A small smile tugged at Audrey's lips, as she woke up to the feeling of Elijah's arms curling around her waist, pulling her back into his chest. She rolled over to face him as she opened her eyes, pressing a soft kiss to his lips which made his own smile appear. 

   "I don't have long." He mumbled against her lips. "I must deal with Aya while Niklaus handles Camille."

   "I know." She sighed, reluctantly pulling away. "I'm going with him to meet Cami. Hayley offered to watch Mira with Hope, as with everything going on, we thought he might need someone there to keep him calm."

   "You're probably right." He nodded, stroking his fingers gently through her hair. "Are you sure you'll be alright spending the day with him?"

   Audrey nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine. We've been getting along better lately." She admitted, before she raised a brow at him. "What's the plan with Aya?"

   "To rub a little salt in an old wound." He told her, letting out a sigh. "There's a history there."

   "You two were together." She nodded, earning a look of surprise she just shook her head at. "It wasn't hard to work out, Elijah. The looks she gives you, the clear distaste she has for me."

   He looked at her softly. "You never said anything."

   "There wasn't any need to." She shrugged honestly. "I know you. There might have been something there once, but a lot has changed since then. I know you'd never go anything to hurt me, that would hurt our daughter, and the life we're building together. I can handle a few dirty looks from her, it doesn't bother me."

   Elijah gazed at softly for a long moment, before he pulled her so she straddled his waist, his hands cupping her face gently. "I do not deserve you."

   "Sshh." She mumbled as she leaned down, pulling into a deep kiss. 

   His hands moved from her face to her waist, the two of them growing entirely lost in the heat of the moment. But before anything could go any further, a small cry came through the baby monitor, Mira alerting her parents she was awake and wanted their attention. The couple pulled apart breathlessly, both of their eyes falling on the monitor as the crying got louder.

   "I've got her." Elijah chuckled, pecking Audrey's lips once more as he sat up, before he made his way out of the room.

  By the time Audrey was ready for the day, Klaus was nowhere to be found, having already left for the cemetery to meet Cami. The Gilbert girl wasn't surprised, as Cami's recent actions had made it hard for him to listen to reason. She'd stolen the thing that put all of them at risk, just so she could reclaim her dark objects, which were the last things she needed to be worrying about now she was newly turned. She wasn't in her right mind, and her betrayal and inability to understand the damage she was doing was frustrating the hybrid. 

   While she waited for him to get back, she helped Hayley with the girls, as Hope was being especially hard to get down. Elijah left not long after he'd seen to Mira, and Freya was out attending to something, leaving the two mothers alone with their daughters.

   "Hey! Hey!" Hayley snapped, as she and Audrey made their way into the study. They heard throwing and slamming, and immediately went to investigate before it could get louder, to find Klaus throwing things into a box. "Are you serious with all that noise?"

   "Oh, I'm sorry." Klaus rolled his eyes, looking at the female hybrid. "Has my therapists betrayal inconvenienced your otherwise tranquil day?"

   "Our daughter has been upset." She looked at him in frustration. "She's still dealing with the fact that Jack is gone, and the only thing that calms her is her favorite toy, which Cami stole to get back at you." She pointed out. "So, if you wake her up with all this slamming around, so help me, Cami will be the least of your problems." 

   "It pains me that Hope is upset." He lowers his voice, though a sarcastic tone still remained. "So, I'll add it to the long list of grievances I'm already tallying, hmm?" 

   "Stop being an ass." Audrey warned him, before giving him a look. "See, this is why I said I'd go with you. I get you're upset, Klaus, but Cami isn't in her right mind right now."

   "I beg to differ." He scoffed. "Camille seems quite lucid, tucked away behind a barrier spell in the city of the dead as she taunts me with the means of my demise!"

   "Klaus, she died." Audrey reminded him. "She's a vampire now. She's dealing with the hunger, and the heightened emotions. She's learning and right now, she's trying to find what she things is the best way to protect herself, which are those dark objects. She doesn't understand fully the repercussions of what she's doing."

   "And I wanted to help her with all of that!" He said in disbelief.

   "Well maybe try and be a little calmer to prove that to her!" She let out, rubbing her face with her hands. "She's still Cami, Klaus. But a lot has changed for her. You flying off the handle when she makes a mistake won't do either of you any good."

   Klaus just grabbed the duffel bag with a huff, heading toward the door. "Let's just get this over with, shall we?"

*    *    *    *   *    *    *    *    *    *

   The walk to Lafayette cemetery was silent, Klaus mostly grumbling to himself as they went. Audrey decided it was probably best not to push him, but she just hoped he wouldn't lose his temper when they met up with Cami and Vincent. It was oddly quiet as they walked through the cemetery, not a sound to be heard, nor where Camille or Vincent anywhere to be seen. The hybrid and vampire paused in their tracks, looking around carefully, both of them able to sense that something wasn't right. 

   "Camille!" Klaus yelled out, but no reply came at all. 

   "Cami?" Audrey shouted as she looked around. "Vincent?"

   "She can't hear you." A voice spoke from behind, prompting them both to turn around. A girl dressed in black robes walked closer to them, her face slightly familiar to the pair. "As a matter of fact... pretty soon now, she'll be dead. I hope you both parted with her on good terms."

