a/n: remember to comment/vote xx Bea
This chapter is a bit bitty, but set-ups do be like that, so, enjoy <3

By the time MJ got back to The Compound, she'd missed the fight.

Elijah was on the floor, eyes the only thing able to move, round – in pain – Cami knocked out on his left.

Well, that was a bad sign.

The place was a mess, but that was actually pretty normal for the Abattoir. The constant fighting and adjustments for larger magical enchantments kept her cleaning spells in business. Even Elijah in pain on the floor didn't need to be that stress-inducing, especially since she was still mad about the neck snap

It was the burnt corpse by the stairs that had MJ screaming.

Stop.

She was fine.

Kol was alive.

Kol was somewhere.

She'd expected him to vamp-speed to her side at the sound, but he wasn't – he wasn't there, and – and, she was just standing there, staring at another burnt corpse, and, and, he, and she, and – and MJ was going out of her mind.

"Kol!"

Nothing.

"KOL!"

She was trembling.

He wasn't there.

Something had happened, and she didn't know where Kol was - and burnt skin –

But, Cami and Elijah were there.

Cami.

She could handle things by herself!

She could handle her emotions by herself!

Calm.

Inhala. Exhala.

"And go."

MJ skidded to Cami's side, checking for a pulse, then starting to chant, lightly tapping on her forehead until her eyes snapped open, fully recovered from whatever the hell had knocked her out, MJ praying it wasn't Klaus. It took her friend a moment to fully wake up, looking around in a daze before clocking MJ's arms holding her up and starting to panic.

"Elijah."

MJ helped her to her feet.

"The knife – it's – it's not – "

"Cami," MJ gripped her hands tightly, "One...two...three..."

Cami nodded along with each number, breathing in time with them until she was slightly more stable, relaxing her shoulders, blood staining her top as a bite wound healed up from MJ's magic.

A sign Klaus had been the one to knock her out.

"The knife," Cami restarted, "We need to find it."

MJ glanced around, spotting Mikael's dagger on the floor, "There."

She grabbed it, then turned to Elijah, taking a moment to watch how he writhed.

"Klaus stabbed him with Tunde's Torture Device," Cami summed up.

"Okay..." MJ kneeled down, "This is going to hurt."

Aimed at Elijah.

"And I'm going to enjoy doing it a lot."

Despite the pain, he was giving her a very pointed look at the acknowledgement.

A dagger...

MJ spun Mikael's knife in her fingers, taking a deep breath, then stabbing it into his chest, cutting down precisely until she could see the holt of the bone knife poking up among the mess that was the inside of the human body.

Her head felt light.

She was looking inside a body – her hand was inside a body.

She was latched to the bone piece, blood staining, the feel of skin –

MJ had cut someone open, and she was staring at their insides, pulling something out of them, and she was – she was –

"MJ," Cami's hand was on her shoulder, "You're okay."

They both knew that wasn't true

"You're safe."

MJ let go, backing up along the floor to try and stop the constant shakes rippling across every part of her.

She was shaking, letting go and backing up along the floor, eyes wide and slightly frozen in fear as she fully registered the blood on her fingers and the ease with which she'd played with the knife. She could spin it, twiddle it, and do anything – like a magician, precise cuts ingrained in her brain from years of ingredient cutting. The same moves that had probably made Ryos's use of the sacrificial blade on her so –

"I – I didn't – "

Cami looked between them.

Her instinct was to follow MJ's panic and calm her, but she also knew there was a way to 'kill two birds with one stone.' As she took MJ's place, she closed her eyes. Not wanting to watch how the blade jerked up, needing all her strength.

But once it was done, Elijah could prop himself up.

"Elijah?"

He coughed up blood while staring at the mess that was MJ on the floor across from him.

"Elijah, you have to listen to me," Cami tried to get his attention, "Klaus got in my head."

MJ breathed in, recalibrating.

Elijah was okay.

Klaus had a plan, and Elijah was okay, and she hadn't actually done anything to him.

She hadn't been the one causing him pain.

Kai's hold on her had stopped her from helping someone...

Not a good sign.

"I have a mental link set up with him," She added, just above a whisper, "Everything he's doing is part of a way to beat Dahlia."

Cami nodded in agreement.

"You've lost your mind," Elijah's skin was sweaty and pale, "He's lost his mind."

"He needs her to trust him."

MJ was so happy to have Cami there to back her up, "So he can do what he needs to do."

"He told me he needed to make it look convincing."

MJ really looked at the burnt body.

Nope!

It was worse than looking at Elijah's healing chest regarding her mental stability.

"He's got something."

Elijah was shaking his head, "To...to...to what possible end?"

"He told me her secret," Cami took a deep breath in, "I know how we can kill Dahlia."

Slowly looking around, MJ tried to work out where the hell Kol might've gone.

Then she saw him.

Among the destroyed furniture, broken paintings, and, well, a whole lot of blood, Kol's daggered form was half in the fountain, head in the water, legs draped messily over the stone.

MJ shoved up, rushing the haul him out, hand on the hilt.

She'd had all but one dagger – now she had all of them.

It had only been in his chest for about twenty minutes, so it shouldn't have taken Kol too long to wake up, face grey, but not just because of the dagger. A werewolf bit on his neck, two on his arm, and one on his shoulder, leaving MJ with the impossible task of trying not to get too mad.

He bolted up, panting heavily, eyes completely black.

"Kol – "

He lunged at her, hair wet from the fountain water.

"Kol!"

The fangs were a millimetre away from her neck, his nails gripping into her arms like he might've torn them off.

But he had stopped.

He'd frozen in that position.

"You can feed," MJ softened her tone, "It's okay."

A hand on his jaw to reassure him that she was there.

"Just wait until I've healed the bites."

If he fed first, it would encourage him to go rabid until he waited the injury out.

"Let me go."

There was a growl in his throat.

"Kol."

MJ hadn't been scared of him. Not properly, anyway.

But they'd had moments where she'd had to be on alert before. When Tyler had been compelled to turn as the easy example, and he'd held her wrist far too tight. But, that had been out of being worried for her safety. Right now, he was fighting a fever, potential hallucinations, and increased bloodlust from the dagger...

"You need to let go."

He slowly did.

Kol took the hand away, but the black lines on his cheeks refused to vanish, bloodshot vision jumping between her, the blood on Cami's shirt, then Elijah's chest. His older brother was crawling back to his feet weakly, needing a chair to sit on while he processed the entire situation.

"You're gonna be okay," MJ placed her other hand on his neck first, "This is going to hurt, but it'll be okay."

Cautiously, she let her fingers glow.

It felt nice to have the act of siphoning down, moving swiftly and directly, venom gone from his system in a few seconds.

