- meant to post this yesterday but came down with something, hence why I haven't looked at comments yet, but I will soon because I love reading them :) <3

MJ had been invited to the grand reopening of St Anne's Church, but she'd opted not to attend. It had been five days since she'd felt Papa Tunde die, and nothing had happened, meaning she'd either been tricked into thinking he'd died, or the Harvest girls were genuinely gone for good.

She liked stained glass.

She liked the architecture of religious buildings.

She'd happily go to a church for an artistic purpose.

And for supernatural missions.

But she didn't like actually attending church.

Instead, she'd decided to spend her morning in The Cemetery, taking a few pictures and getting a general vibe from the ancestors. She needed to work out if they'd been warning her about hijacked power or trying to involve her in it.

Her phone kept beeping.

Messages from Ty and Caroline that made her nauseous.

Caroline seemed ready to christen herself as Satan for having sex with somebody, and Tyler seemed to be building up to a nervous breakdown. They needed to talk to each other. To actually argue out the situation, with words, so they could get to a better place.

Then there was Elena.

Still messaging her to prove that she wanted to be her friend.

It was a lot closer to the relationship they'd had during Junior Year – when Elena had been coming to MJ over the Salvatore's when it came to Elijah and Klaus. Their old levels of trust and communication.

At least, it seemed like their Junior Year relationship until she started asking MJ about her love life.

- You've gotta be having sex with somebody

- You're too hot to not be

'I'm a little preoccupied, lmao.'

- Preoccupied ;)

'No winky face. Genuinely busy with New Orleans Supernatural stuff.'

- Sad

- If I ask Caroline and I find out you're lying to me...

'I'm not.'

- Would it be weird for me to ask about Kol?

'Yes.'

- Can I anyway?

'You're clearly on a love life mission, so go ahead.'

- How was it

'How was what?'

- You know

- The ;)?

'Yeah, this is weird.'

- Weird because it's me or weird because you never talk about it.

'Both'

- Come on. New world order.

- Damon-less Elena wants to be a good friend, and that involves asking how sex with the Original was

'Ooohhhh'

- What are you Ooohhh-ing about?

'You wanna talk about your love life.'

'If you wanna get back with Damon, that's your business.'

- I don't

'Seriously?'

- No.

- In fact, if I'm being honest

- I've really been missing Stefan recently.

'Missing or been into?'

- Both.

'Okay, step back and remember that I am technically his friend first.'

'Your break-up broke him.'

- I know

- I hate myself for how it happened

- But

- It's complicated

'Nu-uh, you can't use the sire-bond complication excuse. Not with me.'

'You were pretty damn adamant it wasn't the bond, and I saw you falling for Damon over the summer, pre-vampire drama too. You can't just use the easy excuse right now.'

'If you really think you're catching feelings again, as Stefan's friend, do not go there unless you are one hundred per cent certain.'

'And also remember, he's not Damon.'

'He won't wanna hurt Damon the way he was hurt.'

- Damon's gone MIA on us.

'Even more of a reason why Stefan won't.'

'Seriously Elena. Don't do this to him again.'

- And what if I am one hundred per cent certain?

- Do you think Stefan would take me back?

'I have no clue.'

'And I won't be asking for you.'

'Like I said. He's been crushed, and playing friend with you might help him come to terms, but if he's putting in the work to be a good friend, you can't knock that down. Not again.'

- You really care about him, don't you?

'Don't jump to no humanity you's obsession with him and me. It's just friendship.'

- You sure?

- Not in a jealous way, just a curious one

- Because if you did, I'd totally get it

'I'm not into him that way. I just love him, and I want him to be okay.'

- Really?

- Just general love

If MJ was trying to be good with Elena, she needed to be honest. Stefan was an incredibly limbo topic for them, especially after the no humanity episode. Without a filter blocking her thoughts, Elena had made it clear she thought something had been going on between them.

'When we kissed, part of me was waiting for the fireworks to kick in, but they didn't.'

'Maybe it was because of how close it was to Kol's death.'

'Or maybe it's because I've always been really in control about how I feel about people, and I'd dubbed him as a friend, so my brain just wasn't going to register it as a romantic thing.'

'But he only ever gets caught up in feelings for me when he's overly emotional and upset.'

'And I've never been caught up in my feelings for him. Not properly anyway.'

- Not properly?

'I only find him hot when his humanity switch is off, or when he's being threatening, so...'

'I think that says everything about my damage *peace sign*'

- It's good that you're always there for him.

'If you do think you're falling again, Elena, be smart about it.'

'Please'

'And be aware that trying to rekindle things might not actually be the best thing for him.'

- It's Stefan, MJ

- Stefan.

- How could I not fall for him?

- I loved him

- He's my love story

- I screwed it up by loving them both, and I can't act like I didn't, but I can love Damon, and I can fall out of love with him, but Stefan?

- Stefan feels like somebody I'm meant to spend eternity with

- And maybe you can blame it on some belief in this whole doppelgänger soul mates thing

- But I don't.

- I know that I love him.

- That I've always loved him.

'Okay then.'

'But you need to wait.'

'Until whatever's going on with Damon's all blown over.'

- Your turn now.

'Already told you. Haven't got anything other than budding friendships going on over here.'

- I meant about Kol.

MJ considered it.

She didn't know what was going on with Elena, but maybe entertaining her quest for answers would be fun.

They hadn't had girl talk since...if MJ actually thought about it – since Stefan left with Klaus. Stefan leaving, MJ hiding the fact she'd kept in contact with Klaus, and Elena falling for Damon but being in denial about it had practically ended that side of their friendship.

'How come you're suddenly so interested?'

- I wanna hear about your feelings, MJ.

- Even if I then have to feel guilty about stuff, I wanna hear about you.

- And

- I also think it could help Caroline work through whatever she's feeling.

- Because she's in total denial about the Klaus thing being anything more than an accident

- And I think that label is making everything with Tyler worse

- Since he clearly thinks it's more

- And everyone else seems to think it might've been more too

'I agree, to a degree.'

'She needs to admit it wasn't an accident.'

'Whether that's admitting he got under her skin or admitting she just wanted to have sex with somebody so didn't think.'

'Or even admitting that a dark part of her wanted to hurt Ty.'

'But I think she needs to do that, and I don't think hearing me talk will help her do that.'

- If you won't talk, how is she supposed to?

'It's different.'

'She had a one-night stand in a forest. I cared about Kol.'

'Like, a lot.'

'And despite not doing conventional dating stuff, it was pretty well established, to each other, that we were together and that it meant something.'

- Breakthrough!

MJ hadn't even meant to send the message, but once she'd started typing, the words had come.

'And I screwed it up by pushing him away.'

- Or I could've not killed him

- Because of the sire-line, and because I give everyone else fifty million chances

'I appreciate you saying that.'

- Anything else you wanna admit??

'You really want to know about the sex, don't you?'

- Pardon me for being curious

'You're not usually like this.'

- We've missed out on a lot of talking about this type of stuff, and it's not like I can have a two-sided conversation with Bonnie.

- That would be gross

- I don't wanna know about Jeremy

'V true.'

- Now spill

'What do you want me to say!'

'Of course it was good.'

- But how good?

- Mind-blowing good?

'I'm literally in a Cemetery right now, so I'm ending this conversation here.'

- Creepy

- Have fun

It wasn't like MJ was stalking Sabine, but the fact that Sabine's Cemetery Tour happened to coincide with her visit wasn't a complete coincidence either. MJ was convinced she was Celeste. It felt so right in her head, and Elijah said he'd look into, but then retreated into his room.

MJ put her hand on one of the tombs.

She'd been pulled towards it, magic coming from inside.

Dark Magic.

When she started to inspect the names, she realised it was Davina's.

The Claire Family tomb.

Kol's dark object office...

An investigation for another day because, God knows, she'd get distracted if she tried to get inside now – and going inside without Davina felt wrong.

MJ knelt down while twirling her hands, briefly checking to see if anyone was watching, before starting to grow flowers out of the cracked stone floor.

Red poinsettias. The Christmas Flower.

It was the start of February, but MJ didn't care. Davina had missed Christmas anyway, and it was technically still winter. The layered, leaf-shaped petals made her smile, the bright colour eye-catching compared to the dreary setting they were in. And, most importantly, they represented cheer and celebration.

MJ would have a celebration with Davina once they'd gotten her back. One for the birthday she'd spent in the attic, and one for the Christmas she'd been dead.

The flower was the promise of that.

...In a way, the flowers were also for Kol.

He'd died at the end of January, which meant it was officially a year, and Christmas had been his holiday...so...

MJ had practically grown a bouquet when she started to hear a whisper in her ear.

No specific words – but something.

It was almost like breathing.

Heaving, slightly raspy breathing.

"Each tomb is well cared for," Sabine was gesturing around to the tour group behind her.

MJ wasn't the only 'local' in the graveyard. She'd seen two other people leaving flowers for someone a row over, and a man near the entrance while the herd or tourists bustled about.

"Families honour their dead with displays of affection and respect."

As Sabine led the group past her, the noise became louder.

"Is someone there?"

MJ froze.

