."

"Then after the wind is water," MJ's voice faltered.

She'd never been good at seeing people cry. Her natural instinct was to help, but she didn't know what she could do to help.

"Which means rain and flooding, and New Orleans doesn't exactly have a good track record with flooding."

"Then me," Davina was staring at her hands, "I was fire."

Sam swallowed, "What will the fire do?"

"It doesn't matter," MJ shook her head, "We can't let it get to fire. Because you won't live through fire."

Rebekah sent MJ a warning glare.

"She needed to know," She firmly believed that, "She needs to understand all of it if she's gonna make a choice."

Davina was completely tense, "A choice about what?"

"They want to complete the Harvest," MJ ripped the band-aid off.

"No – "

"The witches say you'll be resurrected," Rebekah cut her off.

"They're liars!" She was talking in the strained 'I'm trying not to cry' voice, "They'll say anything to get what they want."

Her cheeks were red around her eyes as she kept rubbing them.

"Just like Marcel. Just like you two!"

"No, we're not," MJ hated it.

"You just want power! You don't care."

"Davina," Rebekah put a hand up, "You may think that I don't care about you, but you're wrong."

Her calm expression finally faltered, revealing just how hard she was trying to hold herself together.

"I know what it's like to have your life stripped away from you because of other people's bad decisions."

Davina's breathing became a little steadier.

"How do you think I became a vampire?"

One of MJ's reasons for supporting Team Rebekah during the cure.

Davina considered it, then her eyes started jumping all over the place like she was trying to figure out how to escape on her own, settling on Sam, seeing how tense he was, clearly thinking he'd help.

"D," MJ spoke as warmly as she could, "I'm not going to let you die."

"You clearly are."

"I'm here to let you decide what does on."

There was no chance MJ was just letting the Harvest happen.

"But right now, both doors end in death, and only one of them has a potential to come back attached to it."

"You said sacrificial magic was evil."

"It is, but it's the situation we're in."

"You helped earlier."

"I siphoned you," MJ corrected, "I took enough power to make you pass out – that's not helping."

"It made it stop!"

"For like half an hour."

"Then take the rest of it!"

MJ stared at her hands.

"If you can siphon the power, do that!"

"Davina," Sam had been taking mental notes, "If I'm following this right – if all your magic gets siphoned, you die."

MJ nodded.

"You can siphon compulsion," She argued, "You can take that magic without killing a vampire. Without taking their magic. Just take the Harvest's, and leave mine."

"Let's do it."

"You can't take that much power," Rebekah hissed at her, "You'll die."

"Maybe?"

"Maybe!"

"The Harvest isn't dark magic," She'd siphoned Qetisyah, "I've siphoned you guys before – I've siphoned so much over the years. And I've survived."

"MJ!"

"Look, Davina," She focused on the teenager, "I can try."

Stepping back meant releasing her hand.

"But, that just then?"

Their hands.

"You had just as much, if not, even more, magic than you did earlier."

She could feel it beneath the skin.

"For all we know, you'll just keep recharging, and it could speed up the process if the power comes back stronger to keep you alive each time."

Davina looked ready to cry, "Please try."

"Don't you remember how much it hurt?"

Her voice cracked, "I just want it to go away?"

MJ closed her eyes and held her hand out.

Rebekah was shaking her head, "MJ..."

"She wants me to try; we'll try."

"No – "

"It's her life," Sam defended.

"You don't get a vote in this," Rebekah snapped, "You're the babysitter."

"I am," He nodded vigorously, "One that can have you down with one bite."

Silence.

Given how non-confrontational he'd been the rest of the time, having some sense of respect for the Originals, the outburst was somewhat surprising.

"Careful," Rebekah smiled falsely, "I'd hate to have to compel you to 'sit' and play guard – perhaps you could roll over?"

While the two were locked glaring at each other, Davina took advantage of the distraction, shoving her hands into MJs.

"Thank you."

"You'll probably take that back in a sec," She tightened the hold, hands glowing red.

Siphoning was a skill she'd been working on, but it was like her practice had gone out the window. She didn't want to hurt Davina, but if she did it slowly, it would last long enough to really hurt, but the pain would be sharper if she went quickly.

Davina started to sway, eyes rolling back in her head.

"Someone on her heartbeat?"

"It's speeding up," Sam crept back to the bed, "Your arms?"

Orange light appearing around her wrists.

"Ignore it."

Davina's shoulders were shivering, her entire body starting to tremble like she was being held underwater, freezing and suffocating to death.