"Mira..." Kol mumbled, rubbing his face, "I'm – "

"Sh, sh, shhh," Her fingers trailed down to the shoulder, him flinching when she hit the wound but gritting his teeth the same way he had the night they met, "Only two more."

Kol managed a laugh, despite the deranged and sick look of his face, "You're talking to me like I'm a child."

"In spirit."

"Mean."

"You like mean," She finished the second to last bite, "You think slapping's sexy."

"I think you're incredibly sexy."

And the last one was gone.

"Especially when you're saving my ass."

"I'm sure," MJ pushed her hair aside, "Now you can feed."

Looking at his face, but in stone grey, was incredibly weird. It hadn't been weird the first time she'd met him because she hadn't known him. But now, MJ wanted him healthy and filled with blood.

He was staring at a vein, "You're sure?"

"Always have been."

His lips were against her skin, pinching the spot together in thanks before he risked actually biting, MJ groaning back, eyes fluttering shut, his hands moving down from her arms to her hips, tightening.

It was a few seconds, then he stopped.

Kol's breathing was heavy as he stared at the spot.

He forced himself to blink. Then to hold his eyes shut, head-turning to her face before he allowed them to re-open.

"If you need more – "

"That'll be enough."

MJ's hand rose up, muttering quickly, healing her skin to get the blood away, feeling how he relaxed at that, lips brushing over the spot like he wanted to pepper kisses but wasn't sure he could.

"Thank you."

"Always."

"Please tell me I didn't miss out on anything longer than a day," He was pulling her closer, "Please - "

"Less than an hour," She mumbled into his neck, letting him hold her there.

Thinking about the daggers, Klaus had said he wouldn't separate them the way he had with Rebekah and Marcel. But, he also wasn't exactly a man of honour. And, as awful as daggering was for Kol before meeting MJ, going under now had the second effect of potentially causing him to miss out on her entire life if his body was hidden somewhere.

"I'd never leave you like that."

Kol finally kissed the spot where he'd bitten before letting go, allowing MJ to stand back up, him a moment behind, processing how he was once again dripping wet, not only that day, but after a fallout with Klaus.

MJ opened her mouth, but Elijah's expression was distant.

"Get dry," She suggested instead, "Um, I'll – I'll get a sheet..."

Summoning one from the kitchen meant she could cover the corpse up, Kol vamping off to be as quick as possible, missing the moment MJ realised it was Gia.

"...Elijah..."

"Don't throw me your fake sympathies, Mira – "

"Fake?" She covered it completely, "Whatever disagreements we might have, sympathy about this type of stuff is never gonna be fake."

She turned to look at him.

"I don't actually like being right all the time."

In a way, MJ hated it.

He looked down.

And Kol was back, in a different shirt, using a towel on his hair.

"I wanted us to work together."

Klaus had also clearly decided that path wasn't worth forging, truly diving off the 'make them all hate me' cliff.

"Now," She took a seat on the remains of the sofa, "What's next?"

Elijah nodded to Cami, who was slowly wiping his blood off her hands with one of Elijah's handkerchiefs, "Yes, what do you quite mean by, 'Niklaus had a plan?'"

He let himself get enraged.

"We had a plan!" He hit the table, "A plan he has mercilessly destroyed – "

"Your plan wouldn't have worked, Elijah!" Cami matched the volume, surprising all of them, "When Klaus got in my head, he said your plan would fail, so he had to enact one of his own."

He glared, "And what might that be?"

"He has to get her to link to him."

"As in," MJ followed, "What happens to him, happens to her?"

She nodded.

"Oh."

Elijah raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh?"

"He took the dagger!" MJ felt like an idiot herself, "I saw him earlier!"

All eyes turned to her in confusion.

"I asked him about his plan, and he told me he'd taken the dagger and got me to link our minds."

Cami paused, "Why?"

"If their lives are linked, he can dagger himself," Kol realised, "And knock her out."

"And linking minds to me means she doesn't then get in his head to force him to un-dagger them."

'Correct, Little Bird.'

"Dude – I'm gonna kill you!"

Everyone did another double-take.

"He's in my head right now," She waved a hand, "He has an underlying idea of what I'm thinking about at the moment, so knows we finally figured it out."

"He can hear everything you're thinking..." Kol stilled, "...Um – "

'Yes. I did hear what you thought when he fed on you."

"Oh, I'm cutting this chord – "

'Who would've thought – '

"Shut up!"

'Perhaps I should've simply done that instead earlier.'

MJ froze.

'The real question is when shall you tell him?'

Elijah gritted his teeth, "Why isn't he just telling you his plan?"

"Because I would've told you, Elijah," She stated the obvious, "I would've tried to make it a group project, and it would've gone wrong."

"If Niklaus becomes bound to our enemy, she'll be virtually indestructible!"

"He said I had to convince you that everything he had to do, he had to do alone," Cami looked frustrated too, "You had the wrong ingredients to kill Dahlia, and he has to buy time to find the right ones."

"And when he does," MJ realised the second part, "He'll have a direct line into my head to tell us."

Elijah was shaking with rage, head drawn back to the sheet covering Gia's body as he stood up, trying to pace, growing angrier by the second.

Cami shifted uncomfortably, "I am sorry about your friend too."

"Are you?"

"I don't condone Klaus's actions," She was having to fight the battle MJ was, proving that they could disagree with Klaus while still seeing that his plan was better, "I'm trying to help you."

Elijah looked at them both in disbelief.

"All I know? Klaus will do whatever he has to do – "

"KLAUS WILL DO WHATEVER HE HAS TO DO FOR KLAUS!"

"For Hope," MJ stood up, "Now where the hell is Hayley?"

He held up his phone in his trembling hand, "Not answering her phone."

"I'll find her."

"No," He pointed at her accusatorily, "You will tell me what you know."

"You think Klaus would've told her anything?" Kol whacked his hand away, "When she so obviously would've stopped it?"

"Of course he did!"

"You really think I'd let him hurt her?" MJ snapped, "Do you really?"

Silence.

Elijah took a long breath in, "No."

"Good," MJ affirmed, "Which is precisely why he didn't share."

Grief seemed to have pushed Elijah into a loop.

"Klaus knew I would be there when he needed me to protect Hope, regardless of whether or not he told me anything, so he didn't."

The phone began to crack, "Which means he definitely did something."

He threw it wildly out, smashing it into a wall.

"Don't blame the messenger," Rebekah, original body, was standing in the doorway with Marcel, hands up.

Kol chuckled, "Welcome back, sister."

"Not happy to be here."

"Okay, yeah," MJ's shoulder's slumped, "I did know about that."

Elijah looked between her and his sister.

"He asked me if killing a host would return the spirit to the body."

"And I now understand your text," Rebekah sighed, "Niklaus had a lot on his to-do list last night. And, as for Hayley..."

She shared a hesitant look with Marcel.

Elijah stilled with worry, "What is it?"