"This place belongs to the Deveraux family."

She pushed through the crowd.

"Known throughout The Quarter for their strong connection to witchcraft."

People lifted phones, the sound of cameras clicking and lights flashing sending MJ's nerves over the edge.

"Please help me!"

The voice was begging.

"And, if you look close," Sabine put her hand on the front of the tomb, "These fresh bricks tell us someone in the family has recently fallen."

MJ finally made it to the front, hand going on the wall.

"MJ," Sabine said with a polite smile on her face, "You're kinda in the way of the pictures."

Her hand lifted up and pointed, "She's in there."

"Um?"

"Monique..." MJ didn't recognise the voice, but her head was screaming that it was Monique, "I can hear her – "

She started slamming her hand into the brick, wincing at the pain but trying to dislodge it without busting out real magic in front of a group of humans.

"Monique!" She called again, feeling a shift on the other side, "MONIQUE!"

An ear-piercing screech echoed out from inside, blasting through the bricks and shoving MJ back, crumbling dust catching in her hair as a young girl crawled out, tumbling into the dirty ground, still in her white Harvest dress, blood staining the neckline.

The tourists started clapping. Even more people were pulling out phones to take pictures, muttering about how long they thought the girl had been waiting to jump out at them and whether or not placing mock explosives in a graveyard was safe.

MJ scrambled back towards the tomb, pressing her fingers under the girl's jaw to take her pulse.

"Hello, Monique," Sabine's voice was different, somewhat lower, "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"We need to get her out of sight," MJ offered Monique a hand she hesitantly took.

"You're the siphoner."

MJ pulled her up.

"You tried to help Davina."

"How do you know that?" She guided her to the side, into the Devereaux Crypt so she could sit on the visitor's bench, hidden from the photos as more tourist gathered.

"They told me."

MJ didn't like that, "The ancestors?"

"They told me you'd find me."

Sabine looked at her, "You said you heard her?"

"...I did."

"Your French Quarter roots are starting to show," Sabine said almost teasingly, "Don't blow it."

MJ narrowed her eyes, "Blow what?"

"Their acceptance."

Monique's big eyes focused on each of their faces.

"Their guidance."

"Um," MJ focused back on the girl, "Would you be okay with me checking your head?"

"Why?" Monique's voice was soft.

"To make sure it's you in there."

"Who else would I be?"

"Don't worry," MJ gave her a warm smile, "It's a simple kinda thing, just to check your brain's alright, and that your body's healthy...you know? Not changed from being on the ancestral plane. Death is hardly good for you."

Though Monique seemed a little uneasy, she managed a smile too, "Okay."

Sabine stepped back, calling Sophie, while MJ went through as many health check-up spells she could, as well as some she'd written to do with The Other Side. Ways for her to keep tabs on Matt as he started to use the Gilbert Ring.

Dying always came with consequences, and their experience showed it tended to cloud the mind with dark magic.

Monique's brown eyes were slightly intimidating, big, ready to see everything, long curly brown hair.

With each spell MJ cast near her, her olive skin gained colour, and it didn't take long for her to look like someone who'd spent a holiday tanning rather than someone who'd been dead for a year.

"Monique?" Sophie came into view, having run through the tourists, "You're alive!"

She almost tackled Monique off the bench with her hug.

"Well," MJ stood up, "I'm going witch-hunting."

Sabine looked at her, "Huh?"

"That's one innocent girl back. Three more are still waiting," MJ looked her dead in the eye, "I'm going to get them back too. Kill the people stealing their lives."

"You almost sound like you're threatening me."

"Now, why would I be doing that, Sabine?"

Her face changed for a second, losing any semblance of friendliness before putting it back on and stepping out of MJ's way, motioning for her to get on with it.

MJ looked back to Monique, still in Sophie's arms.

She didn't have a smile on her face anymore.

She noticed MJ watching, "Are you really going to hurt other witches?"

"I..." MJ need to be careful.

"She's a siphoner," Sophie answered for her, "It's what she does."

Monique shuffled out of her grip.

"Actually," MJ crossed her arms, "It's because I think it's disgusting that someone stole the power and stopped teenagers from coming back."

She sent another pointed look at Sabine.

"It's not natural, and it's certainly not the balance the ancestors preach."

She needed to seem like she was reasonable, playing by the rules, even if she was technically starting a witch fight; otherwise, she'd just be seen as the enemy.

"Dead witches shouldn't steal the lives of living ones. Especially innocent teenagers."

With that message, she left to find Klaus,

And Marcel,

And Elijah,

She needed to tell a lot of people about Monique.

And then she needed to start researching the other names on the list the ancestors had given her. MJ didn't have a clue what any of them looked like, beyond her assumption that Sabine was Celeste, and she couldn't start a fight with every unfamiliar face she saw. She also didn't want to start fights until she knew what she was getting herself into, but finding out about witches wasn't exactly easy.

New Orleans had been covering up the supernatural for years, meaning most of the information she needed had been buried in a record draw somewhere she didn't know about.

It was less than ideal.

If she'd tried fighting Papa Tunde without knowledge of sacrificial magic, she would've been screwed, and she didn't want to find herself getting caught out.

Sabine, Celeste, whatever; MJ could risk angering her.

She didn't seem to be a specialist outside of body jumping.

The others could be anything.

At The Abattoir, she didn't find Klaus though, she found a body.

"Oh my god!"

Papa Tunde's body.

"What's wrong?" Diego appeared then stopped, "That's..."

"Yep."

"Klaus is still at the Church – so is Marcel."

"I'll call him."

Her dialling speed was quick.

"Mira!" He greeted a little too happily, meaning she'd interrupted a tense conversation, "Interesting timing. The Pastor was just asking for your whereabouts."

"We've had a..." She looked at the body, putting the phone on speaker, "Special delivery...You need to get back to the Compound."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

The body wasn't just dumped. It was placed in the middle of a salt circle; one large circle, an upside-down triangle in the centre, a line through the middle, and two curves coming from its base. If that hadn't been creepy enough, the white linen suit was completely stained in blood from a slit throat.

"Either our witch problems are over," Diego answered for her, "Or they're just get started."

"Started," She decided, "Very much, started."

"Be back soon."

Klaus hung up, and MJ watched as Diego scanned the body up and down.

He then looked at her, "Is this like, normal for witches?"

"Sacrificial magic or body dumping?"

"Both."

She pulled a face, "Depends on the witch."

"You?"

"I'd like to say no, but everyone has their moments."

"Marcel told us you would've had to sacrifice people to break Klaus's curse."

"Yeah," MJ knelt down on the edge of the circle, "I did."

"And – "

"I swear, Diego," She lent down to run her finger along the outline, "If you ask me another question about being a witch, I'm going magic whammy you to sleep for the next century."

"Sorry," He grumbled.

She sighed, "I get being curious – god knows I'm the type that asks too many questions, but you're always asking, and not in a friendly way. In the 'I'm looking for a reason to hate you' way."

MJ knew the difference quite well.

"And you're waiting for that answer so you can lump me into the witch pile in your brain."

He didn't respond.

"We're not all child-sacrificing loons," She risked placing her hand properly on the salt, "Just like not all vampires are rippers."

Nothing happened.

She put her hand over the circle.

Nothing.

She wiped two fingers through it, breaking the circle.

Not even a buzz of magic in her head.

He broke the silence, "Whatcha think of the line-up then?"

Wednesday At the Square.

The common ground she'd found for him and Sam, that they'd then done nothing with.

She stood up and smiled, "I think I can't wait for March to get here."

"Yeah, if we're not still at war for our city, we might actually get a chance to check the music out."

"Eh, even if we are," MJ 'argued', "We can't let 'the end of the world' stop us from having a good time."

Elijah was the first one to get back from wherever he'd been that morning, instantly taking MJ's place, crouching down to inspect the body as Marcel and Klaus rushed in. MJ would've found the idea of either of them sitting through church quite amusing if there hadn't been a dead body in the courtyard.

Elijah hesitantly moved like he was going to touch the salt, then turned to MJ.

"No magic," She stepped onto it, showing that nothing happened, "It's all for show."

Diego started to back away, talking to the vampires milling around The Compound while the main group handled it. 'Handling it' wasn't the right word. Klaus was rolling his eyes at Elijah playing detective over the body, carefully lifting up Tunde's collar to look at the neck wound.

"Can I get you anything, brother?" He leaned forward, "A magnifying glass?"

"A pipe, perhaps?" MJ suggested.

"Ah yes! He used to have one."

"Do either of you have a theory you'd like to share with us?" Elijah retorted.

"Back in the day," Marcel spoke up, "When witches wanted to send a threat, they'd kill a chicken and dump it on your doorstep."

"It's rather a large and ominous chicken," Elijah stood up, "Wouldn't you say?"

Marcel just shrugged.

"Slightly less ominous news," MJ spoke up, "Monique Deveraux rose from the dead this morning."

They all went wide-eyed.

"Though, it could also be interpreted ominously depending on who you are," Her voice went a little quieter, "But, here we have a dead Tunde, and I got to see an alive Monique at the cemetery, so...what are we planning?"

