MJ and Enzo were well on their way back to Mystic Falls, the radio playing quietly, window open to let a breeze wash over MJ's chirpy face.

Her face felt different.

Of course it did. Wind on scars was nothing like smooth skin, but, for a moment she wasn't hyperaware of the difference.

"The puppy dog giving me the evil eye was who exactly?"

"Don't worry about it," MJ pulled the front mirror down.

"Should I assume he's responsible for the lovely little bruise on your neck?"

She rubbed the spot and started to heal it, "Yep."

"There goes my dream to be a bridesmaid for you and Caroline."

"I'm sure we'll find a way to work it out," MJ smiled, "I'm the only one who knows how to treat the girl right."

"Why are you only just healing it?"

"He was feeling jealous," She'd also wanted to see if her body would heal something so small, "I thought leaving it on might calm the murder looks."

It had left the bruise alone, implying light and non-painful markings weren't covered by Floare healing.

"Vampire?"

"Witch."

"Hm," Enzo nodded, "You came back to town and hooked up with one of the prisoners your special friend had tied to the walls. Dare I say kinky?"

"He's Klaus's brother."

Enzo snapped to look at her to see if she was serious.

Then he started to laugh.

"You all weren't kidding when you said 'fun family dynamics,'" He mused, "Tying the siblings up for breakfast is certainly one way to do it – I thought you dated one of the big bad vampires who died."

"I did."

"And now you've jumped on a different member of the family?" Enzo raised an eyebrow, "I know we haven't had the longest friendship, but that doesn't seem like something you'd do."

"He body jumped back to life."

"Definitely kinky."

MJ shot him a look.

"You certainly seem happier, love," He dropped the mocking, "Which is my good deed for the decade completed."

"Hope everyone else agrees with you," She had a dozen stress texts from Ric she'd been ignoring, "Speaking of you no longer doing good."

A smooth topic change.

"Talk me properly through this whole ruining Stefan's life plan?"

"There's a girl who's shown up," He was a pretty open person, which MJ liked, "Goes by Sarah Salvatore. Damon killed her parents while she was still in the womb, yet she survived."

"Gail and Zach's daughter!"

He gave her a look, "You know about her?"

"I know how her parents died, yeah."

"Well, she showed up, got preyed on by Elena, hooked up with Jeremy, and is now living with Matt so he can introduce her to Stefan."

MJ snorted, "Isn't that a sentence."

Coincidences don't exist.

"But I repeat my hospital warning," She let her head rest back, "Getting involved with her to get at Stefan is like asking the universe to make her your soulmate."

"I don't believe in soulmates," He dismissed.

"Eh," She shrugged, "I guess when you have forever, you probably think you get more than one."

"I barely know this world," He countered, "How I am supposed to complete someone else's?".

MJ's face softened.

Enzo had been locked up for a large chunk of his vampirism. Even if it seemed like he'd adapted while she'd been in the prison world, she also knew he'd actually spent a lot of that time searching for a way to help the trio of them left behind.

"I'd much rather just have fun for a bit."

"Until you know what you like," MJ nodded in understanding, "And what you don't."

"Then I'll get back to you with an answer on something as philosophical as soulmates."

"If everything calms down," She smiled, "We should totally go partying up the west coast or something. You will see the true range of human life."

Even if her time in LA had ended disastrously, that didn't change the fact it was a pretty diverse city filled with places meant for experimenting.

Enzo gave her a look, "You are far too friendly with me considering your fondness towards Stefan."

"It's not my job to stop you, Enzo," She pulled her phone out, "And doing so will probably make you act out more."

If Damon or Klaus were anything to go off.

"The universe is a funny thing, and you're not a bad person at your core."

"There's a chance I'm going to kill someone today."

She sent a quick text, "Think about who you're talking to."

"Ah," Enzo nodded, "I see what's happened."

"What do you mean?"

"You think you've officially done the worst thing out of the group," He called her out, "So now you feel like you can't think badly of anyone."

"I think trying to ruin someone's life is a waste of time," MJ retorted, "There. My real opinion."

"But you're not judging me for doing so. Not really."

"I have a high bar."

"Exactly my point!" He shook his head, "You're trying to work out where your morals are because you don't want to be a hypocrite."

She didn't respond.

"Friendly piece of advice, sunshine," He lowered his voice, "You did a bad thing. Oh well. If you don't want to do it again. Don't."

MJ tapped her phone case.

"This is actually quite funny," Enzo was holding back a laugh, "And you haven't even noticed."

"Noticed what?"

"You sound like Damon."

She froze.

"Setting a standard, messing up once, then letting yourself sink ten metres lower rather than persevere."

Damon's pattern had been the reason he turned to Enzo after his whatever-number break-up with Elena.

"Aren't you the one who usually lectures him on that?" He was a little too good at reading her, and MJ didn't know how to feel about that, "You can get back in your moral groove without being a hypocrite."

"I can't."

"You can," He argued, "If you want to feel better about yourself, you've just gotta do better, regardless of past mistakes. They're a base level, not a barrier."

She thought about it, "And when are you gonna take your own advice?"

"It's not my advice, love. It's yours."

Silence.

"It's what I heard you tell him."

After she'd saved Enzo, the day they'd met.

"And I'll start taking it once I'm finally in a situation that I think is worth preserving."

She wanted to laugh at the fact he'd factored it into his plan for the future.

"In your back from the dead self-reassessment, don't you dare cross optimism and perseverance off."

"I wouldn't say I was an optimist."

"Then I'm saying you were. And I'm going to keep you that way."

Because optimism combined with perseverance was what allowed her to create nature changing magic.

And that was MJ at her core.

Someone able to do the impossible for the people she cared about.

She got a text back from Stefan.

- Thanks for the heads up.

- Sorry we went too far.

- I was just worried that leaving town might've been code for never coming back

'Never coming back' clearly meaning something else too. Nice ways of phrasing difficult topics was going to be a skill the people around her perfected in the coming months.

- Happy you're back in town :)

She'd told him to be wary because Enzo would be crashing his meeting with Sarah, and he was feeling murderous.

MJ wasn't going to try and stop Enzo, but she wasn't going to leave Stefan in the dark either.

After her mini pep talk from Enzo, MJ found herself making a few important phone calls. One to Pri, who screamed for all of her New York friends at the sound of her voice. They hadn't known that she'd died, but they'd assumed something bad had happened. Previously, MJ was notorious for going radio silent on them for a week, but she'd always then phone to explain what had kept her busy, apologising.

MJ didn't give them all the details, just saying she'd been involved with The Other Side, that it had taken a lot out of her, and that she was finally back on her feet.

She could give them the real details another time.

Then she phoned Whit.

He also didn't know about the death, having kept MiMiPasare running for her, which had probably freaked the hell out of everyone who knew she was behind it. MJ hadn't shared the news that he was funding it, and she didn't plan to, trying to keep him as out of danger as she could.

While she'd been gone, he'd left the magic questions be. Still, he'd continued to help anyone trying to escape impossible situations by distributing cash after the family PI did a background check.

He was ecstatic to hear her voice, assuming she'd just gone on another one of her post-senior year summer trips. Caroline had told the human faction that was why she'd gone social media silent. That it was all part of a connecting with her roots thing. MJ didn't argue the story, simply apologising for not giving him a head's up and assuring him she'd get back to running her side of it all as soon as possible.