"When Klaus attacked me," Marcel started, "He stole the spell I used on the Crescent Wolves."

MJ curled her lips in to stop herself from laughing.

She didn't find it funny!

In fact, she hated it, and she would get Hayley out of it.

But laughter was the only response her body had, having reached peak insanity.

"So he would condemn her to the body of a beast?" Elijah had jumped back to level one thousand on the anger scale.

"Elijah," Rebekah sped in front of him, gripping his shoulders to try and calm him, "Hayley will be human once a month. We will find her, and we will help her."

"No – "

"Don't you dare act surprised," MJ dared to snap, "I literally told you guys this would happen – that she would get punished in a way that was worse than simply losing Hope."

Elijah slowly looked at her.

"I will figure it out," She had anger in her eyes, "Because I'm not a self-centred ass – "

"Is now really the time to test – "

"The reverse is in the Devereaux Grimoire," MJ spoke louder, "In possession of my coven."

An instant way to make him silent.

"I will get Hayley back to her daughter."

Daughter – not him.

"Wait," MJ realised something, "All of them?"

Marcel nodded.

"No, no, no," She pulled out her phone, dialling Sam.

Nothing.

She dialled Josh.

He did answer.

"You're still at your apartment?"

"Yeah?"

"Was Sam still with you?"

Everyone froze again.

...If a Crescent Wolf had been in the city when the curse hit...

"Jackson called; he left like an hour ago," Josh sounded half asleep, "Why?"

"Don't worry about it...stay inside, avoid The Bayou," She hung up and breathed out in relief, "Last thing we need is a wolf loose in The Quarter."

Sam's family wouldn't have a clue...

"I'll get them out of this."

Elijah seemed to relax at the realisation MJ had people she cared about, other than Hayley, affected.

"But," Rebekah gave her brother a look, "We need to focus on who needs saving today."

Hope.

Elijah's breathing picked up, spiralling into a panic attack.

MJ could actually deal with that, hands going on his wrist and sending a rush of cold energy into his system, jolting him back to reality, leaning on her as his mind cleared.

"You're not alone. We're all doing this."

"Freya called," Rebekah added, giving them the good news, "Dahlia is...incapacitated."

Daggered because Klaus was.

"They are two hours north at an orchard near Pale River," She specified, saving MJ a locator spell, "She has Hope."

"I'll meet her," Elijah decided, "Mira, you can see into his mind?"

"It's kinda like an occasional conversation," She pulled a face, "If he has something to tell me, I'll hear it. If I think loud enough, he'll hear me."

Marcel paused, "Klaus's?"

"Yep."

He stayed looking at her, "...Davina?"

"The Regent," Her bitterness was evident, "Oh, and, by the way – for all of you thinking I was wrong earlier, her speech to win people over to her cause was about how she's beaten the Mikaelson's. And how she can burn enemies, vampires specifically, down."

Everyone exchanged a wary look.

"And, because I challenged her, her way to remind people not to trust me was to stress how I'm a siphoner, not a real witch."

Kol narrowed his eyes.

"Our clock when it comes to working with her is probably running out."

"I'll keep her on the right track," Marcel decided.

"I mean," Rebekah tried to think about the bright side, "She doesn't hate all of us."

Their eyes all moved to Kol.

He put on a happy face, "I'll talk to her."

"I need to talk to her first," MJ shot him a sorry look, "So she gets what I was doing."

Trying to stop them all from making a mistake.

"If I get any vibe from Klaus, I'll let you know."

Elijah headed on his journey, and MJ went on hers.

~***~

Davina was in the main section of her family tomb in The Cemetery. Not the playhouse. Pouring a bucket of a special mix into an empty stone coffin, magic circles made of salt across the floor, and the spell MJ had given her pinned up on the wall.

She'd spent time recreating it in a way she could understand.

As she finished her first chant, Vincent arrived, impressed by the set-up.

"Earth magic, huh," He carefully looked over some of the marks on the floor, "Who taught you this?"

"No one."

"Not true," MJ arrived behind them both, "I did."

Silence.

"Get out," Davina glared.

She entered, "I've come to make sure you're okay."

"Okay?" Her eyes were big, "You said you'd always have my back, then when push-comes-to-shove, you outright say you don't think I can handle this!"

"I support you, Davina, as my friend and as a witch," MJ kept her tone steady, "Not as Regent."

"Why?"

"Because you're not ready."

"Because you're not ready to admit that I'm not some little kid in an attic you can baby anymore!"

MJ bit back her smile, "You think you can do this without me?"

After a second, Davina nodded weakly, confidence flittering away slightly.

She was a teenager.

She was a stressed and upset, mourning teenager.

"The elders voted for me," She tried to justify the statement, "They clearly think I'm ready."

She was a kid.

MJ couldn't just yell at her.

Not yet.

"I figured your spell out. On my own."

"I created that spell; could you have done that?"

"If I had your experience, yes," Davina sounded sure again, "And if not, Kol would've got me there."

MJ rolled her eyes.

"Because he actually has people's backs. A real friend."

"Look," Vincent shook his head, "Davina Claire, you want my advice?"

Davina frowned.

"As someone who has just been put through the Mikaelson meat-grinder?" He sent MJ a glance, "Be careful."

"Kol's not like his brothers."

MJ couldn't stop herself from laughing, earning another glare from the younger girl

"They all turn on each other."

"'I against my brother," Vincent recited, "And my brother and I against the infidel.'"

Davina just looked confused, "What does that mean?"

"It means that families fight," MJ shortened, "But, when push comes to shove, you can always trust a Mikaelson to back another Mikaelson."

"Kol made the dagger that took Klaus down."

MJ was not about to have another argument with Davina when she'd come to make peace.

"Sometimes, I think that you don't actually know a thing about your boyfriend."

Inhale, exhale.

"I came here to tell you that I had your back," MJ got to the point, "When all those elders turn on you for making a small mistake, I will be there to support you. The way I do."

"You didn't support me, though."

"Supporting your friends means keeping it real with them."

She scoffed.

"You're young, and you're being used, and it's going to be an impossible position to have. Like, are you even going to apologise?"

"You're the one who needs to apologise."

"You used my siphoner-ness against me," MJ couldn't hide her hurt about it, "You fed into bigotry."

Davina looked down.

A good sign?

"There's a massive difference between me trying to help and you doing that."

"Leave me alone, MJ."

"If you can't carry the weight of your own words, you're not gonna – "

"If being friends is about keeping it real," Davina crossed her arms, unable to meet her gaze, "Leave me alone."

MJ sighed.

She hadn't come expecting Davina to let it go.

Since they'd met, Davina had always gone to 'the bad place' the moment she had a moment of doubt about someone. And they needed to have a longer conversation about it all, that MJ didn't have time for.

...And they were probably due a proper argument.