   Klaus let out a low growl and lunged at her, but she disappeared before he could touch her, leaving him even more frustrated then he already was. "Show yourself!" Within a second, they turned again as they felt a presence behind, revealing her to be there once more. "You're one of the coven affiliated with the Strix."

   She nodded. "My sister and I have come for the one thing that can kill you."

   "You know about the white oak." Audrey narrowed her eyes.

   "Well, perhaps I'll find your sisters and feed them what remains of your insides." Klaus snarled and lunged for her once again, only to get blocked by an invisible barrier.

   The witch sneered smugly at that. "I have a better idea." 

   The witch thrusts her hands out and lifts them upwards, pulling both Klaus and Audrey several feet in the air. Both of them cry out in pain and hold their heads in their hands, before everything went black for them, the witch snapping their necks and letting their bodies drop to the ground. By the time the pair woke up, the witch was nowhere to be found, and she had succeeded in getting the white oak from Cami. 

   They stood inside a tomb with Cami and Vincent, as Vincent tried a locator spell on the with who attacked them all. "You realize this is your doing?" Klaus looked at Cami. "Your attempt to manipulate me played right into our enemies' hands!"

   The blonde let out a sigh. "And I said I'm sorry."

   "Your apologies won't bring back what was lost!" He let out in disbelief.

   Audrey sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, and Vincent looked at done with the arguing as she did. But neither of them seemed to notice, as Cami snapped back at him. "Then shut up and let Vincent track down that witch!"

   At that moment, Vincent shook his head and got to his feet going to leave when Klaus was quick to stop him. "Where do you think you're going?"

   "I want to find her just as much as you do, but I cannot concentrate, not with this pointless bickering." He told them bluntly.

   As Klaus opened his mouth to respond, Audrey stopped him, giving Vincent a grateful smile. "Just let us know when you know something. Thank you, Vincent. Go do what you need to do." She said gently, and he nodded before he walked out, leaving the three alone.

   Cami went to follow him out, but Klaus blocked her path. "You, however, are not leaving my sight!" He warned her, not able to get his temper in check. And deep down, Audrey couldn't blame him. "What were you thinking? Did it occur to you the immense danger you placed yourself in? You were almost killed!"

   "I would have been." She nodded. "Thank God I had my dark objects."

   Audrey stared at her at that. "You're not serious right now."

   But Cami just ignored her, keeping her attention on the Mikaelson hybrid. "The amount of vulnerability you're feeling right now, Klaus... that's what I deal with all the time. Why do you think I'm so desperate to protect myself? If you had just given me what I asked for..."

   "Do not blame me." He said, appalled at what she was implying.

   "I took a calculated risk, yes. Did it blow up in my face? Yes. And I am sorry. I am. But if you had just listened to me, we wouldn't be here right now." As she speaks, her phone begins to buzz in her pocket loudly, but she ignored it in favor of continuing her speech. "It's the same story with you, Klaus. For a thousand years you-you control, you manipulate, you do whatever you need to do to get your way. And I'm not gonna be a part of it anymore. I don't care how high the risk is."

   "Answer your bloody phone, would you?" Klaus snapped, irritated.

   "What?" She snapped down the phone as she answered.

   "Cami, you have to listen to me. One of the Strix witches knows where you are and she knows that you have the white oak." Davina's voice spoke quickly.

   The O'Connell women let out a sigh, her tone softening now she knew it was Davina. "You're a little late, kiddo. She already took it, which means... I guess the Strix have it now."

   "No, you don't understand." Davina said desperately. "When she got inside my head, I got inside hers. She's not working for the Strix."

   And the name Davina said next made all their eyes widen in horror.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

     News that Aurora was now the one in procession of the white oak had placed everyone on edge, knowing how much worse it made the situation. When they got back to the compound, they filled Elijah and Freya in what they learned, and Freya quickly got to work trying to find this witch like Vincent was. 

   After checking on Mira, who Hayley had already gotten to sleep for the evening, Audrey made her way down to the courtyard with Elijah. Klaus was already stood there, pouring himself a drink at the bar with a glum look. "I trust Freya had no luck finding that witch."

   "Not in the..." Elijah checks his watch. "...Seven minutes since your last inquiry, Niklaus, no."

   Klaus rolled his eyes and poured them a drink each, sliding them down the bar toward them before he sipped at his own. "Aurora's involvement changes everything. If Aya and the Strix had the oak, we could at least be certain you were not the target. But with the weapon in Aurora's hands..."

   "I do wonder which one of us she'll try and kill first. You broke her heart, I... broke her mind. I suppose both of us share the sin of Tristan's unceremonious burial at sea." Elijah admitted with a frown.

   "Rebekah was right." Audrey shook her head. "You two really need a lesson in women." Elijah just looked at her, and she gave him a look in return. "Oh, I'm sorry, are we pretending your ex doesn't want to kill you either?"

   He opened his mouth to argue, but realizing she was right, he simply stopped and pressed a kiss on her forehead. Audrey simply hummed as she took a sip of her drink, as Klaus shook his head at the pair. "Mmm. It's normally we who pose the threat to our intimates." He grimaced humorlessly. "It's an odd feeling, the roles reversed. I always did loathe irony."

It's another of my favorite episodes up next chapter, and following that, we're onto the crossover episode. A lot of exciting things coming up, and hopefully, I should at least to that chapter posted by Monday. 

I hope you all enjoyed!