He didn't sound annoyed, but that was beside the point.

MJ wanted to apologise, because an apology felt normal.

Telling Whit she'd died would have him catching the next flight out to check on her.

Not something she needed when Enzo felt murderous, nor with Kol back in her life. She didn't know what Kol thought of him, assuming he'd seen Whit about her post-death, and if he was jealous about Enzo and Klaus, a third person would not help. Even if they were in the past, it just wouldn't.

Lastly, she phoned Nadia.

The relief she felt hearing that Katherine was out, perfectly active unreal. There was an incredibly high chance that if MJ had actually died, no prison world, the spell holding Katherine's spirit to her necklace would've faded, and the preserved corpse would've collapsed, the ex-vampire lost along with The Other Side. They agreed to a phone call that night for an actual catch-up.

Enzo dropped her off at Whitmore, despite how part of MJ just wanted to go straight to Mystic Falls and hide out with Tyler. He was trying to keep Liv on lockdown there, and the mysterious Sarah was with them.

As much as MJ wanted to do that, she had to face the wolf first.

Ric.

He was supposed to be waiting for her in his office, but before she could get there, she ran into Jeremy and Elena jogging around campus.

"MJ!" Jeremy called, coming straight towards her.

He stopped, then laughed at his sister behind him.

"Seriously, I shouldn't be winning."

"Two weeks without booze doesn't make you Iron Man," Elena challenged, "I can still vamp circles around you."

"You mean, you can cheat."

MJ wanted to point out that it wasn't cheating, just using what she had to her advantage, but she was also trying to minimise her acknowledgement of Elena's existence. Even if it seemed like she'd genuinely forgotten that MJ was the answer to her Damon-memory prayers, MJ had been burned too many times to give the girl the benefit of the doubt.

"Or I could pants you in front of the entire women's volleyball team."

"Doubt they'd mind."

MJ whacked him on the arm, "Dude."

The siblings shared a look.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about what happened at Thanksgiving," Elena blurted.

It was a good place to start.

"And I'm sorry about the Hospital too."

MJ scanned her.

Technically, Elena had just tried to initiate a conversation, and MJ had assumed the worst then threatened to kill her. She was the one who should be apologising. But Elena had done enough in the past to warrant the explosion, and part of MJ's new leaf was not letting people use her. Not letting herself answer apologies with 'it's okay' or 'Considering XYZ, don't worry about it.'

Jeremy was not following the conversation, "What happened at the Hospital?"

"It doesn't matter," MJ fiddled with her bag strap, "What matters is that Ric wants to see me in his office."

"That can't be good," Jeremy pulled a face, "He went off at Ty and me for letting you go."

"But," Elena spoke up, "You seem way better."

MJ let her lips half-smile, "I feel way better."

"Then you two are a pair," Elena motioned, "Over the weekend, someone replaced my miserable half-drunk brother with a lookalike."

"He didn't get replaced," Jeremy put an arm over MJ's shoulder, "He got his friend back."

"And we'll be getting Bonnie back too," Elena nodded.

Jeremy clenched his jaw.

"We will," MJ promised him.

"Ric wants you to give up magic, MJ," He reminded her, "He's gonna have you on lockdown, which means leaving everything to Damon."

"Who'll get it done," Elena assured him.

"Yeah," Jeremy rolled his eyes, "The guy who told us they'd both found peace. Who left them alone with a sociopath? I'm gonna trust him to save the day."

"He thought Kai had killed them," Elena justified, and MJ felt the sick feeling return to her stomach, "But now he knows Bonnie's alive, and he's doing everything that he can to – "

"So you're back to defending him?" Jeremy stepped back, "Wow! And all it took was one hollow promise to bring Bonnie back."

"No. No, no, no, Jer," Elena looked to MJ for help, "It's not hollow."

MJ ignored the look.

...Except, she'd wanted to talk to Jeremy about it all anyway.

"I have something I'm gonna look into."

He nodded, slightly less defensive.

"If I can get the ascendant, I can get her out."

Elena cleared her throat, "We have the ascendant."

"Great!" She perked up, "Where can I get it?"

"..."

Jeremy crossed his arms, "Elena?"

"Damon's got it, and we're using it to find Bonnie and bring her back."

"No," MJ shook her head, "I should be looking after it."

"The plan will work," Elena beamed, "We're doing it today."

Jeremy shook his head, "Give it to MJ."

"Jer – "

"You're right, Elena," He nodded falsely, "This is good news. Tonight, I'm gonna see Bonnie again, and everything is gonna go back to the way it was."

Silence.

"Because I've never heard that before."

"Jeremy."

"Give it to MJ," He repeated, "At least that way it might actually happen."

He jogged off, leaving Elena sighing in her spot and debating chasing after him.

"You know he's right," MJ gave her a pointed look, "I'm the only person with a good track record when it comes to keeping objects safe."

- The moonstone.

- Her momentary time with the cure.

- The daggers.

- Her white oak stake...

- Her two white oak stakes

Right by the invisible photo of Hope, in the magic section of her backpack, we're all her prison world collectibles. Her second stake.

"We have a plan," Elena promised her, "And it will work."

"Are you serious?"

Elena gave her a sympathetic look.

"What?"

"I really don't mean this as an insult."

MJ sighed at that strong opening line.

"But, surely, giving an object to the person who's a magic bomb is a bad idea?"

Even if MJ didn't like Elena saying it, it was still a point to make.

"Let us try this," She wasn't saying it to be mean, "Take a few days off. Then we'll give it to you."

"No."

"MJ – "

"Damon is the king of messing things up."

"But he's not in charge of it. He just has it right now."

MJ raised an eyebrow.

"Liv's doing the magic; we're just going in and out."

It wasn't like Elena had it on her, so MJ couldn't just steal it.

She'd have to find Damon, get it off him, and if she put off seeing Ric, whatever argument she was walking into would be even worse.

"Have Liv spell it, so the ascendant can't just break."

No way was she agreeing without conditions.

"I collapsed one in the prison world because jumping in and out was too much magic for it," MJ explained, "Liv getting you guys in and out might do the same."

Elena nodded.

There was a silence.

"I should get going," MJ motioned towards the building. Ric said his office was.

"Yeah," She nodded, "Good luck."

MJ laughed awkwardly while walking away.

Kol was back.

Elena was playing nice...

No.

She'd promised herself she was done with unlimited chances, and she was going to stick to it. She was not going to set herself up to get played again. She wouldn't – she wouldn't – she wouldn't –

Ric's office was decently sized for an Occult Studies professor, and MJ had all kinds of flashbacks walking into it. It had been Sheila Bennett's one. It had been Shane's. Stefan, Caroline, Klaus, and she had come to it to learn about expression the day she'd killed twelve witches to save Bonnie.

Bonnie.

MJ had completed the expression triangle because she hadn't wanted to lose Bonnie.

Although she was a few minutes late, MJ didn't find Ric waiting for her.

She found Jo.

"Hi?" MJ rolled her bag off her shoulder to drop it lightly to the floor.

Jo smiled, "You're back."

"I am."

"You look better."

MJ smiled too, "Thanks."

"Um, Ric told you to meet him here?"