Not the time.

"Sam's stuck as a wolf."

Davina's eyes went wide.

"While we were arguing about leadership, Klaus got Dahlia to curse the Crescents, and, unlike the first time, Sam's a member of the pack."

The unification ceremony.

MJ was technically the reason they were all tied together...

"He's not answering his phone, meaning he probably got caught in it."

"No..."

"The Crescent's had Aiden's body. Who knows where it is now," MJ pointed out, "A Crescent Funeral happens at dawn, so they might've burnt it."

"I told Sam to make sure they didn't."

"But now, Sam's a wolf," MJ repeated, "You can reverse the curse."

Vincent actually nodded in agreement, "By becoming a Regent, our ancestors are giving you a one-time-only access to their power."

All the spirits working in tandem with the power of the living, granting an unimaginable amount of power, to perform an act meant to benefit all the witches. One Davina was clearly planning on using for ressurection based on their conversations about rare events and power boosts.

"Hayley, Sam, Jackson – the entirety of Aiden's pack," MJ listed, "You need to consider it."

"But that means Aiden stays dead."

"It does."

Davina's eyes drifted back to the coffin.

A flash of confusion. Then sadness. Then pure stress.

"I promised Josh..."

Meaning the choice was giving Josh his person back or saving her own.

"I – uh – I – "

"Dav – "

"I've made up my mind," Her hands were shaking, but she was facing the coffin, "I can figure both out."

"Davina – "

"I don't need your help, MJ."

"Okay," MJ would figure it out, "Josh is already mourning. Sam's trapped as a wolf. Cami's in the middle of the Mikaelson firing zone because Klaus used her, and you're standing there, looking at me like I'm the enemy, when I'm the adult in the room who isn't manipulating you."

"Hey!" Vincent argued.

"You wanted an out," MJ stated bluntly, "So you found someone who needed more power, and you encouraged something that you know isn't gonna end well."

Davina shook her head, "Vincent sees my potential. You're scared of what my – "

'It isn't Freya's blood. We need Esther's.'

"And I need to go," MJ turned to pull her phone out.

"Hey!"

"You wanted me to leave!"

She was rushing through The Cemetry instead of entertaining the fight. Davina was just gonna use her as a human stress ball out of guilt from picking Aiden, and she didn't have the time. She also knew listening wouldn't help keep her at ease – it'd just make her sad, so why listen to it?

I'm so mad about Hayley

The mental line went dead, meaning Klaus was tuning her out at the mention of Hope's mother.

Davina was left, blinking in irritation, staring after her.

"See," Vincent motioned to her, "If the girl happily working with that family is telling you you're being naive about one of them, your opinion on him is probably wrong."

Just because Vincent was happy that Kol had left Kaleb's body didn't mean he had any intention of liking a single member of his family.

"Maybe I just know Kol better than her."

In her mind, Davina knew the timelines. She and Kol had actually been in the same place, just the two of them, longer than Kol and MJ ever had – but being in different places hadn't stopped them. And when they had been together, Davina didn't know the details beyond the lovestruck daze of Kol's eyes when he spoke of her – something she wished she could see someone have about her. And she'd sen MJ's quietness about him. A contrast she didn't fully understand. It wasn't even jealousy of his attachment to her anymore; it was the loneliness of thinking she didn't have an equivalent and upset that MJ would seemingly take it for granted...

It's easy to be blind to how much someone cares for you until you are forced to spend time without them.

Sam was gone.

Sam was a wolf.

Sam was someone she could be using the magic to save, yet she was staring at a coffin, refusing to let go of a ghost...

Sam.

The Crescents –

Vincent just clicked his teeth, "Just watch your back."

He left her to her confusion, no longer sure if she meant the choice she'd told MJ.

~***~

MJ met the Mikaelson siblings at the burned down Planation House. It was the spot they'd used to consecrate Esther, turning Sophie into an elder for The Harvest. A moment MJ had missed by being with Marcel and Davina. She wasn't particularly bummed about not being there for it considering it had given Esther a wire into her brain the previous year; MJ was simply grateful that line seemed to have been snubbed since she returned.

Apparently, Klaus had also un-dug the body while Esther had been inhabiting Lenore to try and piss her off.

"This is where you all lived?" Kol commented, in the grave, helping Elijah dig.

"It wasn't burned down," MJ clarified.

"No, no – not last year, while I was daggered."

"No," Rebekah answered, "This was where Marcel's true father lived."

"Meaning we are delighted it burned down," MJ declared, "Fuck that guy."

Kol snorted at her firm stance on the situation.

A clang shut them all up.

Elijah chucking his shovel up, Kol and he pushing a coffin up to the surface for them.

While they both could take the weight independently, trying to be delicate meant lifting it properly.

"Oh, isn't this lovely?" Rebekah commented sarcastically, "Always good to get some fresh air."

"Especially when the birds are singing in the trees," MJ added.

"Truly lets you know that it's the perfect day," Kol finished, "You know, to dig up your Mummy Dearest's corpse."

"A perfect day to carry out the assignment of a lunatic," Elijah dusted himself off, "Mira?"

She clapped her hands together, and the coffin lit on fire.

"What's that saying?" Rebekah tried, "'A madman often speaks the truth?'"

MJ focused on controlling the flame.

"If we need blood, we need to resurrect her," Elijah sighed, "Meaning, we need Davina to use her newfound power to do it."

"She wants to bring Aiden back," Kol reminded them.

"That plan's gone out the window," MJ shook her head, "We don't know where Aiden's body is, and there's a chance it was burnt before they all got cursed."

"Is it bad if I say that's a good thing?" Rebekah huffed, "Means she doesn't have to make a choice."

"She still has a choice," MJ countered, "She could break the Crescent Curse today."

Elijah stilled.

"I can't help but think we should be getting her to do that," Rebekah complained, "Rather than resurrect this daft bitch."

"You speak as if it's a foregone conclusion," Elijah glared at the burning box, "Davina won't agree."

"Yeah, talking to her this morning didn't do me any favours."

"Then I'll ask," Kol stated the obvious, "She'll help me."

Elijah was still stiff, "And if she doesn't?"

"I'll talk her into it."

"Hm."

"Come on, Elijah," He tilted his head up, "After all these years, you doubt my ability to talk a witch into something?"

"So you'll deceive her," Elijah gave up on trying to get the mud off his suit, "She might yet help us if she has no idea she is."

"No," MJ decided, "I'll talk her into it."

"You just said she hated you," Rebekah pointed out.

"Yep," She bobbed her head, "But, if she realises you're trying to use her Kol..."

He pushed out of the grave, "She'll go ballistic."

"Yep."

The siblings paused.

"You can ask her first," MJ spoke dryly, pretty unimpressed, "But, I want to be there for when it goes wrong."