Rebekah caved to the situation, grabbing on to steady her, "Is it working?"

"No clue."

MJ couldn't feel a drop in power; she could just feel Davina's body getting weaker.

"No!" Davina started to cry out, tears streaming down her face as she felt her life slipping away, "Please!"

"Her heart's beating too quickly," Sam tugged on her arm, "MJ."

She let go.

Davina didn't seem to register that it had stopped, "No, no, no."

The disjointedness in her eyes was something that MJ recognised. Well, not recognised, but understood. As the magic was pulled out, Davina was dying, but by pulling it out, it was also pulling it closer to the surface, pushing her to a state of mind where power was all she could feel.

The windows burst open, wind blasting through the room.

Not just the room, but the entire house.

The entire French Quarter.

The sound of glass flying everywhere was like a horribly composed piece of music, only getting worse when the cupboard collapsed in the corner of the room – literally being ripped to pieces. When MJ started to feel woozy, the air getting thin, she regripped Davina's hands and finished siphoning enough to make her pass out again.

The display stopped.

Rebekah rubbed Davina's forehead, "Please tell me that helped?"

"I doubt it," MJ sighed.

"We need to do the Harvest."

"No."

"MJ."

"I don't trust it."

"Because you don't believe it'll work?"

"I think sacrificial magic works," MJ tried to think analytically, "I've seen it, and I've used it."

"But?"

"There's something fishy going on."

"Something fishy?"

"All the power I'm taking?" She lifted up her wrists, "It's like I'm getting connected to a supernatural ghost network, and it's...I don't know how to explain it."

"It's warning you against it? The ancestors are telling you not to do it?"

"No," MJ shook her head, "There's something else going on – I don't know what, but I don't trust it."

They looked back to Davina.

"What can I do?" Sam asked her.

"I don't know," MJ would figure it out, "She's not dying."

"Then I'm taking her somewhere else."

"What?" Rebekah looked at him.

"Downstair's are planning to sacrifice her. No," He was fidgeting, "You can't force her, and your family are gonna try."

Rebekah knew he had a point, glancing to MJ, "Go deal with the boy's club. I'll stay too."

MJ pushed up, nodding and heading downstairs.

She couldn't sit there with Davina's paling body.

She couldn't sit there and do nothing, and she felt like she was doing nothing – and it was driving her insane.

Was downstairs better?

Not necessarily – but it was different, and it meant she could try and think.

Magic was screaming at her. She just needed to figure the message out and save Davina. She could save Davina. She always saved the day; she'd spent years saving the day for other people. She refused to fall short now when it was someone she cared so much about. When it was someone she related to so much.

No one had been there to help her for so long; she couldn't let history repeat.

But she didn't have a clue what to do.

Sophie wasn't anywhere to be seen, but Klaus had returned from his trip to Kieran, meaning it really was the full boy's club in the living room. Elijah, Marcel, and Klaus. Elijah was pacing up and down while Marcel had so much tension in his body that MJ was convinced he might explode.

The entire house was a mess.

Anything previously hung up was either on the floor or tilted, the furniture completely rearranged and tipped over.

Elijah shook his head, "You sedated her too heavily,"

He and Klaus were walking through the courtyard as they talked, Marcel heading up and down the stairs.

"Actually," MJ put her hands up, "We didn't sedate her. I siphoned her again."

"I thought doing that glowing thing stopped magic," Marcel was staring daggers at the floor.

"Siphoning hurts. It was a reaction to the pain."

"And why were you doing it?" Elijah looked at her like she was crazy, picking up a chair to place it upright, "If it – "

"Davina asked me too," MJ kept her voice as calm as possible, "She doesn't want to die, she thought siphoning would be a loophole, so I had to try."

Klaus gave her a look.

"What?"

"The last time you siphoned an ancestral well, you exploded."

It didn't take a genius to spot her wrists.

"Are we about to have two problems?"

She shook her head confidently, "Nope."

With a quick movement of her hands, the room properly straightened out.

"How are you handling the power?"

"Davina's young," MJ shrugged, "She has the potential to be incredibly strong, but she isn't trained. She doesn't know how to handle magic."

Her summer of training was paying off.

"Unless I siphon pure dark magic, I should be good."

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "No witchy whispers?"

"Oh," MJ shook her head, "No, I have plenty of those."

"And what are they saying about the situation?"

"They're chanting."

"Chanting what?" Elijah stilled.