"Yep," She took a seat on the chair behind the desk, "I feel like it really helps emphasise the 'you're a disappointment' vibe he's going for."

Straight throwback to the teacher days.

"Very setting up the power dynamic. Perfect for scolding me like a child rather than acknowledging I'm twenty."

Jo's expression faltered, "...MJ..."

"Uh, sorry," MJ shook her head, "Ignore me – why are you here?"

"To scold him, actually."

"Oh," MJ put her feet up on the desk, "Kinky?"

She shouldn't have gone straight to Ric after spending time with the Mikaelson's and Enzo.

Jo laughed, "I wish it was something I could joke about."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Actually," She took the other seat in the room, "I'd like to talk about something else?"

"Okay?"

"I wanted to apologise."

MJ moved her feet to the floor, "What for?"

"For my reaction at Thanksgiving."

MJ paused.

"My tone wasn't acceptable."

"You're brother's a serial killer," MJ stared at her hands, "And not the vampire kind."

Did being a vampire really make it better?

"I think it's a little bit justified," She pulled her hair out of the bun she'd tied it in for the car journey, "I apologised to Liv for my reaction, and once Luke's held a full conversation with me, I'll apologise to him too."

Even if she didn't really want to give Luke one.

"I had no right to talk to them like that."

"You did, though."

MJ's head jolted up.

"You're right," Jo said a phrase MJ wasn't used to hearing in the Mystic Falls side of her life, "Our brother is the problem. The singular one. Really, we should blame genetics, not witch type."

MJ couldn't take her eyes off her.

"And I'm sure Lucas and Olivia have said the same to you."

"Little bit."

They'd never called her bigoted, but Luke had called her several other siphoner-coded insults.

"And unlike them, I'm an adult," Jo continued her apology, "I should've known better, but adults still make mistakes. And I'm sorry."

"You honestly did nothing wrong," MJ couldn't even remember Jo's reaction other than surprised panic, "Like, nothing."

Everyone had a right to panic when learning dangerous news about a stranger.

"Well," Jo breathed out a little, "Happy you think that, but I still think I should. So sorry."

"Forgiven."

"And, I'm about to be incredibly mad at Ric about something you'll probably also be mad about so..."

"Can't wait."

The door opened, and Ric walked in holding three coffees and a bag of bagels.

"MJ," He nodded, parent voice activated, "You're – "

Really taking her in, he faltered.

"You look..."

"Happy? Healthy?" She suggested, "Like going home was exactly what I needed to do the entire time?"

He bit into his cheek.

That was when Jo took over the conversation, "Where is it?

"That's a cryptic question," Ric stretched back slightly, "Accusatory tone...This doesn't bode well for me."

"Good. Deflect, make a joke," Jo stood up, an angry look on her face, "That'll fix this."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Ascendant. Where is it?"

"I have no idea."

Jo started to search the office, looking over the bookshelves.

"You must think I'm an idiot," She opened a drawer of other random witch objects MJ had left behind in Mystic falls, "To be fair, I am! Wine, Thai food, that's all it takes."

"Jo, I don't have it."

"Damon totally compelled you," MJ filled in the blanks, "He has it."

They both froze.

"Elena told me," She didn't want to watch them fight, "Not the compulsion bit, just that Damon had it."

Ric shook his head, "Damon wouldn't compel me."

"Did you tell Damon where it was then?" Jo stood up tall, "Because, if he didn't compel you, you told him."

"No," Ric put the food down, "We all agreed to find another way to get Bonnie back."

MJ was happy to know they were all still thinking about Bonnie.

"Do you honestly think this is my normal afternoon reading?" He pointed to the witch textbooks on his desk.

"You and I are the only ones who knew where it was, and it's gone."

"Damon compelled you, Ric," MJ repeated, spinning the chair slightly, "I wanted it for safekeeping, so Elena told Jeremy and me that Damon had it."

"No one should have it but me!" Jo snapped, "If Kai gets out, he's going to kill me."

"Me too," MJ nodded, "I'd be using Bonnie's blood to make sure she was the only person able to jump out. And I could spell the Prison World to be indestructible."

She was kind of the queen of immortality spells with Qetsiyah's and Esther's Grimoires in her New Orleans stash. When grabbing the ascendent, she'd also pulled out very specific pages to reference, knowing that the moment Bonnie was out, Kai might attempt to siphon himself free and wanting to make sure that didn't happen.

Jo's shoulder fell down slightly, "No chance Kai would get out?"

"None," MJ assured her, "I have her blood in my stash; I can use it to pinpoint her, use a biological linking spell, then a transference spell to pass her through the ascendant walls without even going it."

Jo blinked, processing the words.

"Then, I can use a sealing spell from the Bennet Grimoire to lock the magic to the ascendant so Kai can't siphon it to escape on his own, which was a thing I learnt you could do. Plus, sealing it means no one can get in or out ever again."

MJ wouldn't be able to cope with seeing Kai again. If he was running about, she'd never be safe. Anything could be a hallucination conjured by him, and if he came to New Orleans, Hope would be in danger, and Kol – and all of her more mortal friends.

"Then, I can make it indestructible, so it never breaks, because a break might create a potential opening for him to escape."

"I like that plan," Jo pointed at her, "That plan sounds thought out."

"The only thing I need is the ascendant. I have everything else."

Ric was frowning.

"Damon has it because he compelled you to get it," MJ repeated for the third time, "You know he would."

"He's my friend," Ric defended.

"For Elena, you know he would."

"There's an easy way to prove it," Jo crossed her arms, "If we go to Mystic Falls, we can all cross over the barrier, and the compulsion will go."

"There's an even easier plan than that," MJ held up her hands, "I can siphon compulsion."

They both froze.

It genuinely seemed like everyone had forgotten she could do that.

To be fair, MJ hadn't been updating Mystic Falls on her magical progress after she'd left, so it wouldn't be in the forefront of their minds, but still. She'd siphoned a werewolf bite in front of all of them and Tyler's compulsion in front of enough.

"Right here," MJ finally joined them, standing up, "Right now, Ric."

"You said you didn't wanna siphon anything anymore."

"Because I was having a nervous breakdown after Kai literally torn every bad memory in my head to pieces," She came out from behind the table, "I've been home, I feel better, and I'm a damn good witch, so let me siphon it."

He didn't look on board.

"You're human," She reminded him, "There's nothing that can go wrong if I siphon you too much other than a headache and a long nap."

"Or, you'll explode with power afterwards."

"I'm in control."

"You yelled at us over the phone, and the lights in my apartment exploded."

She hadn't realised that had happened in more than just The Compound.

"Okay," Jo put her hands up, "She's not going to hurt you."

"No, she's gonna hurt herself."

MJ looked at the three drinks.

He noticed where she was looking, "I got you Irish Coffee."

"...Oh."

"Thought it might be a bit of a coming in peace sign given my attitudes towards New Orleans."

A drink she'd openly raved about during one of Bonnie's calls to check-in the previous year, implying that Ric had been listening to those conversations.

"I didn't come here to yell," He sighed, eyes momentarily closing, "I was actually going to start with an apology."

MJ took it, "Thanks."

"We need to have a serious discussion about your future."

She perched on the desk and nibbled at the whipped cream, "We need to save Bonnie."

"You're right. We do. You don't. You should be allowed to take time off after everything."