Klaus walked round the body, "Papa Tunde defeated Rebekah with ease."

He looked at Marcel and MJ.

"Almost got the three of us as well," He shook his head, "If he was supposed to be the prizefighter, why leave him in our front yard? Why kill him?"

"Because they have something worse," MJ didn't like it, not when Esther Mikaelson was technically on her list of names.

Esther's last master plan from beyond the grave had cost her Ric, almost killed her twice, and almost killed the Originals. The paranoid part of MJ's head had to assume all of the resurrected witches would somehow lead back to her.

Rebekah stormed in, "A girl literally exploded from a grave today – Monique Deveraux."

She turned to MJ when she didn't get a reaction out of anyone.

"What happened to you?"

MJ motioned to the dead body on the floor, "To me?"

Rebekah walked over Tunde to pull at the side of MJ's head, "You have brick in your hair."

"Oh...yeah," She looked at the tiny piece Rebekah held forward, "I was there when Monique woke up. Caught in the blast zone."

"Which explains why everyone knows," She shook out MJ's hair some more to get the remaining stone chips out, "You have dust on your nose too."

"The tourists were all taking pictures thinking it was part of the show," MJ paused as Rebekah squished her cheeks before stepping back, hair clear of debris, "It was kinda a nightmare."

Rebekah glanced to the door, "The witches are celebrating like it's some kind of bloody miracle."

"Maybe it is," Marcel stepped forward, "They think that all hope is lost, but suddenly a Harvest girl gets resurrected?"

MJ smiled at him, "We're gonna get Davina back."

"Just gotta kill the witch who took her place," He agreed, "If we work out which one it is."

"Celeste," Hayley was standing on the balcony, "I mean, it's got to be."

She held out the giant scrapbook face Davina had drawn.

"Davina was trying to tell us – she was drawing pictures of Celeste," Hayley voiced exactly what MJ had been theorising before, "She was warning us that a great evil is coming."

"Um," MJ out a hand in the air, "I feel like this is the right moment to mention that I basically told Sabine I was gonna kill her this morning."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her while Klaus laughed, "You did what?"

"I didn't threaten her. I just carefully implied things," She clarified, "So if she is Celeste, she'll be starting whatever plot she has soon to combat that."

"I'll talk to her," Elijah nodded.

"Thank you."

"First, Papa Tunde returns to settle old scores," Klaus kicked at the salt before smiling falsely at Elijah, "Now your murdered lover is back."

Elijah tilted his head tiredly.

"This isn't witches attacking vampires," Klaus shook his head, "They're declaring war on our family."

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around.

Though most people in the room were annoyed at each other, three of them were still Mikaelson's, Hayley was carrying a Mikaelson, and Marcel had been taken in by them. At some point, it seemed, MJ had become one of them too. She felt herself smiling a little despite the unease in the air and untrusting looks being exchanged around her.

~***~

MJ was back in the city, having left the group to clean up Tunde's body without her.

She was letting her instincts lead her again.

It was a weird place to be with her magic. Like the ancestors had some sway over her – but not in the creepy whisper way. MJ was trying to enjoy the fact it was a surprisingly pleasant feeling, no yelling or screaming, but she didn't trust it. She couldn't. Even if she couldn't, until they started to properly lash out at her, she would try to make the niceties last by being somewhat amenable.

She had her mother's stone in her hand, rubbing it in her palms.

The trace of her mother's magic, her spirit, was still there, even if she wasn't, and it was comforting. After all the months of keeping it like a bomb in her pocket, she reclipped it onto her necklace, next to Kol's ring.

Then her phone rang.

"Digame?"

"So I'm being shipped off to the plantation for 'safekeeping'," Hayley, "And I was wondering if you wanted to join."

She was packing up things on her side of the line.

"Sam and I are throwing a Crescent Party for the wolves since they're human tonight, and neither of us have to turn anymore. And! Rebekah's my second escort, so she's gonna be there too, and – "

"I'd love to, but I also don't think that's a good idea."

"Come on!"

"Not the party!" She backtracked, "Just me going."

No way would wolves want a witch there.

"I can't with all this Harvest Girl stuff going on," MJ reminded her, "I need to be here to make sure the guys don't get themselves killed."

"I guess that's fair," Hayley sighed, "But be careful, okay?"

"Awee," MJ teased, "Are you worried about me?"

"You seem to forget you're mortal, MJ."

"Eh."

"You are!"

"I know," MJ assured her, "But I'm a pretty well-protected mortal."

"I guess that's true."

"Have fun with your wolves...let me know if there are any hot ones."

"You and Sam are always grabbing lunch together," Hayley called out a pattern that had developed in the three weeks following Katherine and Davina's death, "I think you've picked your wolf, and unsurprisingly for you, it's a hybrid. Surprisingly, it's not Klaus."

"Ha, ha, Sam and I are just friends," MJ shut that down, "And Klaus? It would be weird for me to think about him like that when I was dating his brother this time last year."

"...It's not that weird."

"Whatever you say."

"It just proves he's probably your type."

"You hate Klaus. Why are you encouraging this?"

MJ knew the reason; she just wanted to see if Hayley would say it.

"Because there's only so many things to talk about when I'm stuck inside watching the pair of you."

Not the real reason – *cough* Elijah *cough*

Hayley was trying to justify an interest in more than one family member by projecting onto MJ.

"Give me a decade or six, and I might consider it a long enough time for it to not be weird."

Hayley laughed.

Hayley didn't know MJ had been talking to Kol or that she'd be bringing him back before they reached the 'slightly less weird' territory.

"And that might be long enough to forget that time he almost drove a sword through my neck after months of friendship," She changed the topic, "Seriously though, have fun."

MJ wanted it to go well.

"I hope they're nice."

"Me too," Hayley was beaming; even if MJ couldn't see it, she could feel it, "And if you get sick of the boys club, the invitation to join will still be there."

"I'll keep it in mind."

As MJ hung up, she passed Rousseau's, and her feet stopped.

She almost tripped because of their refusal to move.

Looking around to try and work out why...she spotted Monique inside.

Monique and Sophie, sitting near the back, just in the view of the large windows, talking and eating. Well, Sophie was trying to make Monique eat. Monique just straightened up, head turning to look out at her too.

She waved MJ inside, a small smile forming on her face.

"Hello again," MJ smiled too, remembering that she was Davina's best friend, "Your Aunt's Gumbo is really good."

The bowl was sitting in front of her, untouched.

"And she should eat it," Sophie said pointedly at her niece, "After everything she's been through, she should eat."

"Been through?" Monique looked at Sophie like she was an idiot, "I was dead."

"But you're here now."

"Hey," MJ took a seat, "I actually have a few friends who've been in your position if you want someone to talk to someone who'd get it."

Sophie pulled a face, "You know people who've died and come back?"

"Yep," MJ rubbed her neck, "A few, actually. Some, multiple times."

Monique tilted her head, scanning her.

"Only one of them was a witch, though, so she'd probably be the best to talk to."

"That's nice of you to offer," Monique finally took the fork, "Aunt Sophie, what happened to Mum?"

Sophie looked at MJ nervously, "Your mother loved you so much."

The long-winded explanation.

"She had faith that she could use magic to complete the Harvest and get you back."

Monique looked solely at the food.

"In the end, she sacrificed herself for the cause."

One way of putting it.

"For the witches...For you."

MJ didn't like that phrasing.

It felt like a massive amount of pressure on Monique, considering the situation had been completely out of her control. But MJ also understood what Sophie was trying to do. She was trying to make losing a parent sound a little less awful

"And do you have her faith?" Monique asked.

"I lost my faith," Sophie rushed, "Then I realised that if I didn't believe, I would be letting you down."

Monique didn't respond.

"I tried to get it back," She was desperate for a breakthrough, "I tried."

"And do you?" Monique looked at her, "Mira Ruiz."

MJ didn't like the vibe she was getting, "I was part of talking Davina into doing it..."

She'd clocked that Sophie hadn't actually answered the question with a 'yes' despite the incredibly pointed nature of it. In her opinion, it actually seemed like Sophie was saying 'no', and now it was MJ's turn to be tested, and she was going to be smarter than that.

"I think The Harvest is an awful thing," She clarified, "But I never doubted its ability to be real."

"It gave us time with the ancestors," Monique's mood lifted, "It was nice."

"To each their own."

Monique looked at her plate, then asked another question, "So my mum died for me?"

"Yes," Sophie's voice was quiet.

She looked to MJ, "Your mother died for you."

"My mum's death was complicated," She still didn't know all the details, "She did die for me, but she didn't actually have to. She made a choice to die because other people forced her into an impossible situation."

"And then she hid from the ancestors."

"Actually, that part wasn't her," MJ tried to work out what it was about the conversation that was giving her shivers, "I stole her spirit because I wasn't ready to be without her."

"Oh."

"Yeah, and I'm going to return it."

Monique sat up, "Perfect!"

"Perfect?"

"She belongs with the other spirits."

"Part of her does," MJ wasn't going to argue the statement since it seemed to cheer the previously dead girl up, "Yeah."