"The four elements," She looked to the staircase, Marcel edging back down it, "It's like I have strings attached to my hands."

Closing her eyes, her body would start to move on its own.

"Trying to tug me places...this morning it was like a shiver, but now I'm just hearing different terms for the four elements in a Latin-French-Creole Frankenstein language."

"Shivering," Klaus focused, "That means a death."

She nodded.

Marcel's eyes finally left the floor, "What?"

"Mira is quite familiar with spirits, has a bit of a speciality."

"I went through a phase where I'd feel the death of anyone close to me in some weird and intense way."

But she should've been past it.

"I found a way to stop it since it was literally killing me, but I'm still a witch. I'm tuned in when it comes to intensely powerful situations."

"And you felt one of them this morning?"

"Yeah..."

"It just means what we already know," Klaus took control of the conversation, "Davina must be sacrificed."

"No way," Marcel leapt off the staircase, "You're not touching her!"

He punched Klaus in the face, knocking him back and then going for another hit, except Elijah quickly stepped between to calm him.

'The Boys Club'

It wasn't like MJ was against punching the feelings out; it just felt a little cliché for the three of them.

"Okay," Klaus rubbed his face angrily, "I'll let you have that one."

"No one wishes to see Davina come to harm, less than I," Elijah tried to reason with Marcel, "But there is no scenario here in which we simply wait this out – she's going to die."

"According to Sophie," Marcel batted Elijah's hand off his chest, "The witch who screwed over everybody here."

The chanting grew a little bit louder, and MJ could hear the wind whistling in the street again.

Letting her feet move towards the entrance foyer, her arm lifted to feel the breeze.

"The Harvest was working before it was stopped," Elijah's voice trailed off as he watched her.

'Ana Ruiz'

That wasn't chanting.

'Celeste Dubois, Alphonz Delgallo'

"Um," MJ looked back, hand still stretched forward, "Can you guys feel that?"

They all shared a look.

"The wind?"

"Mira," Klaus pulled her back, "You may be able to hold the magic, but it still plays games with your mind."

"I know," She waved her hands, "That's why I was checking."

'Ana Ruiz'

She spun in a circle, "Ignore me and keep talking."

Elijah looked ready to down a bottle of bourbon at that declaration but did as instructed.

"If a nonbeliever like Sophie Deveraux can come to have faith that these girls will be resurrected," His arms came out to the side, "Then I, also, am a believer."

"I saved Davina from the Harvest," Marcel shook his head, pushing past him to reason with Klaus, "And now you want me to just hand her over?"

"Do you think that I'm happy about this?" Klaus's eyes were moving between Marcel and MJ, "If the witches complete the Harvest, not only do they regain their power, we lose our weapon against them."

The disgust about Klaus's priorities was evident across Marcel's face – and completely justified.

"The earthquake?" He'd somewhat drunk the kool-aid, "I was willing to chalk up to hideous coincidence, but these winds?"

Klaus shook his head.

"If Davina is not sacrificed, every inch of earth that shook? Everything blowing about? Will soon be drenched in water and consumed by fire."

"Oh!" Marcel clapped sarcastically, "Now you care about the city!"

"We ought to," Elijah scowled, "We built it."

MJ rolled her eyes, thinking, 'Men.'

'Genevieve Brodeur, Bastianna Natale'

"And we all saw it burnt to the ground," Klaus played middle-ground for once, "Twice."

After so many months of being in each other's lives, MJ could tell he was genuinely upset.

"I will not let that happen again. Do I make myself clear?"

Silence.

Klaus held his gaze until Marcel started to nod, "Yeah."

The tone was bitter.

MJ took another step, a glass starting to ring in response, shaking on the table.

She cleared her throat, "It's not our choice to make."

A slow inhale, and the glass stilled.

Marcel paused, looking between it and her.

"It's Davina's life. She's the one who gets to make this call."

"She'll say no!" Klaus protested.

'Celeste Dubois, Alphonz Delgallo'

"Then she says no."

"And the city burns?" Elijah lamented.

MJ growled, closing her eyes to keep it together.

'Genevieve Brodeur, Bastianna Natale'

"She's dying," She opened them, "This might be the last choice she gets to make, and we are not taking it away from her."

Klaus looked ready for murder, "So, we all suffer because a child refuses to die!"

That was the last straw for Marcel, storming ut as MJ's eyes scanned every detail of the room, walking firmly to a wall so her palm could graze over it.

'Celeste Dubois, Alphonz Delgallo'

She picked at a brick.