"We need to find the ascendant first," Jo reminded them of the elephant in the room, "Before Kai hijacks Damon's plan and escapes."

"You're sure Damon has it?" Ric asked her.

"If you let me siphon you, we would be."

He thought about it, "Okay. Time for a deal."

"A deal?"

"I will let you siphon me, if you give me a no magic day."

MJ let the warm drink comfort her, "What?"

"Go to Mystic Falls, go to a list of places I ask you to, and spend the day without any of the witch demons in your head."

"But – "

"No buts."

Jo looked at him carefully, "Ric..."

"She'll siphon me. If Damon compelled me, I'll punch him in the face, then make sure Kai doesn't get out to hurt either of you."

The two people he seemed to care about the most were the two most at risk if Damon and Elena mucked it up.

...But he'd gone to Elena and Jeremy first at graduation...

But maybe MJ needed to stop being bitter about that, because he was genuinely only thinking about her well-being now. Misguided in his method, sure, but trying. Caring about her...the way family would. And MJ could never stay mad at family.

"While she'll go to Mystic Falls and see how good life could be without magic."

Silence.

Ric looked to his girlfriend for help, "Don't you think your life's better without it?"

"I do," Jo admitted, "But I also think that because magic was my family. My life is better without my family. Giving up magic isn't a one-size-fits-all situation; it's her choice."

Looking at Jo, MJ thought about what she'd been thinking versus what Jo was saying. So much of her identity had been based on family for so long – loving Ryos unconditionally. And all that time, Ryos had been working to 'free' them from their mother's legacy by breaking The Travellers Curse.

"Her mother," Ric started, "Is witch royalty who started fights with everyone she met."

Not necessarily an incorrect description of Ana Ruiz.

"Her brother tried to cut her face off for a magical sacrifice, and her father doesn't remember she exists."

"Way to sugar coat it."

Jo looked at MJ sharply, "Witch royalty?"

"I'm a Floare; my mum was a big deal to them."

Her eyes went big, "You're a Floare?"

MJ hadn't missed that reaction from witches either.

"Wait – wait, MJ Ruiz? As in – "

"Ana Ruiz," She nodded, "Yeah."

The supernatural world was a small one.

"Oh my god," Jo's hands went in front of her face, "You're a Floare Siphoner – brother – sacrifice – oh my...he tried to sacrifice you because you were a siphoner!"

MJ just drank her coffee.

"Can I double my apology from earlier?" Jo waved a hand, "You poor child."

"I'm technically twenty, so not a child; he intended to resurrect me after he killed me."

The spell had checked out, meaning MJ's resistance was genuinely the only reason it had turned into a life-or-death situation for her. He'd been muttering about the collapse giving him a gateway to save her like a madman, but still. MJ did appreciate how he hadn't wanted to just straight-up murder her.

She had been slightly confused about how that would work if there was no magic left following her death.

But then Markos had claimed Traveller magic would've still worked if she hadn't hijacked the power, meaning he probably would've used them to do it.

"And I killed him for it...so..."

Jo came towards her and gave her a hug.

MJ didn't know how to react to that, not expecting it.

Jo's grip only tightened.

Slowly, she let herself hug back.

"I'm so sorry that happened."

MJ liked Jo.

"Now you," She looked at Ric when the hug finished, "Let her siphon the compulsion, so you know who you're friends are and aren't."

"If she agrees to actually think about her situation."

MJ inhaled, starting to get annoyed, "Deal."

That shocked him.

"I'll spend today in Mystic Falls, but the moment today is over, I want that ascendant in perfect condition, and you're the one explaining to Bonnie why it took so long to get her out."

"You took a three-day vacation!"

"I got my shit together in a place that wasn't suffocating me!"

"It's called caring about you, MJ," Ric almost yelled, "You don't feel like it in New Orleans because the Mikaelson's don't care about anyone except themselves!"

"You don't know shit about – "

"It's unhealthy that you think they're good for you!"

It wasn't a fight worth having yet, so MJ didn't, simply holding her hands out.

She wasn't going to fight with him.

She wasn't going to fight with him.

She was in control of her emotions, or he would never let her hear the end of it.

Because Ryos had called her out for consistently spiralling when confronted by information she didn't want to hear, and she'd killed him. Exactly like he'd told her he would if she continued to let herself argue with him. And she wasn't going to kill Ric. Because she could control it. She could.

"You're gonna wanna sit down."

Jo got him a chair so MJ could stand behind him, hands on his temple.

The siphoning was fine for MJ. She hit a human, and she stopped, which helped the repairs she was making to her mental state.

Kai was wrong.

Kai and Ryos.

Ryos was dead, Kai was in a prison world, and MJ was going to rebuild stronger. Because Enzo was going to force her to be a persistent optimist.

Ric was not fine.

Ric was shaking with exhaustion as the stolen memory returned to him.

He groaned out from the floor, "I'm going to punch him,"

"Can I help?" MJ did want to have a bit of a word with Damon about the fact he'd told everyone they were dead.

"You took the deal, MJ."

"But – "

"Mystic Falls," Ric pushed back to his feet, "I'll text you the things I think you should do."

"Fine," She grumbled.

"Take Tyler with you," Ric tried to make it sound less boring, "Spend a day with your now human best friend."

"And his triggerable werewolf curse."

Tyler wasn't actually human.

"And his witch girlfriend."

If she wasn't already with Elena and Damon.

"In the town, I committed suicide."

"If it could be anywhere else," He begged, "I don't want you in that environment either!"

The state of his eyes was almost teary.

"I would happily take you anywhere. In America, or abroad – or wherever would make being just human see worth it."

She slumped a little.

"But Mystic Falls is literally a no-magic zone."

Until she eventually got to fixing that.

"It's a way to test giving it up," Ric softened his tone, "You can walk in and out. Nothing permanent yet."

Even if MJ did give magic up, she could always get it back. It wasn't permanent either.

"And, it's a chance to prove me wrong."

MJ tried not to scowl.

"But to do that, you need to at least try it my way."

"Fine," She liked that it finally sounded like a two-sided situation again, "I promise to try."

"And we will find the ascendant," Jo grimaced.

"Keep me updated."

~***~

Kol had actually gone to a different room of The Compound to start unpacking things after he and Davina had finished talking. He'd passed through MJ's, which she'd now granted him access to, and grabbed a few things, able to reclaim some of his old possessions to go alongside his new ones.

Among the things was the picture of the 1914 Christmas Celebration, Rebekah smiling smugly at the bottom of the stairs.

He grinned while placing it on the dresser, which was when Klaus arrived, returned from dropping Cami off.

"Settling into your new accommodations?" He was hiding something behind his back.

"I would've preferred my old one," He stepped back from the shelves, "But then I realised it was next to a dusty nursery and far too close to your own room, so thought it best not to complain."

Klaus pulled a bottle of absinthe into sight, "I brought you something in honour of your return to the fold."

He offered it towards him.

"I believe it's your favourite, or, at least," He tilted his head, making another jab about his mortal status, "It used to be."

Kol smiled, taking it to look over the label.

"La Fée Verte!"

"Ding dong," He nodded in approval, "The witch is dead! Or undead?"

Klaus laughed.

"Whichever."

"And, a reminder," Klaus glanced around the room, "It's been barred for a reason."