Elijah managed a laugh, "Because your opinions seem to be pessimistic prophecies."

Silence.

"You're going to come out of this unscathed, Mira."

"Am I?"

"He compels my partner to walk into the sun, Hayley is trapped as a wolf, Rebekah is forced to return to her body, and the pair of you have technically been rewarded."

Kol scowled, "He bit me."

A beat.

"Four times!"

MJ found it hard not to smile at the cute way he scrunched his nose up.

"Why was it so many! What was the need."

Elijah glowered, "You were cheering him on."

"Exactly!" Kol huffed, "The arse."

MJ chose to clarify what specifically she'd missed at a later date.

"Regardless of his method," Elijah's energy was so low, his head shake seemed unintentional, "Klaus only possessed one dagger. His only real weapon against you is now in Mira's possession."

Something she'd clocked to.

"Alongside the rest of them – which she can use at her own discretion."

Since no one knew where she hid them, beyond the one Davina had found.

"He could've just bitten you, but no, he unnecessarily used the dagger," Elijah spelt it out, "He returned it to you."

Kol tried not to smile too obviously.

"That was a reward."

MJ looked down.

"If you haven't already gloated to yourself, feel free to do it now."

"Klaus kissed me."

The air turned static.

"Kol didn't get off free," She cleared her throat, "That was his punishment."

Still, three pairs of eyes pinned on her, like a clock had been glued to her ears, turning the second into an hour, and an hour, and another hour...

"When I found him earlier. He caught me up. We linked minds."

The longer the silence, the more she couldn't stop herself from rambling.

"And he kissed me."

Rebekah and Elijah shared a look while Kol's body was locked rigidly.

"The dagger was a reward for me, the kiss was a punishment for Kol. For, you know, making the dagger, to begin with...Not stopping it...Not undaggering him – who knows. It's Klaus. He would've justified it somehow in his dog head."

Kol's eyes were turning red, "I'm going to - "

"Do nothing."

It wasn't worth it.

"Because It meant nothing."

"Mira," His hand was shaking, "Punishment is his excuse!"

"What – "

"He's in love with you."

"Platonically."

"Don't be that naive!"

Stillness.

Kol swallowed, then breathed in slowly.

They both knew he didn't like yelling at her.

He bit his lips in, nostrils flared, i.e. trying not to, but making it clear he was far from happy and that their discussion on the topic was far from over. Klaus's punishment had layers. Even if Kol knew she didn't love Klaus, he would spend every second the pair ended up alone together, assuming the worst, because history had shown him how his family always ended up in the pattern of sharing and fighting about lovers. And expecting him not to be cautious or getting mad at him for being worried wouldn't help.

MJ turned to Elijah, "I'm not going to say 'I told you so' about this."

Elijah raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a bad winner – this? This isn't winning," She rubbed her fingertips carefully, "Unless everyone's happy, no one is...and I like the wolves...Literally, everything that happens to Sam is technically my fault."

He would've stayed as The Quarter's Best Kept Secret if she hadn't sought him out.

"Davina could fix that entire situation, and we're about to force her to raise a woman who constantly tries to kill me."

Elijah took a cautious step towards her, "...Mira."

"Yes?"

"Are you," His eyes drifted to the box, the fire slowly drifting away, the makeshift cremation complete, "Our mother and you."

MJ grimaced, "I'll be fine."

"If I'm not – "

"Don't you dare act like you care about me when you literally killed me a few hours ago."

He let her have the dig.

"Elijah – "

"I can be concerned for you and still act rashly when I think it is justified."

The fire jumped in response to her wanting to slap him.

"If I'm not mistaken, you almost fell into a panic attack while trying to help me."

Kol had shifted a little closer, starting to frown.

"Whatever demons have invaded your mind, should we really be exposing our mother of all people to them? Considering the role she played in your first break-down..."

She looked down.

It was hard to be mad at him when this was the type of Elijah she had in her head.

The type she'd sit on benches and chat with.

"I feel like I should probably mention," Elijah straightened out his shirt, "I was within listening distance of your phone conversations with Camille."

MJ rubbed her neck, clicking what that meant, "I'll be better once we have the blood and can kill her again."

"And we will be doing it in the most enjoyable way possible," Kol was glaring at the air, "And if she so much as lifts a finger towards you, I will have her heart neatly packaged before she can try to recreate anything."

"Wait," Rebekah looked between them, "What am I missing?"

"It really doesn't matter, Bex," MJ assured her, "What matters is that we bleed her dry and get her back in a box. Because the sooner Dahlia is dealt with, we can focus on fixing this damage."

Rebekah blinked at the now brittle box containing their mother's, "I hate being back in this form."

A moment of mourning their dreams.

"For a few months, I was in a body that felt real," She grimaced, "Now, because of Nik's spite, I am once again built to take life..."

MJ began to collect the ashes with a careful spell, letting them get it out.

"Robbed of the chance to create it," She held her face in her hands, shaking away the forming tears, "Enough. He stole from you, too."

She was talking to Elijah.

"Gia was innocent," He snapped, then stilled, unsure of what else to say, "Innocence does not do well in our family."

Hope was the innocent they were still trying to protect.

"She is not the only thing he stole from you last night."

MJ couldn't help but notice the almost bored look on Kol's face, only changing to a comforting smile because he clocked her watching.

"Hayley was never mine to steal," Elijah turned his back on them, MJ flicking the last of the remains into a small container and returning to her feet.

"Elijah!" Rebekah didn't go down without a fight, "It hurts me to see you pretend you don't deserve happiness! That you don't deserve her."

One day, MJ asked Elijah why he cared for Hayley.

She knew why she cared for Hayley – she thought Hayley deserved way more credit than she got.

But...

Even though she'd been there, and even though she knew the pair felt something, she...she didn't know. Maybe she was just mad at Elijah, so less sympathetic to the spark that comes from nowhere, but did they actually have anything in common?

Anything other than Hope?

"And what about you, sister? Where is your happiness?"

Rebekah had no answer, left revealing a family necklace from her pocket.

Silver, with the 'M' seal engraved into its front.

"I suppose it's a family trait," She threw it into the now-empty grave, "Everything we love, we turn to ash."

MJ stayed utterly silent.

Then Rebekah looked at her, "Whatever tea you drink, you should patent it."

"Hm?"

"Whatever's kept you safe from our family curse."

"Please," MJ held the ashes up, "I'm my own curse."

"Hardly – "

"Look at Kol," She gestured to him, "If your track record with almost dying is anything to go off, my curse is clearly stronger than the Mikaelson's."

For a moment, the anger they had towards Klaus, which had been somewhat targeted on her, fell away.

"My call to danger isn't your fault, love."

"You survived just fine until you met me," She closed the lid on the ashes, "And that's not even factoring in how every adult who tries to have my back dies."