"And if she's consecrated, your connection to the ancestors will be stronger too," Monique spoke like a salesperson, "And they told us they wanted that."

MJ really didn't like that information.

Could she grill a teenager about what the ancestors had been filling her head with while she'd been dead?

"Monique Deveraux," Marcel joined them, receiving a once over from the witch in question, "Everyone in The Quarter's been talking about you."

He nodded a greeting to MJ and Sophie.

"Classy," Sophie stood up to block her niece from view, "You kill her mother, and now you've come to threaten her?"

He put a hand up, "I'm not here to threaten anyone."

"What do you want, Marcel?" Monique's voice was harsh.

"There were three more girls sacrificed during the Harvest. I want to bring them back."

"Who are you kidding?" Sophie scoffed, "You don't care about those girls. You just want Davina back so you can use her power again."

"I just want her alive."

Sophie went to make a retort, but Monique stopped her, "He's telling the truth."

"How do you know that?"

"I can feel it," She went back to picking at her food, "He's loyal to her."

That was true.

"He's here to help."

"And even if he wasn't," MJ stood up too, "I want those three girls back too, regardless of power."

"You're not a city witch," Sophie wasn't convinced, "What does it matter to you?"

"I was born here, and I'm protective of kids and innocent people," MJ crossed her arms, "I want them all back."

"Name them all," Sophie challenged.

"Monique Deveraux, Cassie Williams, Abigail Richardson, and Davina Claire."

They rolled out of her mouth with ease.

"And their lives were stolen by Celeste Dubois, Alphonz Delgallo, Genevieve Brodeur, and Bastianna Natale."

Sophie backed down a little.

MJ always did her homework, "Papa Tunde was Monique."

"Correct," Said witch smiled smiled.

MJ's phone started ringing.

She looked at Sophie while pulling it out of her pocket, "I just wanna help."

It was that simple.

"I wanna fight for those girls because they don't have people fighting for them. They just have people fighting for what they represent. Their magic."

The caller was Klaus.

"If people don't fight for them, they're just gonna end up dead, or ancestral puppets, and I'm not okay with either of those options."

She answered while walking towards the door.

"I'll see you around Monique," Then she focused on the call, "What's up?"

"Catching up with the recently un-dead?"

MJ stepped into the street, "Guess you could say that."

"I need you to come to St Anne's."

"How come?"

"Kieran's been hexed."

She started the walk to The Compound to get her supplies, "How bad?"

"I don't know."

"Klaus," MJ needed to be clear about something, "Hexes aren't just stopped or undone. If it's taken root, I don't kn – "

"You'll figure it out, Mira," He cut-off sternly, "Just get here quick."

~***~

Cami, Klaus, and Kieran were in the downstairs area, Klaus dripping some blood from his own hand into a golden communion goblet while Kieran was near a basin of holy water. Cami was standing very still, holding the cup out for Klaus, anxiety all over her face while Kieran was looking at Klaus with a certain level of repulsion.

"You've gotta be kidding me," He was talking about the cup.

"A vampire is trying to reverse a witch's hex, and it's the cup you find sacrilegious?"

Kieran sighed, accepting that while cutting open his own palm and dumping it into the holy water.

"Speaking of," MJ headed down the aisle, looking at all the lit candles at the back of the room, "A witch is here."

Klaus relaxed slightly, "Mira."

"Hello," Kieran didn't.

He was just staring as the water turned red.

MJ paused to inspect the scene a little more, "Can I ask what's going on?"

"I can't attempt to use my compulsion to counter Bastianna's curse if the good Father has vervain in his system," Klaus motioned to Kieran's hand, "Thus, we bleed him out."

Cami swallowed, pale enough to be sick.

"I never said this would be pleasant," He sounded surprisingly sympathetic.

She stopped forcing herself to watch, eyes going up, "Just do what you have to do."

"Um," MJ held up her bag to start tipping things out of it, "Not to poke holes, but I don't think that's gonna work."

Cami picked up one of the books from the floor, "Can you fix it?"

"I..." MJ hated giving false hope, "I can try."

"You can figure it out," Klaus cut Kieran's other hand.

"I repeat. I can try."

"If Kol could heal you without magic," Klaus turned on her, "You can figure it out."

"Klaus – "

"You're supposed to be one of the best of your generation."

"And I'll – "

"You removed the hex you placed on me with ease!"

"That's 'cos I placed it!"

"Sti – "

"And because it was never going to kill you!"

"If you can't do this then – "

"Nik!" MJ stopped him, forcing him to face her, "You're stressed. You're not actually mad at me."

He stepped closer, "I might be."

"You're not."

He growled a little, holding her look before eventually letting his eyes flick to Cami.

"I'm here, and you know me. If there's something I can do, I will do it."

He nodded.

"But healing hexes is kinda like kicking a dead horse," She turned to Kieran, "We can try bleeding you out and compelling you. I don't think it'll work, but it's best to try every option."

She would happily be proven wrong.

"While we wait for the vervain to leave your system, I'll see what I can find."

"How come you..." Cami nervously opened the book she'd picked up, "How come you can't just reverse it?"

"Hexes – the type of hex we're talking about," MJ wanted to be careful about how she phrased things, "They're written to detach themselves from the witch."

Kieran raised an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

"It means, once they're cast, the magic is permanently there. Even if you kill the witch who cast it, the magic doesn't stop. It binds to the person it's been cast too."

Cami just seemed confused.

"I'm gonna use a science metaphor," MJ opened the other two books she had with her on the altar table, "Think about simple distillation in chemistry."

Her human friend seemed to follow the terms.

"That's what most spells are like. You mix the sugar into the water, the spell cooks-slash-you stir it, or whatever, and the sugar dissolves. Wow. Spell complete. Fairy dust sparkles everywhere."

An attempt to lighten the mood.

"You can then get that sugar back, reverse the spell, by evaporating the water."

"And hexes?"

"That's more like separating two soluble salts with very similar boiling points."

"But it is possible?"

"Mira survived one," Klaus nodded, "I have too."

MJ glared at him, "Different situations."

"What happened?" Cami liked to understand things going on around her.

"I hexed Klaus," She explained, "But I used a hex that had an off switch."

And it wasn't like he could die.

"One I could easily stop the magic of, plus, it was never meant to kill him."

Klaus placed his hands on her shoulder, "Just a friendly squabble."

"Don't phrase Carol's death that way."

He removed them.

"My own experience? The hex wasn't finished," She focused on the books, "That gave me leeway to be fixed with a little bit of mind meddling and healing herbs."

Hence the books she'd brought.
-          A Floare Grimoire full of healing charms
-          Hexes In Different Cultures
-          And Kol's journals.

One of which Cami was holding, the other two flying out of her bag.

"Can you turn to the 14th Century entries?" MJ asked while she pulled out her own notebook to start combining a Floare spell with a German healing hex.

Klaus looked at her, "Is that...?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is now really the time to read diaries of the lost – "

"It's got the information about how he saved me," She shut Klaus up.

Kieran was still standing with his wrists in the water, clearing his system of vervain.

"Okay," She put her pencil down, "I need some info from you."

The Priest nodded.

"Was it a hex that involved a spell?"

"No, she just shook my hand with the same Rosary that was used to curse my nephew."

"Ooh," MJ straightened up, "Huh."

Cami took that as a good sign, "You know it?"

She opened the journal on the altar, "The Rosary of Madness was a dark object made in the 1900s by two witches in New Orleans, and I have the guide on how to make it."

MJ found the right page.

She showed the diagram to Kieran, "This?"

"Yeah," He inspected it, then one of the side notes, "And my hand matches that too."

He pulled it out of the water so MJ could see the faded grey cross in between his thumb and pointing finger.

"Okay..."

MJ placed the second journal with the other books and then sat cross-legged on the holy table.

She needed to come up with as many solutions as she could, then get testing.

Cami was watching her every move, and MJ couldn't help but think it was a little much. Like she was deliberately trying not to look at anything else. Klaus, on the other hand, was trying to look at everything else.

He went on at least three walks around the church, kept trying to suggest cutting a more deadly vein on Kieran to bleed him out quicker, then leant over MJ's shoulder to see how much progress she'd made on her ideas.

After what felt like hours, four changes to how MJ was sitting on the table, as well as a magnitude of times retying her hair, Kieran was clear of vervain.

"Drink up," Klaus handed him the goblet he'd put his blood in, "It will heal your wounds."

Kieran drank it reluctantly.

Klaus then looked into his eyes, "I think you've suffered enough."

The compulsion started.

"You will overcome what the witches did to you. You will resist the dark urges of their hex. "

Kieran blinked, taking a few steps back.

The static in the air made MJ's skin crawl.

"Did it work?" Cami asked, rubbing his shoulders.

"How do I know if it worked?" Kieran's voice went deeper, "All I know is that the vervain is out, and I'm at the mercy of this murderous bastard."

He glared at Cami.

"I bet you find that really funny, don't you, Cami? You little – " He stopped himself from speaking as he went to take an angry step at her.

He shook his head, unable to meet her eyes and fiddling with his shirt.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. "

"Well, I guess that's our answer," Klaus said disappointedly, "Mira?"