"So don't feed it to MJ?" Kol finished, unimpressed, "Understood."

The fact the word was followed by a mock salute wasn't appreciated by Klaus.

"I'm trying to be helpful."

"And I don't need your help," Kol retorted, "I'm not an idiot. Why would I give someone bordering on night terrors a hallucinogen?"

"We both know you've done far worse to women over the years."

Silence.

"And so have you," Kol put the bottle down, "So don't come in here wearing Elijah's holier-than-thou attitude."

Even though they both knew Elijah had his own slip-ups.

"We're all as awful as each other – you're the one who's supposed to get that."

Klaus clicked his teeth.

Kol unintentionally focused on the photo of the family again.

"And," His brother saw where he was staring, "We don't want to be awful for her."

"No," Kol forced himself to unclench his jaw, "We don't."

"Meaning, I'll wave the white flag this round."

Kol looked at him.

"That was meant to be a gift," Klaus put his hands out, "I was trying to be nice. I shouldn't have said anything."

The words were incredibly forced, but he did mean them.

"And this is when you say..."

"You've got one apology out of me this week, Nik. That's all you're getting for the next century, minimum, and you know it."

Klaus would've rolled his eyes if it wasn't for the light-heartedness back in Kol's eyes.

"Though, I will pour you a drink in return."

"I supposed that's an acceptable substitute."

As Kol opened the bottle, it shattered, spilling all over the floor.

They spun around to see Finn standing in the doorway, a furious look on his face and a hand forward to show that he'd used magic to ruin the moment.

"Where is she?" He demanded.

"Finn!" Klaus gritted his teeth, "Please, join us."

A sarcastic offer.

"My, my," He looked Finn up and down with faux concern, "You look peaky."

He turned to Kol, shaking the drink off his hand.

"Doesn't he look peaky?"

Kol nodded insincerely, "He does look peaky."

"You feeling alright?"

Finn glowered, "Don't make me ask again."

"Well," Klaus clapped his hands together, "I assume you're referring to our mother. Fear not; she's tucked away somewhere perfectly safe."

Kol had set up the barrier spell just to make sure she didn't get out.

"You'll never find her."

"You think you've won," Finn walked backwards, arms stretching out, "Let's see how long that arrogance lasts, brother."

When he turned to storm downstairs, Klaus and Kol were left in the room with slightly different reactions. Klaus, unsure of the vague threat, Kol, slightly more panicked. After Klaus had returned with Hayley, a peace summit had been called at The Compound. They needed to work an alliance between the wolves and vampires so The Quarter could have some peace, meaning the place was packed with people, Finn walking directly into them on his way out.

"I see you're brokering a truce between mongrels and parasites!"

Everyone looked ready to rip him apart.

"And just how long do you think that's really going to last? A month? A week? A day?"

He was backing out as he spoke, using the fact they were all listening to keep himself from getting attacked.

"What you don't yet seem to understand is that the only thing that can exist between your two degenerate species is hatred," Finn smiled, "War. And death."

Once he was over the threshold, he rubbed his fingers together and blew over them.

When his hands slammed into either side of the entranceway, the entire building shook, startled looks appearing on everyone's faces, Gia rushing forward to grab him.

He smiled when she was git by a barrier, burning her skin, Marcel by her side when she flinched back.

"But, I imagine," Finn's smug face wasn't winning him any points, "Given a little time confined together, you'll come to see things the way I do."

He left them properly.

Upstairs, they'd been able to hear the preaching half speech and feel the shake, meaning Klaus had headed onto the balcony to test the barrier, watching how his hand burnt until he physically had to pull back.

Kol rushed out to join him, "Did he really just trap us all in here?"

"He certainly did," Klaus straightened up, "Which means we have a witch problem. You're a witch. Fix it."

He went to storm away, but Kol caught him.

"And what the bloody hell do you want me to do about it? It's not like I know what he's done."

"Considering the crowd," Klaus motioned to the doorway, "I think you'll be more motivated to find a solution. After all, I can easily out-wait our brother's antics."

Kol started to remember that he was the sole human in a house of vampires.

"You, on the other hand," Klaus's tone was flat, "Might find yourself looking rather appetizing to some of our fellow prisoners."

"I'm gonna need some help," He muttered, more to himself than his brother.

Klaus nodded fakely, "Mhm."

Kol's first call was to Davina. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Marcel had made a good point when he'd come to say goodbye to MJ. She shouldn't stress about them. She shouldn't stress, and if he could get himself out of the situation without having to call her, that would probably help with the mountain of stress she was clearly feeling every second of the day.

The barrier had been put up at the end of the foyer, so Davina walked through the front door and up to that point, then hesitantly stretched her arm out.

"Careful," Sam rushed forward to stop her, "It's nasty."

She dropped her hand and smiled at him, "Hey?"

"Hi," He looked around, "What are you doing here?"

"She's the pretty girl to the rescue," Kol came out of a side door holding a book, "Did you see what I sent?"

"Yep," She nodded enthusiastically, "Let's get you guys out of here."

They both stood opposite each other on the barrier, hands going up so the palms would've touched if the spell hadn't been there to stop them, people drifting closer to watch.

"Singuinata Venet A Superem," They both began to murmur the chant, "Singuinata Venet A Superem."

Marcel came forward to stand by Sam.

"Singuinata Venet A Superem."

They were both shoved back, into the nearest walls by an unnaturally strong invisible force.

"What just happened?" Davina shook out her wrist.

Klaus stomped into the scene, "I assume that means we're all free to go?"

"No," Kol sighed, "The spell's locking us out."

"Finn must be channelling something," Davina started to think, "A dark object, maybe?"

"So we either need a different spell to circumvent that, or we'll need more power."

"And how long will it take you to figure it out?" Klaus demanded.

"I don't know."

"We're wasting time."

Sam shot the Original Hybrid a look, "What?"

"Finn's put a magical barrier up; you know who can break magical barriers?" He huffed, "Mira."

Silence.

"I'm calling her."

"Klaus," Marcel shook his head, "D will figure it out."

"Mira will do it quicker."

"Let her take a day off."

"She can have as many days off as she likes once the problem's dealt with."

"Fun reminder," Kol crossed his arms while leaning against the wall, "She's probably getting yelled at for running off right about now."

"And?"

"Alaric Saltzman is not about to let her answer a call from you of all people in the middle of his lecture."

One correct assumption.

"And if she's not with him, she'll be with Tyler, who again, will not like you phoning in."

A second good point.

"We'll figure it out."

"You have an hour," He decided, "Then I'm calling her."

Klaus headed back upstairs to have an important conversation with Hayley about Elijah and Jackson, leaving Marcel and Sam with Davina and Kol.

"How can I help?" Sam offered.

Davina had a thought, "You helped MJ organise her stuff while you were last living here, right?"

"I did."

"I'm gonna text you a list of books I need you to find," She managed a smile, "I don't understand the sorting system you guys used, but I know they're up there somewhere."

"On it."

Kol looked after him, raising an eyebrow, then looking to Davina, "He organised her things?"

"Your girlfriend has a lot of friends," She summed up, "And you should probably try to play nice with them."