A pattern that had sealed Josephine's fate.

"Not the time."

Internal family therapy could wait.

"Davina," MJ grimaced, "I don't wanna trick her."

"We might have to," Kol shrugged, "If Esther's blood is truly what we need."

The four of them began to walk away from the house.

"If we trick her, she'll turn against all of you, for good."

"I will be waiting in the shadows for when it goes wrong," Elijah held out a hand, signalling for MJ to hand over his mother's ashes.

"Nu-uh," MJ shook her head, "I'm not giving her options."

Rebekah raised an eyebrow, "Then she definitely won't say yes."

"We've got this," Kol assured them, "Our mother will be revived."

MJ was holding in a lot, if she was being honest.

She was not okay with bringing Esther back. She was not okay with exposing herself to a woman who literally helped drive her mad, more than once, back in her original body – even more power. No reliance on Bonnie and the Bennett's. Just her. A her who had tried to steal her body.

But it had to happen.

"But, MJ," Kol softened his tone, "Let me talk to her alone, first."

"Okay."

~***~

Davina was in the same crypt MJ had left her in, no Vincent this time, trying to work out what she was meant to do. She still had ten hours to potentially revive Aiden if she rushed down to the Bayou, but if MJ was right, the Crescents would've burnt it, and there wasn't really a way for her to just collect ashes from a lake.

Then there were the Crescents themselves.

The Deveraux Grimoire was in her hands as she paced, trying to find the reverse Celeste had written, trying to work out if there was a way she could use her power burst to do it without having to wait a month. The last mix had taken Hayley a month of brewing.

A potential resurrection that would;
- get her a friend back.
- get Josh's boyfriend back.

- and help with the clawing feeling of resentment in her stomach towards Klaus's ability to kill everyone she cared about...

Or, the entire Crescent pack. Which wouldn't really give her anything personally, beyond Sam,

But, it would help a lot of people.

And it was Sam...

... Klaus's ability to take away everyone she cared about...

She wanted to call him.

To get mad at him, then have him push back after a few minutes of putting up with her before offering her proper advice that she knew she could believe in –

"Hello, love," Kol was in the doorway, laughing as she jumped, "Way to make me feel welcome."

Davina smiled, "I'm still getting used to the different face."

"I think it's quite handsome."

"Hm," She rolled her eyes, "I think I told you not to call me things like 'love.'"

"The day I do as I'm told is the day the world ends."

As he walked further into the tomb, inspecting the mess of Grimoire pages she'd pulled out while trying to decide what to do, Davina's good mood faltered.

"If MJ sent you to make peace – "

"She didn't," He dismissed, picking up one of the papers, "This is quite the spell."

"...MJ's resurrection spell."

"You've rewritten it, though," He praised, "Wonderfully, might I add."

She curled her lips in to try and hide her smile.

"However, though Mira might not have sent me, I do come with a request."

She frowned, "What happened?"

"Nik happened," He summed up, "Rebekah's in her original body too, the wolves are cursed, and there's only one witch strong enough to stop Dahlia..."

She was waiting for him to get to the point.

"My very dead mother, Esther."

The spell page was put back.

"I need you to use your power as Regent to bring her back."

"No," Davina answered instantly, "I'm already trying to work out which friend I'm meant to help, and you want me to give up my one boost on your mother?"

"Please, Davina," He vamp-sped closer to her, in the centre of the tomb, "I promise I can help you find another way to help the wolves."

"And what about Aiden?"

"He's dead."

"I have a few hours – "

"Non-witch spirits don't just get brought back."

"Says the resurrected vampire," She pushed past him, but Kol caught her wrist.

"Easy now," He kept his tone friendly, keeping her close, "I'm here because I thought we were friends."

"I'm sure."

"What else would I be here as, Davina?" He let go, but she didn't step away, "I see how good you are – how strong."

She blinked slowly.

"That's why I'm coming to you."

The candles around them were all burning.

"I know," He lowered his tone, "If anyone can help me?"

Kol inched that little bit closer.

"It's going to be you."

Even if the initial crush was fading, an attractive Englishman praising you was hard to look away from.

"And it's not just helping me."

Her eyes were big, staring into his.

"Raising my mother means Hope is safe, and she is Sam's sire."

Davina swallowed nervously.

"He would want you to help her," Kol lifted one of her hands up, "I want you to help her."

Lips graced her knuckles, listening to the way her heart jumped.

A moment of getting lost in the attention.

The adoration and support.

Then, the young witch woke up.

Her expression was slack.

"Davina?"

"That's the best you've got?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"I'm an idiot," She shoved him back, actually managing to do something since he hadn't been expecting it, "You actually just tried to use the fact I had a crush on you to get me to do something."

He winced.

"You could at least deny it!"

"I didn't want to," Kol murmured, "I hoped simply asking you to help would be enough."

She started to laugh, glare turning sharp, underscored by a sudden cry out in pain.

Kol was gripping his leg as it snapped further and further down.

"I've been defending you for months."

The other leg broke too.

"I said you weren't like your siblings – "

He started to choke.

"But you – " Her hands were trembling all over again, "You – "

A build-up of ragged breaths as Vincent's words echoed in her head, having been so sure he'd be wrong.

"You are all liars."

"Dav – "

"And," MJ stepped into view, "That's enough."

A blast moved through the air, shoving them back, stilling Davina's assault on him/

"He wants you to help save a baby, Davina."

"You let your boyfriend flirt with me?"

"No," She focused on Esther's remains, "I told him to ask. And I wouldn't really call being soft with you flirting."

Kol was re-aligning his legs on the floor.

"But, again, we need your help to save a baby, so I think I'll let it slide."

"You're all such manipulative liars!"

"Oh my god – stop acting like such a child!"

"Me?" Davina growled, "I'm acting like a child?"

"Yes."

"Not the guy on the floor who claims to hate his family, plots against them, then suddenly is all about helping, just because there's a pretty face involved," She called out, "One who constantly flirts with his brother and doesn't seem to know a thing about loyalty if her friendships are anything to go off."

MJ could feel her magic about to explode, "Davina."

Tension in the air, rippling around her.

"Let me spell this out for you."

Kol slowly returned to his own feet.

"Since you are clearly stupid."

"I'm – "

"He helped you make a dagger. Not because he wants Klaus dead, but because he wants revenge."

"Same thing."

"Massive difference," MJ put a hand forward, "A dagger in Klaus takes his time away, giving him a taste of his own medicine. Because the dagger messed with Kol's sense of self and ability to function in the real world."

His eyes were pinned on her face as the words poured out, having expected her to be mad at him herself, not see her defend his actions.

"Going in his head meant I got to see the pain he was in during those years. That's why I was okay with the dagger getting made – but it was always a dagger. It was always revenge for the pain."

"Yet," Davina batted back, "You're best friends with the guy that did that to him."