She held up her notebook, "You ready to have more magic added to your brain?"

It was a list to work through.

"I'd rather watch magic tear you – " He stopped himself again, "I'm so sorry."

"Don't even worry about it," MJ had heard worse without apologies before.

She put the notebook down, hands forward.

"Ready?"

"I'm ready," He was just looking at Cami, clearly not comfortable with someone casting magic on him but knowing it needed to happen.

"Il De Lui," She started, "Mal Il De Lui."

As she spoke, Kieran's eyes closed, his breathing visible with each chest rise.

"Il De Lui, Mal Il De Lui."

It was like he was sleeping, standing up.

"Il De Lui," MJ came closer, "Mal Il De Lui."

Two fingers on each hand reached up to rest on his temples, despite how much taller than her he was.

"Il De Lui," She pulled them down his face, his dazed eyes opening, "Mal Il De Lui."

Stepping back, fingers going with her, his feet followed in a half step.

Then he stilled, blinking rapidly and staring at her like she was the devil.

"Wha...what," He rubbed his face, "What just happened?"

"That was a good spell," MJ assured him.

"It's like I was out of my body."

"Yeah, mind mending magic," She exhaled, "Though you woke up. Which isn't meant to happen until I tell you too."

"Can you do it again?" Cami was scanning MJ's list of things to try, "Like if he knows not to try and wake up?"

"I wasn't trying to," Kieran sounded dejected.

"The hex did it," MJ admitted, "Dark magic snapped through...I need a more powerful version."

Klaus was frozen, staring at her, a finger drifting up.

"Yeah?"

"That was one of my mother's spells."

Silence.

"I'm sure of it."

"It was," She nodded, "Part of the 14th Century experiments."

When Kol had been with healers in Uganda.

MJ couldn't read Klaus's expression, but she could only assume it was something to do with his mummy issues, so she tried not to think about it too hard.

The spell was meant to quell mental bloodlust and violent tendencies, created pre-Vampirism, which meant she'd probably used it on Mikael...Klaus didn't necessarily look angry or upset. Just conflicted and a little lost. Like he was seeing something she couldn't when he looked at her, unsure how to react.

"Can you use the green pen," She focused on her friend, "And put a dot by number one?"

Cami did as instructed.

"Number two? Kieran, you're gonna wanna sit down for this," She gestured to the pews, "It's gonna hurt like a bitch."

While moved, she spoke to Cami and Klaus.

"He's going scream and writhe, but I promise you I'm helping."

Cami's voice broke, "Writhe?"

"It's trying to cleanse his spirit. It's gonna hurt."

"Do it," Kieran instructed.

She pulled out her knife, "It's also gonna require a few cuts."

"Do what you need to do."

MJ did a line on his forehead, two on his cheeks, then started the spell.

"Nos Ex Viris. Purgo Suo Pura Vas."

Kieran's eyes rolled back then turned completely white.

"Nos Ex Viris. Purgo Suo Pura Vas."

The blood seemed to sink into his pores, branding his face as the cuts themselves healed up.

"Nos Ex Viris. Purgo Suo Pura Vas."

MJ put her arms to the side, then pulled them into the centre and up.

"Nos Ex Viris. Purgo Suo Pura Vas."

She blew out across them, and Kieran began to roar in agony, gripping onto the pew seat.

"No," Cami couldn't watch.

"Nos Ex Viris. Purgo Suo Pura Vas."

It only got worse, veins on Kieran's neck protruding more and more with every second. Visible and black, crawling under his skin to try and break out like snakes.

MJ turned her wrists, using his state to slip into his mind and inspect what was really going on, trying to ignore the feeling of blades cutting up her brain. She was momentarily experiencing the spell alongside him, and it was giving her all the Esther hex flashbacks. But she'd be fine. She could deal with it for a few seconds.

The moment she'd gotten a feel for the magic, she dropped the spell.

Klaus was a few seconds away from yelling, "Why did you stop?"

"It's not just in his head. It's infected his entire body."

Which was going to be a massive problem.

"Part of the reason why the compulsion didn't work...it's not just his mind making him do it, it's every nerve and impulse and cell. His body's being reprogrammed."

Cami's eyes were watering, "Can you fix that?"

"Like I said earlier, I can try."

Kieran was panting, completely out of it from the spell but slowly coming around.

"MJ..." Cami forced herself to seem okay, "You don't look good."

Treating the shiny gold table as a mirror, MJ was able to see her sweaty reflection and tired eyes.

"I'll be fine."

"MJ," Cami shook her head, "Is doing this gonna hurt you?"

"It'll be fine," She repeated, "I have a third thing I wanna try before I get back to spells and potions."

Kieran slowly forced himself to sit up straighter.

"It's also going to hurt."

"What is it...if it's not a spell?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes, "You think you can siphon it?"

"Logically," MJ nodded, "It's from a dark object, right?"

She tapped the book.

"I can siphon dark objects."

"It makes you ill," He shook his head, "And often causes you to lose your mind."

"Well, he's losing his, so it's worth a shot."

"Wait," Cami put her hands up, "What are you two talking about?"

"They're talking about the fact she's a witch who can steal magic. A siphoner," Kieran answered, surprisingly MJ, "...I remember your mother."

Her mum had seriously managed to live an in-depth double life across the city.

It was both concerning and impressive. 

"I remember why she died."

"It's an odd 'gift'," MJ stayed on task, "And if magic really has infected your entire body, it might be just what we need."

"How you wiped my compulsion," Cami realised, "You 'stole' the 'magic'?"

"Exactly."

MJ had always operated under the assumption that she couldn't siphon a hex, but she'd never had one to actually try it out on before. Pushing her limits would teach her what she was really capable of.

"The only problem," She knew she needed to be honest, "Compulsion was one thing. It's persuasive magic on your head, and taking it, since you're human, just made you feel exhausted."

Kieran's voice was quiet, "I'm human too."

"Hexes make the magic a part of you," She couldn't look him in the eye, "That means you'll really feel it."

"It's not fun," Klaus had gone unnaturally still again, eyes on her.

"And, there's a chance it might kill you."

Cami's knuckles were white, "What – "

"Might," MJ stressed, hands moving as she talked, "The fact he's human, the fact he doesn't need magic to live, should save him. But I don't know, and I wanna make that disclaimer. I don't know."

A phrase that usually sent her spiralling.

"If it's a part of him now – if it's latched on that much, siphoning could kill him."

"Risk it," Kieran answered.

"No!" Cami looked dizzy.

He stood up, "I'm willing to take that risk."

"I'm not!" Cami grabbed MJ's hand, "Please don't."

MJ looked at her hand, "The second I think he's dying, I'll stop."

"Mira," Klaus's voice was low, "Dark magic and you..."

"We'll make it work."

Kieran held out his hands, "Thank you."

"Don't say that," MJ muttered while taking them, "Not until I've actually helped."

Her hands turned red, but unlike when she'd siphoned good sources – unlike when she'd siphon vampires and werewolves, she didn't feel any moment of rush – no friendly fire making the world appear in high definition around her.

Just power to scorching for her to enjoy.

Blades cutting up her veins, so cold that they burnt, jumping around her body like a car on a racing track trying to beat a record.

And she was the one gaining from the exchange.

She was the one benefitting.

If she felt ill, Kieran...well, Kieran's body was failing.

The longer MJ held on, the more his body shook, joints cracking, skin going pale, black veins fading in and out around his body, moving down and towards his arms – towards her hands.

Klaus ripped her off him.

MJ could barely hold herself up, "Why'd you do that?"

"You started screaming too," He lugged her limp body to a pew, forcing her to sit, "Thought best not to leave you that way."

MJ hadn't heard anything.

She hadn't even heard Kieran screaming.

"Mira," He tilted her head up and down roughly, inspecting her neck, then her eyes, hand digging under her jaw the way she'd checked Monique, "Mira."

Kieran was shivering on the floor.

"I'm fine," MJ tried to shake him off.

He was then looking over her arms, "No."

"Klaus!" She protested.

She protested then gagged.

He was gone and back in a flash, her head shoved into a bin from the attic as black goop spewed over her tongue like it was a waterfall.

Klaus was holding it in one hand, her hair in the other.

"Oh – Oh my," Cami mouth kept opening and closing, "God – oh my – "

It just kept coming up, sticking to her throat like tar, pushing through her teeth like it might force them out until MJ was crying.

Finally, it turned to murky phlegm, letting her breathe.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and everything felt topsy-turvy around her.

"Hand?" She looked to Kieran weakly, and he lifted it up.

The symbol had faded slightly.

"Point me," She smiled, "That was working!"

Cami looked at her like she was mad, "Working?"

"Wor – " She started throwing up again.

Actual sick, not poison, which was something.

Though her throat was rare from it all, every movement eliciting a groan and whimper.

"Shh, ssh," Klaus continued to hold her steady, guiding her properly into the seat.

MJ shoved a hand over her mouth to stop it, gagging a few more times but forcing herself to swallow it down, head resting back as she batted the bin away.

She forced herself to nod, "I can keep going,"

"No," Cami was by Kieran's side, looking at her, "I can't ask you to do that to yourself."