~***~

While MJ caught a bus back to Mystic Falls, she added another important item to her to-do list. Tyler had left Sam in charge of her car, and she was torn between asking for it back and letting him just have it. She could just buy a new one, but...even if the Blue Bug was ugly, she loved it. It had been her car, and the love wasn't bittersweet anymore since she didn't hate Marcel the way she used to.

Then again, Ryos had technically left it for her, so...

She'd make up her mind once she finally saw it again.

Walking into the Lockwood House, the door unlocked, MJ yelled to whoever was about, "The magic border doesn't stop me from siphoning."

She'd tested a few things on the bus journey.

"Living room!" Tyler called back.

She headed into the wood-panelled and white marble room to see three people.

Tyler, Matt, and a girl; Ty on the sofa, the visitor helping Matt feed papers into the fireplace.

Matt stood up, "I hated seeing you plugged into machines."

"I hated being there," She jumped up to hug him, letting him spin her round a little.

Then she got placed down and turned to the girl.

"Sarah?"

"Um," Her eyes went wide, "Yeah?"

"Sorry, friends with Stefan," She knew that telling Matt that Enzo had caught her up would cause unnecessary panic, "Been caught up with everything. I'm MJ."

"Oh," Sarah relaxed, "Hi."

"So," MJ looked around, "Where is Liv?"

Tyler was scowling, "She decided to leave the safe house."

"I feel like everyone needs to be reminded of this," MJ put her hands on her hips, "Lack of magic doesn't mean you're safe. Guns exist. Knives exist. Kidnapping happens."

"And, on that family-friendly PSA," Matt looked at Sarah and pointed to the door, "We should go."

MJ laughed.

"Hold up," Sarah shook her head, "What's siphoning?"

"MJ's a witch," Matt explained, "But like, a special kind."

"The second real-life witch of the day," She nodded slowly, "Wow."

"And you can still siphon inside the barrier?" Tyler asked.

MJ put her hand on the wall, and it turned red.

She stopped almost instantly.

"That happens in New Orleans because the ancestral plane is literally over the city," She'd never really tried siphoning mid-fight though, "And it's held there by a spell – the fact it's happening here?"

She sucked on her top lip.

"Sort of implies I could siphon the anti-magic spell to get vamps back in."

"But why would you do that?" Matt shook his head, "The town's safer with it up."

"And wouldn't a spell that big kill you?"

"Not really," MJ looked at her hand, "It's like a super big edited nullifying spell. Super big doesn't mean super strong, and nullifying spells are weak spells. And, it was supposed to be made permanent by my death, but I didn't die."

She deliberately didn't pause to give Sarah a chance to question that part.

"Which means it's not even finished."

The scars on her face proof of that.

"If it was finished, magic stripped from everywhere, then yeah, I'd say I'd die siphoning all of it, but this?" She shook her head, "I'd be fine."

"But," Matt put a hand up, "I repeat. We're better off."

"Should I repeat my PSA Matty-blue?"

"K," He shook the hand in disagreement, "I know people can do some messed up stuff too, but it's human messed up stuff, and it can be dealt with the proper ways."

MJ lent on the back of the sofa.

"How do you lock up a vampire for murder? You don't. They just walk free."

She really looked at him, "Could you be any more of a white guy?"

He shifted awkwardly.

"Do you want me to start listing the statistics for Asian Hate Crimes?" She'd been gone six months, but she'd known by heart for so many years prior, "Unpunished or underpunished crimes against women?"

His implication that things were dealt with was naive.

"Living in a proper supernatural community is better. Not Mystic Falls, but a fully fleshed out, shared one."

"Is it?"

"Communities have rules, and they have supernatural ways of dealing with it all."

"Fight fire with fire," Matt's eyes were surprisingly bitter.

"Hey," MJ took a step towards him, "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Drift over to the dark side."

Tyler snorted, "Can I make a joke about you saying that without sounding like a dick?"

"Full permission," She grinned at him, "But, Matt."

Back to the task.

"Don't be an idiot. Don't fight a vampire on your own."

"I'm not going to just fight a vampire."

MJ relaxed, "Good."

Then her phone started ringing.

"Huh, talking of the dark side..."

It was Klaus.

"We've gotta go," Matt looked at the clock, "See you later."

"Later," She nodded.

The door closed, and she looked at Ty.

"How much will you hate me if I answer this?"

Tyler flopped on the sofa, "Go ahead."

"Ty – "

"I let you go off," He put his hands up, "I'm not happy about it, but I did, and...If I want you to take my calls when you're in New Orleans, you have to be allowed to take theirs when you're here."

"Love you," MJ kissed his forehead, then hopped over the sofa to sit.

"Put it on speaker, though," He pulled a face, "So I can hang it up if he's a dick.

She laughed, "Sure."

MJ placed it on the table.

"Digame?"

"It seems our discussion about bedrooms was entirely unnecessary," Klaus announced, "Your boyfriend is impotent."

MJ choked, ready to take it off speaker, except Tyler had already reacted, confusion all over his face.

"It was bound to happen eventually. He is getting up there in the age range."

"You're older than me!"

"So," MJ started, "You guys are on speaker. Tyler is next to me."

There was an amount of shuffling on the other end of the phone.

"How can I help?"

"Hayley decided to hold a peace summit," Klaus explained, "Wolves and Vampires. Finn showed up and has trapped everyone inside."

"...Okay."

"Kol has tried and failed to free us, so I'm calling you."

"I got Sam to grab the nullifying spells from your room," Davina's voice appeared, "But they aren't working."

"Who am I talking to?" MJ didn't like not knowing the number of voices she could potentially start to hear.

If they all just started coming out of nowhere, she'd get overwhelmed, and that wouldn't end well.

"Me, Kol, Sam, Klaus, and Marcel."

"Star – "

"Hold up," Tyler waved a hand, "Cole or Kol?"

MJ only half understood what he was asking, "What?"

"As in K-o-l 'Kol,' or is there a really not fun coincidence in your life right now?"

"Kol-Kol," She answered carefully.

Beat.

"Hello, Tyler."

"That's not," Tyler leant back in his chair, "I swear that's not your voice! You're – what?"

MJ cleared her throat, "I'll explain later."

"But," He was blinking slowly, "He escaped the collapse? – Wait, no – you couldn't find him! That's why Enzo had to hunt you down – "

"I'll explain later!" She nudged him to shut up, "As I was saying, starting point."

She didn't want that to be a talking point since it might make Kol feel guilty.

"Marcel," MJ flipped her brain on, "You've raided the blood bag stash in the basement for drink shifts?"

"This is the first time I've stepped out the room," He admitted, "I can't leave this many freshly turned vampires alone."

"I already tasked Joshua with organising it," Klaus got them to the next point, "Return to managing the children Marcel."

"But – "

"Marcel," MJ tried, "If they're all new, they don't have the history with wolves the old guys do, but the wolves still do. Focus on them; we've got this."

"I said we wouldn't call – "

"But something happened, it's chill," MJ liked feeling active, "Marcel, manage the vampires – Sam, what's going on with the wolves?"

"Hayley and Jackson are on it."

"You happy to play witch power source again?"

She couldn't see it, but he was looking at Kol suspiciously, "...If they need me to be. Sure."

"Thank you – Kol, Davina, what type of barrier is it?"

"Spell based," Kol's new voice answered, "No binding ingredient in sight."