"I can be both," She was going to make sure of it, "I know I can."

The certainty in her tone mimicked the rage she'd had when refusing to let Freya join the coven.

"I was the one with Kol when Klaus momentarily died."

Davina's face was rightfully confused.

"Two years ago. Klaus faked his death to avoid a hunter; we all thought it was real."

Forever ago, emotionally.

"Kol beat up a steering wheel of a car, only stopping because we needed to run."

Davina knew pieces, but not the whole picture.

"We were gonna leave and go on a world tour together."

Not the topic of the conversation, mood dropping too much when she thought about how she should've just stayed with him in Mexico.

"If you actually knew a thing about Kol, Davina, you'd know that he didn't want Klaus dead."

He wanted to get even.

"Dark objects can kill Originals. Kol could've shown you how to make one of those ones, but he didn't."

"Because of the sire-line."

"I don't give two shits about the sire-line," He muttered.

"But you stopped Mikael from staking Klaus because of..."

No interruption.

Just Davina stopping herself.

MJ smiled in victory, "Because of what?"

"Because I didn't wanna be the reason your friends died," He finished, "Something I openly told her."

MJ knew that was code for Caroline rather than her other friends.

Maybe he'd also meant Tyler out of respect for her memory, but, again, not what she needed to be thinking about.

Not thinking about it didn't stop the information from making her heart glow.

"He also knows I'm 'this' close to figuring out how to break the sire-line," MJ exaggerated a little, "So, he knows that he could prep a weapon to kill Klaus without having to worry about it if he actually wanted to."

"Then maybe Kol needs a wake-up call," Davina glared at him, "To be around people that actually care about him, and help him be better than...whatever the hell this is."

"I care about Kol."

"Not as much as you care about Klaus."

MJ took a step towards her, "Bullshit."

"You can't say bullshit when you've picked Klaus over him every second since you got back – forcing him to pick Klaus too."

MJ put her hands to her face as she groaned, "Oh my god, Davina, stop!"

"Stop what? Calling you out on it?"

"Acting like your way is the only way."

"Sorry that I don't want to help Klaus," She spat, "The man who kills off everyone I care about."

Very fair reasoning.

"Just because you want me to."

Davina was basically doing what MJ had always been afraid to do with her Mystic Falls friends.

"Just because you got the only Mikaelson who deserves to be here to act just like the rest of them."

Not fair reasoning.

"Look at yourself, Kol," She focused, "You weren't like this before."

"You have no idea what you're talking about," MJ shot down, "Davina – "

"I – "

"Nope," MJ lifted a hand, forcing her vocal cords to shut down, "You are going to listen to me."

She'd officially had it.

"Instead of your petty crush brain telling you to act like a High School cliché."

Davina swallowed nervously.

"You want to be treated like an adult?" She dropped the spell, "Fine."

No time to make a retort.

"If we're talking main siblings, Rebekah has the least offences to her name," MJ motioned to the vampire present, "Kol might be number one."

She had the ridiculously high, massive underestimation of his kill count written down somewhere.

"You do realise that he's literally the reason people know about vampires, right?"

He tilted his head, "That's not an incorrect statement."

"He's the reason towns were massacred by Mikael."

Second-hand kills.

"He wanted to get caught. He didn't care about anyone – god, he burnt like half of them down himself."

Davina's voice went high, upset, "And you want him to stay like that?"

"I think he should get to pick who he is."

"Rather than steal my ashes," Kol called out, "And force me to be their version of me."

"You're upset that I want you to be better?"

"The faith's flattering. The execution isn't."

"I..."

"Would be dead in any other lifetime," Kol put it bluntly, "My instincts tell me to tear you to pieces, but Mira's reasonable head knows every way to stop me."

Her eyes flashed with fear.

"I thought we were friends, Davina; you're the one who stole my gold dust to force my stances."

"And this isn't about his future," MJ tapped the metal of the urn, "This is about his past. Just as bloody and twisted and awful as Klaus's. Out of the siblings, Rebekah is the most deserving to live."

"God knows she's been obsessed with it for long enough."

"Out of the entire Mikaelson family? Hope is."

Silence.

"Hope. The baby you are ruining the future of by refusing to use the power to bring back Esther."

"You hate Esther."

"I do," She nodded, "Doesn't change the fact that we need her."

Davina looked at the ashes in MJ's arms.

She shook her head, "I'm not helping them."

"Do you really hate Klaus that much?"

"I'm not going to help him over Sam!"

"Someone who would want you to help him right now, because helping him is – "

"He's hurt me! He's hurt people I care about."

"And guess what, Davina," MJ upped her volume, arms going out, "Just because someone hurts you doesn't mean you get to hurt them back!"

Kol was back to staring at her.

"That's not how the world works!"

Sometimes she wished it was, but MJ also knew damn well it didn't.

"If it was, humanity would cease to exist!"

There were many days when MJ had woken up and questioned why she put up with so much shit. Some people may tell her it was Ryos's mental abuse conditioning. Some people would blame the abandonment and orphan adolescent years. While both assumptions were correct. Something in her head was hardwired to just take-and-take; it was more fundamental than that.

"Life sucks, and shitty people get good things, and good people get fucked over, and sometimes we can do things to right those wrongs, but other times we can't!"

Fixating on the bad drained the life out of her.

"We can only try our best to not get lost in the deep dark hole of awfulness. To not take out grudges with one person on everyone else who dares to walk the same street as you."

MJ was able to see the bigger picture.

"You don't use prejudices to isolate the one person who actually cares about you."

Davina still couldn't look at her when she mentioned it.

"You are a teenager, D. When I say you're too young to be Regent - "

"I'm not - "

"You are!"

Silence.

"I'm too young to be Regent, and I'm actually an adult!" MJ rubbed the bridge of her nose, "You're a teenager who needs to grow up, and you should be allowed to make mistakes and missteps, but you can't anymore."

MJ wasn't okay with any of it.

"You are in an adult's role, so you need to act like one. You can't attack vampires trying to be reasonable just because they need you to do something you don't like."

Maybe Kol shouldn't have tried playing on her emotions, but he was trying to help Hope.

"You need to think."

"Am I."

"You say you are," MJ calmed down a little, turning to inspect tomb walls, "Which means you've actually considered what you're doing by not bringing back Esther?"

"I could free The Crescents."

"And what do you achieve from that?"

"...Achieve?" Davina's face was stuck buffering, "You know, their lives..."

"And so," MJ painted the picture, "Esther stays dead, we don't get her blood, Dahlia takes Hope from Klaus...she'll probably kill The Crescents the moment you uncurse them to get Hayley out the way..."

Nothing.

"I mean," Davina rubbed her neck guilty, "If she has Hope, Dahlia will leave. That's good."