"You're not asking. I'm offering."

"No," Klaus answered that time, "No."

He put the bin down and released his hold on her hair, storming towards the door.

"Klaus!" Cami got up to chase after him, "Where are you going?"

He turned to walk backwards.

"What are we going to do?"

"I'm gonna find the witch who did this," He was in full yelling mode, "And then I'm going to do what I do best."

He was gone.

Cami looked at MJ, "What does that mean?"

"He's gonna threaten someone, and it'll probably make the situation a million times worse."

No matter how hard she tried, MJ couldn't stop her body from sinking down in the pew, swaying, forced to lie across the wood.

"But then he'll find a way to come through some other time to make up for it."

That made Cami pause.

She crept closed to look MJ over.

She seemed ready to cry, "Are you dying now too?"

"Nah," MJ put a hand up, "I just need a minute, then we can keep going."

"You're...helping's hurting you..." Cami looked at the mix of goop and sick, "You can't."

"I can, and I will," She forced herself to sit back up, head rush kicking in when she tried to stand, "Trust me when I say I've been through worse."

"You've been hexed before," Kieran was standing up slowly too, "That's what you said."

"Yeah."

Cami forced her to sit back down while Kieran looked over all the blood-filled holy items at the front of the church.

"Klaus's mum actually," MJ smiled without meaning too, "She was not a fan of me."

Cami raised an eyebrow, "His mother?"

"She was a witch. A powerful and dark one. And she possessed my friend to hex me after she'd been killed for the second time."

"Didn't you say you dated Klaus's brother?" Cami was stalling her, and MJ knew it.

"Yep," She managed to bob her head, "His mother hated me, tried to kill me on multiple occasions, and did succeed in killing one of my guardians after driving him insane."

"Bad Meet the Parents dinner or something?"

MJ actually laughed at Cami's attempt to lift the energy of the room just a little.

"Mm," She rubbed her forehead, "And that's not even touching on the fact I helped kill his father."

Cami started to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all too, "Wow."

"My brother hated him too – though he just hates all things supernatural."

Did MJ even know what Ryos liked anymore beyond science?

"And the people who took me in? As I said, his mother killed one of them, Klaus killed the other, and one of the most important people in my life is kinda in a forever hate feud with Klaus that's only getting worse."

Mystic Falls was just a lot of unneeded stress.

MJ made herself a promise.

Unless the situation was an eight or higher on the stress scale, she was done acting as their speed dial save. Obviously, she didn't want anyone to die, but she'd gone nearly a month without going back, and it was good for her.

"And the other one's just slept with him and wants to never see him again so she can pretend it didn't happen."

"Thanksgiving sounds like it would've been a nightmare."

"You have no idea."

Cami realised something else, "You said he died."

MJ nodded.

"So they can be killed?"

"They can," Her guard went up, "But I wouldn't recommend trying to...It's never worth it."

Helping kill Agnes and Silas had been worth it.

"And doing it kills off every vampire ever turned from their blood."

"I don't – " Cami shook her head, "Everyone? That's gotta be like thousands of people."

"Every single one."

"Wow."

"Yeah," MJ was happy to see that despite Cami's bad experiences with the supernatural, she didn't sound at all intrigued by trying to kill them.

"Look at the pair of you," Kieran was shaking his head, "So easily pulled to the demons of this world."

MJ stood up slowly, Cami's hand still in hers as support for her weakened state.

"You," He took a step towards her, "Your mother died for you, and then you stand there and work with monsters."

"My mother died because the ancestors wanted to kill an eleven-year-old."

"You waste her death."

"Kieran," Cami shook her head, "Snap out of it."

Kieran blinked, rubbing his eyes, "Did I...?"

MJ gave him a weak thumbs-up, "Yep."

"Sorry."

"You said you knew my mother."

He cleared his throat, "I did."

"Good or bad memories?"

"Good," His voice softened, "She was impossible to read, but she liked helping people, so it wasn't my place to try and work out what she was hiding."

MJ smiled a little.

"When Marcel said her big secret was two kids, I couldn't really believe it."

"Did no one notice she was pregnant?"

"We weren't close," He shrugged, "I saw her in passing, more than in friendship. That question is for Marcel."

"I think I've asked him a few too many questions about her recently."

"You can never ask too many questions about family," Cami relaxed as Kieran was back in his right mind.

Neither of them were willing to let MJ try siphoning him again until she could stand up on her own, which meant she ended up taking some of Klaus's blood that Kieran hadn't finished to heal herself up as quickly as possible.

Then, she cast a collection of spells around the church to help keep Kieran's mind together and stop him from potentially getting out and hurting anybody.

Then she started to panic.

Klaus had been gone too long, and MJ didn't trust it, meaning she made excuses to Cami and headed out into The Quarter. Cami didn't need much persuading, not really wanting to let MJ try siphoning him again anyway.

~***~

Sam walked into the kitchen at the Plantation. He'd spent the morning carrying kegs and decorating the garden while Hayley organised clothes. Then they'd both gone down to the Bayou to leave them for the Crescent Clan to find.

He'd wasted most of his afternoon exploring the massive house and letting his brain explode at the grandeur of it all.

As it started to get dark, he'd stepped into the kitchen and paused.

Rebekah was standing by the oven, cooking crawfish, having just left an angry voicemail for Marcel that he'd heard every word of.

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow, "Are you just going to stand there like a lemon."

"Sorry," He walked to the fridge to get a glass.

They were both making the situation uncomfortable. Sam, by half-watching what Rebekah was doing, pretending he wasn't, and Rebekah, by not wanting to bother playing nice. She couldn't help but assume he'd end up dead by the end of the year anyway.

"Just pointing it out," Rebekah cracked first, "You can't actually blame my family for getting turned."

He rolled his eyes, "I could. But I don't."

She went to argue, then clicked what he'd actually said.

"...Then what's your problem with us?"

"Besides the threatening, forced babysitting, and the total disregard for other people?"

"You barely know us!"

He looked at her cooking again, "Do I need to know more than that?"

Rebekah just bit her lip.

Considering she was in a bad place with most of her family, she couldn't really make a good defence.

Seeing how easily her mood dropped had guilt nipping at Sam's head.

He looked at the food.

"Okay," He wafted for her to take a step back, "Let me fix this."

He instantly added a collection of herbs and spices to give it more favour, adjusting the temperature.

"And," Sam took a long breath in, "Sorry if I'm not the most pleasant company...it's an adjustment."

"You say like I haven't been through it."

"It's different. I'm a wolf. It was like part of my soul got severed."

Her eyes dropped.

"The guy I can blame for turning me? Tyler," He moved the crabs around in the water, "MJ got him to talk to me about how to get that connection back, and it helped. But when your entire life gets changed, you usually take a beat to adapt."

MJ had tried to give him one with the hotel and lessons.

"I didn't get a beat. I get to play background character in a house of serial killers."

"We're not that bad."

"Still waiting to see some good."

Rebekah crossed her arms, "You seem to get on perfectly well with Hayley and MJ."

"Because they're nice."

"I'm nice!"

"You were working with your ex's ex-head minion to screw over your brothers."

The wooden spoon turned the crabs again.

"Who are also trying to screw you and each other over – and don't think I don't know about you asking Davina to cause trouble and be difficult."

Rebekah's request post-Tim's death, pre-MJ's arrival home.

"Manipulating her, just like the others while claiming to be better than 'the boys club.'"

Rebekah paused, "What?"

"When you have super-hearing that you haven't been taught how to control."

Since MJ didn't know how to control it.

"And nothing to do but sit inside that house," Sam looked directly at her, "You tend to hear everything."

"I wasn't manipulating her!"

"Not saying you didn't care about her," He added, "But that doesn't change the fact you were using her feelings to fuel your plans. That is manipulation."

Rebekah pouted.

"And whatever witch you and Marcel are looking for?" Sam turned from her to focus on the food again, "I think you said the name Genevieve like six times?"

She was torn between relaxing and getting more stressed, "You heard that too?"

"He only loudly pinned you to a wall then hissed about seeing her at church," He rubbed his neck, "...I didn't tell anyone..."

She scanned him.

"And I'm not going to – just, I don't know. If you need help...let me know..."

"You say, incredibly reluctantly."

"I don't know!"

The crabs were done, so he turned off the flame.

"Plotting to kill witches feels like bad karma. And," He shifted nervously, "Fighting left, right, and centre isn't exactly what I'm used to. I'm new to scheming and war."

"Awe," She said demeaningly, "MJ likes her wolves with a bit of backbone, so you might wanna shape up."

He rolled his eyes at the assumption.

"You're in a kill or be killed world, and with your hybrid skill set, you're one of the most durable people here," She smiled smugly, "Learn to enjoy it."

"Davina's dead."

She noted the way he said it.

"And the last bit of her life was pretty crappy because vampires were holding her captive while witches tried to kill her."

All true.

"If we can get her back, we owe it to her to try," Sam thought about the other part of her sentence, "And I know I have a lot of new power, but it's not like I know how to use it. I've been stuck in The Compound."

"You'd want to learn how to be a vampire?"