"That's annoying...okay..."

"He didn't say any words either, but it was based on his fingers making contact."

"How's it keeping you all in?"

"It's burning skin off if you walk into it."

MJ closed her eyes and pictured her room, trying to remember everything she had in there.

"We tried to overpower it, but it didn't work."

"We think he's channelling a dark object," Davina added, "I tried two nullifying charms, but neither worked, like, at all. Not even a reaction out of the barrier."

"Sam, grab a book on the second shelf," MJ instructed, "Light blue leather. Then the big Grimoire under the desk."

Her mind was buzzing.

"The Grimoire is the Bennett One. Not only is there a crazy powerful de-sealing spell in there that might work."

The Tomb One.

"Sealing charms don't require a binding ingredient to be placed along, so it might not actually be a barrier."

"Had a similar thought," Kol spoke up, "Did a smaller test, and he's cloaked reactions, so I couldn't see signs to separate between the two."

"If none of the barrier stuff works, it's a sealing charm, and you can use that spell," She repeated, "Then there's also a siphoning charm that could do the trick."

"Ah yes," Klaus's voice, "Siphoning!"

MJ let him had his moment.

"I have an idea! There's a flight in two hours you can catch," He clearly had airport alerts on his phone or something, "Then you'd be back before the sun starts to go down, and we'd all be free."

"Nu-uh, you got her for three days," Tyler argued, "We get her for at least that."

"Now is not the time to challenge me."

"Whatcha gonna do about it?" He said bluntly, "You're trapped in your house."

"Anyway," MJ spoke louder than the growl coming down the phone, "The blue book is filled with notes I made in Australia. I had to break a stupid amount of barrier spells to get to the Floare tombs there, and most of it was done through representational magic since I didn't know what the original spells were."

Hence why it would help them now.

"Uuhhh," Sam was flipping pages, "What dates?"

"Australia was mid-august, I think."

"You arrived on the ninth," Tyler clarified.

MJ raised an eyebrow, confused why he was so sure.

"It was a week before your birthday," He shrugged, "I remember us talking about it."

"Found it," Davina called, "Oh, wow...And I thought trying to understand your notes in Esther's Grimoire was hard – this is a collection of nightmare pages MJ."

"Yeah," She laughed nervously, "Never got round to writing them up in the neat book."

"I can't read this."

Sam started to laugh, "Your explanations aren't in English either."

"Give them to Kol," She rolled her eyes, "They make perfect sense if you know how to read them."

"No way do they – "

"They do," He was flicking over the pages, "They're actually straightforward to read."

Because he'd had practice.

"Complex – don't get me wrong, and I definitely don't understand the Dharug, but I'm also assuming anything written in green is the translations, and I'll be able to switch them to Creole French?"

"You should definitely do that if you're gonna channel the ancestors," MJ agreed, "And yeah. Green is the translations, to remind me which words I couldn't mess up and to make sure I understood what I was doing."

Sure, you didn't always need to understand any of the words in a spell when you used it, most written in forgotten languages, but MJ just preferred having some idea. She felt like she was better at casting them if she understood the linguistics behind it.

"Any you can't find will be at the back of the book because they were the transition phrases. I wrote a glossary section though they're filler ones."

MJ could hear scribbling in the background.

"Correction," He chirped, "It's not easy in the slightest."

She smiled fondly.

"It's just that nothing will top the mess that was your version of the vampirism spell, so it seems easy."

"In my defence," MJ waved a hand in the air, "I literally wrote that while I was insane. My actual version is a spell, not a mind map covered in my literal blood and tears."

"Teasing hermosa. You know I think you're a genius."

"God," Klaus muttered, "You're such a suck-up."

Hermosa meant gorgeous.

"Back to the actual plan of getting you home."

"Klaus," MJ kept her calm voice on, "I literally just left."

As much as she wanted to go home, she needed to get Bonnie home, she needed to get her jabs and her final doctor's clearing, and she needed to properly wrap up her loose ends with everyone in Mystic Falls. She didn't actually want to live mid-fight with Ric or without seeing Jeremy or Stefan again – or checking in with Caroline. A last girls day or a trip out of town to play pool. Something small and sweet, so she could look back with some fondness rather than feel like she wasted nearly three years of her life since that would just end with her hating herself even more.

"And it's only now I've let you do so that I realise it was a mistake."

"You're getting out of there by the end of the day, tops."

"That's not why Mira," He'd retaken possession of the phone, "I'm now incredibly aware that your company is, in fact, the guard dog who was fairly useless when he was triggered and upgraded."

"Klaus."

"Now he's neither, which means he's about as effective as Kol."

"Hey!" Both insulted parties responded.

"Nothing's happening to her," Tyler shot down, "Not while I'm with her."

"Ah yes," Klaus snarled, "The mock alpha, capable of winning a drinking game and not much else."

"Is it possible for you to shut your goddamn mouth?" Sam snapped, "For one minute?"

Silence.

"...Did I say that out loud?"

"You did Samuel."

"That's not even my name!"

Elijah and Klaus had just assumed, and he'd been too scared of them to correct it before.

"Sorry," He huffed, "The vampires wanna kill me. The wolves are bitchy about the no ring situation I've got going on. I just wanted this conversation to hurry up before it turned into a fight."

He sounded exhausted.

"Pretend I didn't say anything."

"No, Samu," MJ deliberately used the right one, "You have a point."

Awkwardness.

"Klaus needs to shh because everyone is stressed and trying to make the best out of the situation. And I'm fine where I am."

"He let you die."

"Tyler's the reason my brother didn't kill me," She corrected, "He died keeping me alive."

Tyler had been too much of a wreck when they'd delivered the news to correct Klaus's assumptions.

"He literally ran into a town getting stripped of magic, as a vampire, to stop my brother from killing me, and he did. Twice. Ryos killed him because Tyler was genuinely mucking everything up for him by repeatedly coming through for me."

And because he'd wanted to prove a point to MJ.

"He's kinda the safest hands I could be in right now."

"And I'd do it again," Tyler didn't miss a beat, "And this time, I wouldn't let you push me back to the realm of the living without you."

Klaus still wasn't happy, MJ could hear it by the huff, but he was dropping trying to argue it.

"Nik," MJ used the name deliberately, "Cami's safe. Finn's not gonna find her."

The irritating noise stopped.

Yes, Klaus was worried about Cami, but saying that hadn't really been about Cami.

"It's me. You trust me. You don't need to lose hope."

Stefan's summer with Klaus had taunt MJ how to give coded messages.

"You'll be free by the end of the day, so go get some air. Let them work."

There was the sound of footsteps walking away, leaving Davina, Sam, and Kol alone with the phone.

Tyler raised a confused eyebrow at her.

"Anyway," She continued, "You can try the representational stuff, but if it seems like it'd take too long...there wasn't even a reaction for the nullifying charm?"

"None," Davina confirmed.

"Huh," MJ tried to think about any spells she knew that had inbuilt anti-nullifying charms in them, "You're gonna have to interrupt it."

"You think a disruption spell would be enough?" Kol checked that was what she meant.

"Disruption or destruction," She nodded, "If he's using a dark object, the magic is pretty much untouchable. They lose magic when siphoned, not when nulled, and even when siphoned, they restore themself. Disrupt it, or destroy it– but you're gonna need a crazy juiced-up power source for that."