"Not a people person, are you, Niklaus?" Elijah sighed.

"Nonsense. I love people."

Elijah and MJ laughed.

"Just on my way to warn a couple of prominent ones in case the weather gets out of hand," He rubbed his hands together, "If you fancy yourself as 'plus diplomatique', perhaps you'd like to come along."

"No," He grimaced, "Soon, Sophie Deveraux shall be consecrating Celeste's remains, and though her actions are reprehensible...I should pay my respects."

Elijah went to head to the door.

He only stopped because a bit of chipped brick tumbled to the floor, screams erupting from the spot, causing her to flinch, covering her ears until it stopped.

Klaus crept towards her, "Mira."

"To be reborn, we must sacrifice."

"Mira!?"

She turned to face him, hands dropping, "What?"

Elijah took a step closer too, "Did you hear what you just said?"

"...No..."

"Get it out," Klaus pointed at her firmly, "Go wherever you have to go and scream that magic out – now."

"Wait," She shook her head, "They're listing names. What did I say?"

"To be reborn, we must sacrifice," Hayley answered from the doorway.

Elijah went stiff.

"That's," Hayley tried not to let the reaction bother her, "What you said."

MJ had no clue why she'd say that.

She knew it was one of the phrases from the Harvest mumbo jumbo, but why would it come to her?

'Genevieve Brodeur, Bastianna Natale'

"Ana Ruiz," Her head swayed, "A sacrifice of power – the spirit we are owed."

She gasped awake, Klaus's hand gripping her arm, "Mira."

Elijah turned back to the door, "I'll tell Sophie to hurry up,"

"Do you have a minute?" Hayley intercepted.

"Just on my way out," He was gone without a second glance.

Klaus snickered a little, "Which one of us is the people person again?"

Hayley sighed, looking at the people she was with and focusing on MJ.

"What's happened to you?" Her tone was careful.

"Lesson for the future," MJ rubbed her still glowing wrists, "Don't siphon the creepy teen sacrifice magic from Davina."

"Let it out," Klaus repeated.

"No," She crossed her arms, "They're talking to me. I'm not letting it out until I understand the message."

He crossed his arms, "I'm almost certain the ancestors hate you."

"They do," She wasn't about to deny that, "But there's something up in the air today, and it's not just Davina's magic outbursts."

"And?"

"If I'm the only person who can listen to them – Sophie isn't an elder yet; I need to listen."

"It's witches, Mira," He rolled his eyes, "It'll be the same old death and destruction prophecy it always is."

She didn't believe that.

They were repeating her mother's name and four others, one of which happened to be the remains they were using to make Sophie an elder.

Wait.

MJ put a finger up, "I'll – I'll be fine."

She headed to the stairs.

"Mira!" He called after her, "Mira, what's going on?"

"Davina's not dying today," She headed towards her room of the compound, "I'll figure it out."

That wasn't completely true.

She closed the door behind her and summoned a scrap of paper, writing a quick message she could burn while searching through draws for a more powerful halting spell than the one she'd used in the morning. Or any spell that would help. She had one. She had too big of a collection not too.

Qetsiyah's book.

She'd just been part of a ceremony that involved tethering a mass amount of power to a person, from another person. If she could find a way to combine that with the Floare necklace, maybe she could tether the power of the Harvest to something else and save Davina.

"Neat trick," Marcel was on the room's balcony doorway holding up the note, "But I'm not in the mood for you to play Klaus-advocate."

She slammed the desk draw shut, "Did you not hear a thing I said down there – we're not sacrificing Davina."

He took a step inside the room and looked around, "You really tidied it up."

She shrugged.

He then looked at the books, "Is this something to save her?"

"Potentially," MJ snapped her fingers to summon another two select pages, "But in reality, we don't have enough time for me to experiment and search."

Time was the first problem she needed to fix.

She needed time to figure out the ancestral message, and she needed time to save Davina.

"Not when they're getting ready to kill her."

"You're not on board?"

"Why would I be on board?"

"Fair enough," He was just on the offence a little, "You don't have faith?"

She rubbed her eyes, "I think it could work."

He straightened up, uneasy.

"But it's not my life I'm risking. It's hers."

"It's not our choice to make."

"Exactly."

"And if we let the power just ride through," His natural confidence completely slipped away, a new look on him that she wasn't quite sure how to respond to, "And the city burns?"

"I'm not going to let her burn to ashes," She counted the pages she'd already summoned, "I'll put her in a suspended state or something."