"No," He answered instantly, "I'm a wolf. I just wanna learn how I can be helpful as one of the hardest to kill things in the room."

Rebekah pointed her cooking spoon at him, "And you might have use yet."

"Point is," Sam didn't want her to see his smile at the lightness of the phrase, "If you and Marcel are going after a witch, I'm happy to help...even if I might not be the best at the bloodshed part of it..."

He was cringing at the word 'bloodshed.'

"And if making sure she dies before she can drop whatever bomb she has on your family? That's even better."

"Why do you care if she outs my secret? You don't even know what the secret is."

"Because all this in-fighting is getting really old," He stepped back from the food, "And I've only been here two months."

A point that could be made.

"I see how this goes. You guys all get in fights with each other, and it's us low-life's that end up dead."

Rebekah couldn't exactly deny that.

"The only thing keeping me alive is this sire-bond to Hayley that makes Klaus think I have worth."

Was it bad he was that aware of his potentially short life expectancy.

"Trying to put out fires is in my best interest."

Rebekah also couldn't argue with that.

Before they could say anything else, they were interrupted by a shirtless blonde guy walking in through the back door.

Sam smiled while Rebekah did a double-take.

"I beg your pardon," She checked him out, "I was expecting someone...furrier."

Sam laughed.

"You're one of them, aren't you?" The guy looked her up and down, "An Original? "

"Yes," She tilted her head up, "You might want to say that with some more respect."

He snorted.

"I'm Sam," His slightly sour mood was instantly better.

The guy scanned him next, "One of us?"

"Yeah," He grinned.

"You're not turning, though."

"I – uh – well – I'm not triggered," He wasn't the best liar, but it just read like nerves.

Rebekah gave him a look.

"Welcome, man," The guy nodded, "I'm Oliver."

"Sam – but I already said that," They shook hands, "It's nice to meet you."

Rebekah wanted the moment over, "I suppose you'll be wanting Hayley."

"Or I could just talk to you," Oliver deflected smoothly, "I didn't catch your name."

"Rebekah," She leant back to call into the rest of the house, "Hayley! The party's here."

Everything was mainly outside, candles and fairy lights strung up on the fence surrounding the pool, food and drink scattered across every raised surface. While others danced, people played instruments for them, Oliver spending most of his time trying to get Rebekah to dance with him, eventually succeeding.

Sam, on the other hand, managed to run with his lie about being un-triggered as he desperately tried to meet as many people as he could. He was clearly enjoying his first time around other werewolves, besides him own mum.

He'd spoken to almost everyone when he noticed a guy with shaggy hair poking around the edges. The man sent warm smiles to the other wolves while never actually properly interacting with any of them – like he was looking for someone.

"Hey," Sam jogged over to him, "Can I help you?"

The guy hesitantly looked at him, "Uh, maybe."

"I'm Sam."

He nodded, "The guy who helped set this all up."

"Yeah," Sam kept his smile under control, not wanting to seem like he was crazy, "You?"

"Jackson – Jackson Kenner."

"You look a little stressed."

"I'm trying to find Hayley."

"Oh, well," Sam pointed, "She's just tidying up the living room. Follow me."

He led the way through the house.

"The pair of us are taking shifts on tidy-up duty."

"You've been looking out for her a lot recently."

"I mean," Sam was really trying not to slip up, "Only two wolves in The Quarter. We need to watch each other's backs, but we've mainly been trying to find a way to get you guys out of this curse."

Jackson loosened up just a little, "You're not a born Crescent."

"Nah, my mum moved here."

"Lucky way out."

"Ish. No other wolves hasn't been fun."

"Well, you're with us now," Jackson patted him on the back, "And hopefully, we'll be back with you full time soon."

Sam looked giddy, steps bouncing, "An actual pack in the city would be pretty epic."

They finally entered the living room, Hayley stacking disregarded red cups so they could be binned in one go.

"I seriously doubt you invited us here to wait on us," Jackson greeted her.

She stood up straight slowly, looking him over.

"You're Hayley. I'm Jackson," Something about the guy shifted, "It's nice to see you again."

Realisation spread across his face, "You're the wolf who's been watching me."

"And," Sam gestured to the stairs, "I'm gonna leave you guys to talk."

He had the feeling that the conversation was going to be an odd one, and one meant for just them. Plus, he needed some blood, and he couldn't exactly do that near the other wolves if he was going to keep up his façade, locking himself in one of the upstairs bathrooms for his snack.

~***~

Klaus wasn't answering his phone, but MJ managed to find the next best thing...ish.

Elijah.

She would've been happy to see him if he hadn't been passed out on the sidewalk, completely alone, and a slight colour to his lips, like a lipstick shadow.

"Elijah," MJ knelt down, snapping her fingers under his nose and waking him up with a gasp, "Hey – hey!"

He was gripping her arm tightly, looking around in a fury.

"Elijah!"

"Who – " He registered that it was her, catching his breath, "Mira."

"What happened?"

"Where have you been all day?"

"Trying to cure a hex."

"Well, you were right."

Vague statement.

She made an educated guess, "About Sabine being Celeste?"

"I spent the day with her," He released her arm, "Confronted her and learnt she's been body jumping for centuries, waiting for the perfect moment to get revenge on my family."

MJ slowly pulled Elijah to his feet, "Which means?"

"Where is Niklaus?"

"He went to track down a witch a few hours ago," She reverted back to panic, "I was actually looking for him when I found you."

His phone started ringing.

"Hayley," He answered quickly, putting it on speaker for her.

"Elijah, something's going on with the witches," She was walking on hardwood floors.

"Listen to me," He was in what MJ dubbed as 'project manager' mode, "Celeste is back. Niklaus, Rebekah – you're all in danger."

There was a massive slam of windows and wind on her side of the line, making Hayley jump.

"They split us all up!" MJ realised, "The hex stuff got Klaus away from you while Celeste did her thing; Rebekah at the plantation."

"Precisely," Elijah stood up, "They're trying to trap us so Celeste can enact some scheme."

"What's going on?" A male voice MJ didn't recognise asked on Hayley's end.

"It's a trap," Hayley answered, "I didn't make a deal with any witch."

They could get the context to that conversation at a later date.

"Hayley, you have to find Rebekah," Elijah instructed, "Stay with her until I get there."

There was a rush of panic, the sound of running, then the sound of whooshing.

"Problem," Sam's voice.

"Yeah?" MJ prompted.

"We can't leave," He leant closer to the phone, "There's a spell on the exits, and a fire started when I tried to cross it."

"They're trapping us inside," Hayley murmured.

Elijah hung up and looked to MJ.

"What about Klaus?"

"My brother will handle himself."

It didn't feel completely right, but MJ would find Klaus later.

"Let's go."

If Elijah was dealing with a spell, he'd need a witch.

He'd already picked her up to race them both there before MJ had time to process the movement.

The fire was consuming everything, exploding from lights, the stove – flying across the tables and up all the different stairways. None of them had been planning to run to the attic or basement, given how they were trapped in a burning building, but it was still inconvenient.

"We have to get out of here," Hayley searched.

Jackson's first instinct was to toss a piano stool at the window to try and break it, but the seat shattered before the glass did, the spell protecting all potential exits.

The doors around the living room slammed shut as the fire grew bigger, smoke starting to catch on everything it could until they were choking and sweaty.

The fire alarm was the worst sound to add to the situation as Sam tried to force the window open with his hands. He could barely focus, somewhat trembling to try and stay in control of his new heightened senses. Heat and sound, and panic, and awful smells getting under his skin until he wanted to just shift and tear through everything, rabid.

A new and somewhat terrifying feeling for him.

Another hit against the glass and flames erupted around him, zooming up the corner of the room and across the base of all the walls, forcing Hayley and Jackson to back up while Sam shook himself free.

He then barrelled through the shut doors to rush around the house, looking for anything that might help.

Breaking the doors of the room was both helpful and not.

It left more wood to spread the fire, but it stopped them from being stuck in one area.

"What are you doing?" Hayley yelled.

"Witch supplies!" Sam knew MJ had been living there, "Draws."

His clothes were completely on fire, but he was moving fast enough to put them out before too much damage could be done to them or himself. After a moment, he was stumbling back into the main room and snatching up a table cloth.

It was shoved around Hayley's mouth as she started to cough.

"Breathe through this."

The coughing got worse, and something flickered in Sam's eyes.

He beat the window with his fist again, getting the same repulsion as the chair – but, unlike the chair, his hand could heal. The spell had been written to stop werewolves from escaping, which meant he was affected, but not half as much as he should've been.

He realised something, "Wait!"

Jackson was grabbing flower vases, tipping the water out to try and get them an escape route.

"Hayley!"

Her voice was raspy, hunched over near the doorway, "Here!"

"It's a witch spell keeping us in," Sam waved his arms, "Right?"

"Duh!"

"Then we need to disrupt it!"

"You didn't find any ingredients!"

"I don't understand MJ's drawer labels – except one of them!" He pointed at her, Jackson grabbing Hayley's side to hold her up through the coughing, "Blood of a witch – not just a witch, but a miracle baby!"

Her eyes went wide, "That'd work?"