"If we disrupt it, the daylight rings won't work," Kol reminded her, "All magic objects will get halted. That's why I didn't suggest it already."

"Then...promise me you get out with the wolves."

"Not planning on sticking around."

She exhaled slowly, "Good luck?"

"We'll keep you updated," Davina chirped.

"Thank you."

The call ended.

There was a moment of quiet before she let herself acknowledge the look Tyler was giving her.

"Yes?"

"Kol's alive?"

She tried for a thumbs up.

"MJ!"

"Sorry?"

He laughed, "Why are you apologising?"

"Because I was going to tell you...I just didn't know when...or how too...and I didn't wanna jinx it."

He continued laughing.

"Stop!"

"I can't believe you had us all thinking you wanted back in New Orleans for Klaus when it was actually because you've been hiding your Original Vampire boyfriend."

MJ opened her mouth, closed it, and really thought through her options.

She didn't lie to the people she cared about.

"Ty," Her eyes dropped, "I didn't know Kol was back until I got there."

She didn't like the silence she'd initiated.

"It was kind of the best surprise, and I was going to tell you and Caroline, but everyone else..."

He shifted, "You're not gonna tell them?"

She didn't lie unless there was a really, really good reason. A reason like Hope. A reason like Kol.

She'd had the mental debate during the drive.

Enzo knew, but who was he gonna tell?

Swearing him to secrecy would probably get him to spill, so she'd acted like it was nothing.

"Jeremy and Elena killed him," She rubbed her arms, "Ric hated him. Kol's not a fan of Stefan. He and Damon haven't gotten through a conversation without a fight – even when they aren't the ones to start it. And announcing it as a thing feels like asking for the universe to take it away."

Tyler gave her a look.

"What?"

"That's exactly what you said last time."

She paused to think.

"We were sitting on this couch, filming for Miss Mystic, and Hayley was asking, and you said you didn't want to admit you liked someone because then it would get screwed."

"And it did."

"Except you never admitted it to any of us."

"I did though!" Her shoulders fell forward, "I had a whole freaking heart to heart with Stefan while we were in New Orleans and – and, the day your mum died, I was phoning Caroline, planning to talk about it! The day!"

Tyler looked at how her hands were shaking.

"MJ," His voice was soft, "That's not your fault. Neither of those things were your fault."

"They were though."

She took a sharp breath in.

"While I have you like this," Tyler changed how he was sitting so he could lean forward, "Wanna tell me what went down in the Prison World."

"Not really."

Silence.

"Sorry."

"You don't need to apologise, MJ," He sighed, "It just sucks that I can't be there for you."

"You are there for me," She shifted to half kneel so she could put her arms over his shoulder, "I just don't wanna talk about it yet."

She was talking about it with Kol. She'd get all the awful and messy details out, and then she'd work out how to talk to everyone else about it. As bad as she felt about just unloading on him, Kol was the only person she trusted to not interrupt and remain somewhat objective, because he'd put her happiness first. Not secret 'stay in Mystic Falls' agenda, or Klaus's own attempt to ground her.

He rubbed her back, "You have to tell Ric."

"Which part?"

"All of it," He rested away, "He needs to know what happened, so he knows just what he's trying to 'parent.' He needs to get why you can't just stop magic despite all the shit. He needs to get why you need to be the one to save Bonnie – "

"I don't need to be the one. I just need her saved – "

"And you're the only one you trust to do it."

She looked away.

"You need to tell him where your heads at, or he's just gonna keep doing the wrong thing because he doesn't get it. He doesn't get how empty you'll feel without it."

"He was a vampire," MJ reminded Tyler, "He knows what it's like to lose your real senses."

"Except," Tyler bobbed his head, "He was a human too. Do you really need me to tell you what you already know?"

"Human's become heightened when they're vampires, but it's not real heightening," MJ rubbed her head, "Witches and wolves feel nulled; wolves can relearn though, while humans feel heightened."

"It's only when you go back to being human that you realise what you were missing," Ty summed up his own situation to a degree, "He probably thinks you'll get the humanity rush he has. Not realising that that rush it technically magic."

"Life, energy, is magic," MJ finished the thought, "All humans have some level of magic in them."

"Yep."

She'd told him about it enough times.

MJ looked around, "You still have the wolf gene tug in you when you're here?"

"Nope," He admitted, "And...I'm kinda torn about it."

"How come?"

"I can't feel it, so I think I'm safe...but I'm not."

"You'll still trigger it. Being in Mystic Falls won't stop that.

"And when I'm a dick to someone, it's all me. Not the moon influence or whatever."

She smiled.

"Plus," He looked away awkwardly, "As much as it stressed me out, feeling the tug reminded me of you."

Her features softened.

"I was kinda permanently in Whitmore."

"It did?"

"All your hippie sweet spot talk," He teased, pushing her shoulder away, "You've infected me with it."

"That was the plan all along."

"And does the smile on your face mean you're willing to talk to me yet?"

"Nope."

"Fine," He sighed in defeat, "You need to talk to Ric – "

"As you said – "

"About Kol."

"Ty," She complained.

"He needs to know," Ty justified, "Because that might remind him that you're twenty, not fifteen and groundable."

MJ snorted.

"...Care and I met up for your birthday, by the way."

Her eyebrows tilted up at the sweetness of the gesture, "You did?"

"Yeah," He brushed his hair back, "We lit two floating lanterns at the waterhole since half of it isn't vampire proof."

"Guys..." She needed to find Caroline to hug her too.

"Ric ended up joining us," He added, "Which is why you need to tell him."

"Ty," MJ bit her lip, "You're saying, I need to tell Ric that, not only am I going back to the guy who killed Jenna, but to the guy who was plotting to kill him. And who tried to kill the two other people he's technically the guardian of. And he's gonna be okay that?"

"Well," He scrunched up his nose, "When you phrase it like that..."

"Because if he thinks Kol is out there, 'manipulating' this, he will lock me up, or we'll fight, and I don't want to fight with him. Not over something like caring about my sanity."

"But you're not going to give up magic, and you're not just going to break up with your Original boyfriend either."

"I mean, technically, he's a witch."

Tyler blinked.

"I'll explain over pizza or something later, not the point."

"No, it's not," He let her have it, "The point is, I know exactly what Ric's feeling about your situation. I'm still letting you go. Because it's your life."

"But I can't tell him that without starting an argument."

"Then start an argument. That's the only way you're gonna get anywhere."

MJ knew he was right.

"Expecting you to give up magic is too much. And unless you yell it at him, he probably won't. He'll think it's like getting his humanity back – which is a pretty epic feeling until you start to miss the vamp speed."

MJ nodded.

"I'll keep my mouth shut," He assured her, "You'd tell me the same thing if our roles were swapped, then leave me to make my choice. So, I'll shut up."

"Thank you," She really didn't want people knowing about Kol until it had actually lasted, "I'm telling Caroline when I get the chance too."

"Now that's all out in the open," Ty checked the time, "I'm supposed to walk you through a bunch of places?"

"Yep."

Ty sighed, standing up, "Can we just lie and say we did?"

"Tempting," She stood up too, "But I can't be bitchy about the situation unless I at least try it his way."

And if she sat and did nothing all day, she'd hate herself.