Kol's eyes were pinned on MJ as he worked out what she was doing.

"It is," MJ nodded, "Dahlia leaves with Hope. Are we bringing Aiden back or un-cursing?"

"If uncursing gets the pack killed. Aiden."

"We bring back Aiden; he and Josh are happy."

"You use the witches to lock Klaus up somewhere," Kol added, clicking the plan, "So he can't just kill all of us in retaliation."

Davina seemed to realise she'd forgotten about that part.

"Then what?" MJ prompted, "Josh and Aiden have to leave before the family kill them for stealing Esther's spot. Kol and I have to leave too – we ride off into the sunset together, and you stay here as Queen Bee?"

Davina paused.

"Because, if we're part of screwing Klaus over, we can't stay here," Kol mock-considered it, tapping his chin, "Elijah will kill Mira for it. To punish her and get at me."

"Very true," MJ pointed at him, "The Mikaelson's kill whoever their siblings care about if they pose threats to Always and Forever, for abandoning Hayley, and for screwing over Hope – god, I'm gonna be dead tomorrow."

Kol laughed in half-confirmation, "Nah, darling, we'll just run now."

"You'll probably have to run too," MJ addressed Davina, "Since angry Mikaelson's are more than just Klaus...Kol...when you said you'd take the cure for me..."

He paused his walk, "Hm?"

"If Davina liked you so much better as a witch – if you were that much better of a person."

He wasn't following the change in conversation yet.

"Maybe you should...D," She looked at him, "Would that get your forgiveness for trying to play you earlier?"

She didn't respond.

"That's the version of him you like," She stressed, getting another jab in, "You don't like bloodstained serial killer vampires, and he was one of the best."

He held his head up high, "True."

"So we find a way to cure you, and we're all forced to run because we got Hope taken – but, Davina's thought this through!" MJ mocked, "We manage to escape and start over, and we live our lives – I end up pregnant."

Davina froze.

"Did you think about that?"

Her voice was a whisper, "What about it?"

"No contraception is a hundred per cent effective, and I mean," MJ smiled to herself, "Now he's back in his body, we're going to be having so much sex."

Kol curled his lips in as Davina's face got more and more uncomfortable.

"'God You're Hot, I've Missed Your Face' sex. 'Sorry for breaking up with you to deal with my stuff' sex. 'I Love You' sex. That's the one I'm looking forward to the most. And we weren't having sex while he was in the wrong body, which means we're both pent up and – "

"Okay!" Davina put her hands up, "And you end up pregnant! Whatever! Why does it matter!?"

"Because you're not thinking Davina," MJ dropped all pep, "You think I'm only thinking about Klaus? You're only thinking about Klaus."

"If she got pregnant," Kol's voice faltered at the word, "It would be another first born...which means Dahlia, coming back, and taking it."

Silence.

"Rebekah. She wants the cure to vampirism," MJ felt bad talking about it given her recent forced evacuation from her human host, "I have a vial I can use to work out a second version of the cure for her."

Davina's eyes jumped between the pair awkwardly.

MJ looked right back at her, "Do you know why she wants the cure?"

"...No."

"Since we turned, she's wanted to grow old," Kol filled her in, "To have a child."

"If I got it for her," MJ noticed the way Davina couldn't look at the vampire, "If she took it, and she got her happy ending, she wouldn't get her happy ending."

"She'd have Dahlia, taking her child away."

No response.

"Say, eh, it's just one kid!" MJ used a dumb-person voice, "She can have more!"

She went back to serious.

"What about those kids? They'd be human, maybe witches."

It would be nice to have more Mikaelson's running around.

"They'd grow up, they'd have kids, they'd have their kids taken too. This isn't about Klaus, Davina."

"This about every potential Mikaelson first born," Kol justified his shady tactic of flirting, "Any Hope might have during her life with Dahlia, any Rebekah might have."

"Elijah hates this life too," MJ revealed, "If Hayley were to leave Jackson, Elijah might take the cure, he might marry her and have a future. One they'd lose too..."

Davina's eye went wide, "No, but – "

"It might be Hayley's second child, but it would be Elijah's first born."

"Does every potential kid in this family deserve to suffer because of a deal my mother made?"

Every day, MJ hated the woman more.

"Because of your hatred for Klaus?" She stressed, "Because you've decided a romanticised version of Kol can have a free-pass, but the rest of his family, who haven't done half as much, are all evil?"

He and Davina were just staring at each other, her really taking in his natural face,

Kol looked like an Elijah.

He looked like a Mikaelson.

"Does Hayley deserve to lose her kid?"

The big point MJ wanted to make.

"Because Hope is half-Klaus, half-Hayley. And you are condemning that baby because you're mad at Klaus."

Davina was staring at her shoes.

"This is what I mean when I say grow up and see the big picture, D. Your hate is making you stupid."

Since MJ had come back, she'd been holding back with Davina, but doing so hadn't helped.

"And, if you were just a teenager, you'd be allowed to be stupid. But you are the Regent, and you are making a choice that is going to affect a lot of people."

MJ really hadn't voted against her out of any petty reason.

Davina wasn't ready.

"You hate Klaus; you think you're better than him? Because, right now, I feel like I'm lecturing someone just as selfish and power-hungry."

Kol seemed a little taken aback by the firmness of the terms.

"You took a position that is about leading a city of witches because you wanted power."

Davina still wasn't looking her in the eye.

"And do you want to know the worst part of this conversation?" MJ closed her eyes for a moment, "I'm having to justify saving a baby to you."

Davina's face shot up.

"I'm having to argue the case of an infant."

They were staring at each other, MJ able to watch the chaotic confusion in her eye as Davina truly realised the gravity of the situation.

"You hated the ancestors for the Harvest. You left your coven because of the things witches were willing to do to other people, and yet you are the one condemning a baby while looking at me like I'm the bad guy."

MJ took a calming breath.

"I want to help the wolves – I wish we could just bring Aiden back!"

But death was something MJ had to learn to accept.

"But can we really sacrifice Hope's future for his?"

Silence.

"Are we really going to prioritise the dead over the living," She took a step closer to Davina, "Because people die, Davina. Because we can't save everyone, and that's something we have to accept sometimes. Before death consumes us."

Kol was smiling at her fondly.

"You wanna be better than the people who condemned you to die? You wanna be better than Klaus? Then be better. Save Hope," MJ put the ashes down firmly on the nearest surface, "Bring back Esther, so can we finish this."

Davina slowly picked them up.

She bobbed her head in acceptance.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry, D," Kol said quietly, "If there was another way, I would've taken it."

Davina made a scoffing noise while not looking at them.

MJ closed her eyes and rested against the cool stone, body overheating, slowly un-tensing at the fact Davina was going to do the right thing.

Their fight clearly wasn't over.

But MJ had gotten some kind of a breakthrough...