"Worth a try," His skin was starting to burn as he pulled out fangs and bit into her wrist.

She was sped to the door.

The blood dripped.

At first, nothing happened, but as more and more hit the line of the threshold, they could all smell fresh air battling with the smoke.

It wasn't enough to break the spell, but it was enough to mess with it and give them an opening.

Sam had Hayley out of the door in a second, crashing straight into Elijah and MJ arriving.

Elijah instantly grabbed her, looking over Sam's smouldering clothes and hair as he handed Hayley over to him.

Then he was gone, back into the house.

"Sam!" MJ screeched after him, arms whipping forward in a rush of panic.

Arcs of air the size of the plantation house swung out, mirroring the gesture, to snuff the flames out in a second.

A beat.

It had been such a bright light in the night, that now it was gone, everything felt dark.

MJ was also somewhat shell shocked, processing the fact the wind had momentarily done as she wished on an a ridiculously huge scale. She was used to arcs the size of her arms...then again, she hadn't really used the spell that powerfully before, especially after her summer of training.

Her mum had controlled lightning at Graduation like it was nothing...

Not the time.

She glanced at Elijah, who was also haltedC staring at the display.

She bobbed her head. 

"Where's Rebekah?" He opted to stay on task too.

"I don't know," Her head turned in a million different directions, "She went off with one of them – Elijah, my friend is still in there."

"No," Sam was back, holding Jackson up as he coughed out smoke, "He's not."

He was lowered to the floor while MJ began to chant, healing spells on all of them, despite the vampire resilience Sam had and the blood in Hayley's system. She didn't want to just leave them be, knowing full well what it felt like to be trapped in a burning building.

Another reason her spell had probably been so responsive. Sometimes PTSD panic had its uses when it came to powering spells.

"I thought you said you guys couldn't leave," MJ looked up as she crouched next to the person she didn't know.

"We couldn't," Sam was tugging at his tattered clothing, "But powerful witch blood can disrupt spells."

Hayley held up her healing wrist.

"Yes," Elijah inhaled slowly, then nodded, "Well done."

"You," The new werewolf looked at Sam carefully, "You were fully on fire at one point there."

"Yeah..."

"But you're perfectly fine."

Silence.

"You bit her," His eyes were hazy, but his voice was sure, "You got the blood."

"Rebekah," MJ stood up, "Elijah, I need – "

He bit into his wrist, MJ wiping her fingers through it, casting an on the go tracking spell, holding them forward to let a mix of light and heat guide them to the right location.

Werewolf-Hybrid dilemmas were a problem for another day.

"Stay safe," Elijah called to Hayley as he followed the running MJ into the woods.

No Rebekah.

Three bloody wolf bodies and Rebekah's black leather jacket on the floor, but no Rebekah.

MJ closed her eyes to try and get the afterimage of what had happened. If she could see who'd attacked her and where they might have gone, she could keep searching, but just as she started to cast the spell, it was like all the magic in the area turned on her.

Gusts of magic were slipping through her fingers, forcing MJ to acknowledge she'd unintentionally used an ancestral tracking spell.

"Missing something?"

Sabine – no, Celeste was behind them.

Elijah's glare was murderous, and MJ focused on watching the two other witches coming up behind her.

A woman in her fifties, thick shoulder-length brown hair and piercing green eyes, wearing a blue jacket with shoulder pads, then a younger woman with red hair and pale skin. Thin and delicate featured.

"I was hoping she'd looked more like her mother," The older one mused.

MJ froze.

She knew the voice.

She recognised it from her nightmares.

"Bastianna," MJ kept her guard as high as it could be, "I presume."

"Now, now," Celeste smiled, "Her mother's choice does not dictate her place."

Her calmness was not appreciated.

"Neither do her earlier threats. Her choice now will."

Elijah looked back at MJ for a second, then took a threatening step closer to the group.

"You won't hurt me," Celeste laughed, "I'm the only one alive who can break the curse on Hayley's family."

She gestured to the red-haired woman.

"And Genevieve knows where your sister is."

Then to her right.

"And Bastianna has Klaus, tucked away someplace safe."

MJ had three reasons to kill her then.

"He's suffering horribly, I might add," Celeste was clearly enjoying the situation, "And all because you chose to save the little wolf instead of your own blood."

MJ hadn't realised Elijah had been given a choice about the situation.

He lunged at her, but she just pulled him to his knees and made him cry out in pain with a look.

The Harvest magic.

MJ could feel it now it was being used to hurt rather than being used to resurrect teenagers before returning to the earth.

"What a horrific ending," Celeste twisted her hand to snap the bones in his leg, "To your pathetic, diseased family."

Elijah's cry turned to a scream.

"I guess 'always' isn't forever, after all."

"Stop," MJ commanded.

"Make the right choice, Floare," Celeste didn't, "Stand with your witches."

"I'll stand with the witches," MJ nodded, hand drifting to her necklace, "Just not you witches."

They were getting ready to attack her too.

"Not witches who expect teenagers to die for their century-old revenge fantasies."

Bastianna attacked her first, but MJ attacked quicker, left hand swiping out.

"Felie."

Bastianna's head was sliced off, the other two shooting their hands up to suffocate MJ's magic with theirs before she could continue, starting a spell over it too, chanting firmly.

Voices seemed to sing from the tree around them, forced to work with the Harvest power.

She was wrenching, her own neck bleeding in blotches, just able to tap on the stone she'd put back on her neck.

MJ had taken one down so they were going to kill her before she could make it two. She wasn't going to let them, tuning into the Floare power store. It was different doing it intentionally - light exploding in the clearing, the witches forced to scramble and cover their eyes and ears as fifty million pan-flutes blasted through their minds.

MJ grabbed Elijah's shoulder, and they vanished into nothing.

Not nothing, more, she'd moved them back to The Quarter, MJ half collapsing into his arms.

Elijah was in complete shock, "What was that?"

"A mass amount of power I can occasionally control," She stammered out, releasing the stone from her hand, "Burns me up real bad."

It had been a long day of magic, and she was exhausted. Tiredness meant less control, which was also probably why everything she'd done post-Kieran-helping had been so drastic.

"You're carrying me back."

"I think that's a reasonable request."

~***~

Sam and Hayley had left their new werewolf friend, already back at The Compound, standing near the stairs and watching Marcel. He was in the centre of the courtyard, giving out instructions to the inner circle while everyone else tried to avoid attracting any attention while the tension was high.

"We've looked everywhere for him," Diego put his hands up, "Torn apart The Cauldron – The City of the Dead. Wherever they got him, he ain't in The French Quarter."

"MARCEL!" Elijah stormed in, placing MJ down, "Where is my brother?"

"I got guys out looking for him right now."

Elijah looked around the group of daywalkers, all staring right back at him, and something inside his head snapped.

He grabbed the nearest one, flipping him over his shoulder and into a wall before punching the next one to the floor, tossing a third who'd stupidly jumped to attack him into the second-floor balcony.

"Elijah!" Hayley yelled.

He had his hands on a fourth, shoved them back, then forced himself to stop.

Marcel looked ready to tear the Original apart himself, "Klaus threw one of his classic temper tantrums - snapped my neck, and tried to take on a coven of witches by himself!"

"Sounds about right," MJ summoned a map from her room, as well as her stash of Klaus's blood, joints aching.

"He got dropped," Marcel took a calming breath, "I don't know where he is or how to find him."

Elijah pulled the map open for her, "They also have Rebekah."

Then he addressed the vampires, voice raised.

"Every one of you will help me find them!"

Angry Elijah was off-the-rails-Elijah.

"And then I'm going to kill them all."

"Totally down with killing the resurrected ones, but a reminder," MJ didn't trust the temper, "Not all witches are evil."

He gave her a stern look.

"Some of us are helpful and standing right in front of you."

His glare faltered, "Obviously not you, Mira. I'm not going to kill you."

"I know, but the point still needed to be made."

All of them probably needed some tea to make them relax.

"We get them back, and we kill who we need to, but do not play into their hand by going full annihilation."

Celeste wanted them to be public enemies number one, and MJ wasn't going to let it happen.

"There are allies out there, and you need to find them before we have a full-on war for the city on our hands."

Silence.

She turned to Marcel, "Get someone watching the cemetery. I killed Bastianna so another girl's gonna be waking up."

Stillness spread through his body.

"Decapitation to make it quick."

"MJ - "

"I didn't want to draw it out - I just wanted her dealt with."

And she was.

Bastianna and Agnes were both dead, so she could rest easy that her mother was finally avenged. At peace and avenged.

It felt fantastic.

Murder had felt that way since the summer, locking MJ in a constant battle between embracing it or scolding herself for not finding 'punishments' the way she used to. The way she had in New York. That version of her had sent Kol into a moral crisis, but it was also something he'd openly liked about her.

...Would he still like her now she wasn't trying as hard to be good?

MJ had to hope the answer was yes. She still had goodness at her core - she prided herself on it. She was just no longer beating herself up when she slipped up.

As long as she didn't become the crazy siphoner who murdered loved ones, MJ could let herself enjoy her nature - and she liked enjoying it.