She picked up a book with a suspension spell inside, one she'd grabbed after Egypt to try and work out how Spirit Walkers could hold themselves out of time without burning themselves up.

"Resurrection is a thing," MJ's words slowed down, "Especially when it comes to witches."

She was proof.

"But if she doesn't want to die having her throat slit, if she doesn't have faith, I'm not letting it happen."

Marcel smiled, "Sounds like you wanna break her out."

"Figured you were planning on doing it anyway."

He nodded.

Then he asked another question, "What was all witch nonsense down there?"

"My second reason for needing you here," She pointed, "You said you buried my mum."

He gave her a look, "Is this important, because if it can wait for another ti – "

"I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't relevant to our current situation."

The longer he looked at her, he closed his eyes and caved.

"I doubt you want to know this," He rubbed the bridge of his nose, "The witches tried to dump it in the river, so I had Theirry fish it out, then buried it somewhere safe.

"Well," MJ turned awkward, "How would you like to potentially dig that body up for me?"

"Why?"

"Because the ancestors are yapping in my ear and listing names. Hers is one of them."

"And?"

"Alongside Celeste Dubois," MJ explained, "I'm assuming they're listing the names of witches who weren't consecrated."

He realised what she was saying, "You wanna use your mum's – but, her spirit isn't there? She can't turn you into an elder."

"No," MJ picked up the stone she'd already put on the table, "It's in there. I can return it, consecrate her, and click boom, way to make an elder."

Her mum had found peace. She wouldn't end up trapped on the ancestral plane, and her mum had given her her blessing to do it – it was like she'd known MJ would need it.

God, how did her mum always know?

He shook his head, "Sophie's on it, and I'd rather only have one elder to worry about."

"Marcel," She took a step closer to him, "Something is up with all of this. If I'm the one doing it, I can control it."

He considered it, "You really wanna see your mum's dead body?"

"Already have," MJ grimaced, "Held the ripped-out heart and everything, so...How much worse can it get?"

"Bodies decompose."

She shuddered, "I'll deal."

"How about we get D outta here first, then discuss grave robbing?"

"It's not technically robbing," She opened the door to the rest of the house, "You put it there."

"Klaus isn't home," He listened out, "Neither's Hayley, Elijah, or Rebekah."

"Perfect timing then."

Rushing to Davina's bedroom meant getting through the two vampire guards, but considering it was MJ and Marcel, they didn't really question why they wanted to go inside. Though, they were watching them with beady and untrusting eyes.

Then it was Sam.

Davina was still unconscious, him sitting next to her on the bed, letting her snuggle into his arm with a set of sedatives in his hands. Her legs were bent up slightly in the light blue sheets, a cream dress that had been stained from the dirt keeping her warm.

They'd clearly decided she needed to be kept asleep.

It was inhumane.

Keep her down, wake her up groggy, then slit her throat before she could have enough concentration to fight them off. None of them seemed to realise that it wouldn't be happening if they forced Davina into it. The magic would release, the same way it had been all day – growing with her emotional state. They'd all end up dead in the fallout before Sophie even had a chance to complete the Harvest.

If Davina had been able to make Klaus shift then snap his neck, well...MJ remembered that Elijah's original plan to kill Klaus had involved using how weak his body would become mid-transformation.

It took a minimum of one hundred dead witches to kill an Original, and there were more than a hundred on the Ancestral Plane, all funnelled into Davina.

Sam looked at them and straightened up, "You know..."

Marcel looked ready to rip his head off.

"I can be a really dumb jock sometimes," His smile was casual, "I can go searching the city for Hayley as if she didn't go off with Klaus – because! How was I supposed to know she was with him?"

MJ smiled.

"No one thought to actually tell me," Sam was a little too good at eavesdropping.

Marcel was still glaring.

"Plus," He stood up slowly, giving Davina one final look, "Hybrids are faster than vampires."

In a second, he was by the door, both guards dropping to the floor with an incredibly satisfying thump.

"Gross," Sam cringed, "I've never snapped necks before – that felt wrong!"

"It's for a good cause," MJ reasoned, letting Marcel process the exchange, "I'll wipe their minds too, so the story seems believable."

"Get her out," He tried for a smile, then was gone.

MJ knelt down, hands waving over their faces.

"And they won't remember us?" Marcel checked.

"Yep."

"That's," He really looked at her again, "Useful."

"Mhm," She nodded.

He picked Davina up in his arms, letting MJ lead them out of the compound.