"Like, seriously? He can't just waltz back here after everything he has done, and dump his new vampire girlfriend on me to babysit!" Caroline ranted in annoyance, as Audrey listened to her vent quietly. "And he had the nerve to say that it was my fault! I'm sorry, Stefan, but no it's not. It is your mess, and I wouldn't have came to Savannah in the first place, if you didn't lie and picked up the damn phone!"

   Audrey was paying attention to her, but her mind kept glancing to the bedroom door, hoping Elijah would walk in at any moment. He didn't join them at the loft last night, and thinking he'd probably been distracted by Klaus or something else, the Gilbert girl gave into the idea of going back to the compound for the night. Audrey didn't remember when she had fallen asleep, but he wasn't there when she woke up, no signs he'd joined her at all and just left before she woke up. His side of the bed was still made and untouched, and she had no message or calls from him, which was sending her mind into overdrive thinking about what could be going on.

   But she didn't overreact, leaving him a message telling him to call her, before she started getting ready for the day. She was slightly disappointed when her phone rang and it wasn't him, but Caroline's call was keeping her distracted, and stopping her from jumping to irrational conclusions. 

   "Well, how long as he left her with you for?" She asked.

   "A couple of hours." Caroline answered. "Apparently, a couple of hours and then I'll never have to deal with him again."

   Audrey made a face, very easily picking up on her tone. She knew Caroline well, and she knew she only used that voice when she was unsure on what she wanted. "Isn't that a good thing?"

   "Well, yeah." The Forbes girl muttered. "I guess, I just-- ugh!" She let out in frustration. "Damon and Bonnie died, and he just disappeared, you know? And all this time I thought...I don't know what I thought." 

   "You know you're not alone, right?" Audrey told her softly. Over the last couple of months, Caroline and Audrey had been keeping each other updating on what was happening. From Caroline telling her about what happened to Damon and Bonnie, to Audrey telling her she was pregnant. Everything seemed to be constantly changing for both of them, and with everything Caroline was having to deal with, Audrey hated that she wasn't with her. "There is always going to be a place for you here, if you wanted."

   "I'm fine." The blonde assured her. "I've enrolled back at Whitmore, I've moved back into the dorm. No more looking back, just moving forward." She said confidently, before clearing her throat. "Hey, did you get the packages I sent you?"

   Audrey rolled her eyes, glancing to the corner of the room, where the multiple large packages from Caroline were currently stored. Each one filled with different baby gifts. "Didn't we have a conversation about going overboard?"

   "That's is not overboard!" Caroline scoffed. "I'll have you know that for me, that is rather controlled, and it's all completely necessary items." 

   "Right..." She nodded, as she picked up the giant brown stuffed bear tucked away in the closet. "How is the bear a completely necessary item?"

   "Uh, what baby wouldn't love a giant bear to cuddle and play with?" She shot back, Audrey's lips twitched up in amusement. She glanced at the doorway when she heard footsteps, her face falling only slightly when she saw it was Hayley instead of Elijah. "It'll look perfect in the nursery. Which, by the way, I've already got so many designs for."

   "You coming?" Hayley raised a brow at her. "I just got word on the kids from last night, I was going to go update Marcel."

   "Sure." She mouthed with a nod, before focusing her attention back on the blonde on the phone. "Hey, Care, I've gotta go."

   "Okay. I should probably go check on Ivy." Caroline said with a small sigh. "I'll update you later. Bye Rey."

   "Bye Care." She said softly, before hanging up and shoving her phone in her pocket, glancing at Hayley as she did so. "Hey, have you seen Elijah?" 

   "You've not seen him?" The Marshall girl asked in confusion.

   "Not since yesterday." Audrey shook her head. "I thought he might come home while I was asleep, but he never."

   Hayley frowned at that. "I haven't been able to find Oliver either, and he went to help Elijah with the decoy."

   Audrey felt her heart drop, as the all the bad thoughts she'd been pushing away resurfaced all at once. "Hayley, if they're both missing..."

   "Then something happened." Hayley finished knowingly. "Come on, let's go find out what."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   After filling in Marcel on the fact both Elijah and Oliver were missing, he was quick to volunteer to help the pair investigate what had happened. The trio made their way to the garage they knew Elijah and Oliver planned to lead the wolves to, and the sight of what they found made Audrey feel sick. The ground was covered in blood, the bodies of dead wolves scattered around, but there was no sign of Elijah or Oliver. 

   When Marcel found vampire blood mixed in with all the wolf blood, the Gilbert girl was quick to call Klaus. "I'm a tad busy. What is it, Audrey?" Klaus asked impatiently when he answered.

   "Something has happened to Elijah." She answered quietly, running her free hand through her hair. "He was supposed to be our decoy last night, and now he's vanished. There's blood everywhere-- werewolf and vampire. There's a trail. I need you to help us track it."

   "Well, as much as I might like to help you find my brother, I have more pressing matters as the moment." He shot back, and she heard some grunts in the background as he spoke. 

   "Klaus!" She snapped in disbelief. "What is more important than your own brother?"

   "My life?" He offered back, making her blink in confusion. "Davina had Mikael on a magical leash, and it broke. Now Mikael has Tunde's blade, the white oak stake, and Cami." Marcel's face fell at that, both he and Hayley watching Audrey as they heard what he said. "I'm gonna get her back. And then, I'm gonna end this. Either Mikael or I will be ash by day's end."

   "Woah, Klaus, slow down. Where are you?" The doppelganger asked calmly, her concern growing instantly.

   But the Mikaelson hybrid ignored her question, and she heard more scuffling in the background on his end, as Hayley and Marcel walked closer to her. Both of them just as concerned as she was. "If you do find my brother, please, tell him I could do with a hand?" He finished before abruptly hanging up.

   "Kla--" She groaned as she dropped the phone from her ear. "Great."

   "We've gotta go help them." Marcel stated firmly. "Klaus dies, a lot of us go with him, and I'm not letting anything happen to Cami."

   "You're right." Audrey nodded, as Hayley looked at her worriedly. "Klaus needs help."

   "Audrey, Elijah--"

   "We will find him." Audrey cut Hayley off, shaking her head. "I know we will, and Klaus will help us. But right now, Klaus needs our help. I'm fine." She promised. "I'm not about to break."

   "Alright." Hayley nodded with a reluctant look. "But you stick with me, okay?"

   Audrey said nothing as she bent down, grabbing a broken metal pipe that had been left laying around, a unreadable look appearing on her face. "Whatever you say."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   Between Marcel and Hayley, the three were able to find where Klaus had tracked Mikael to. Inside, Cami gasped in relief as she pulled the stake from Klaus's chest, watching as the desiccation began to slowly fade from his body. 

   "What do you think you're doing?" Mikael snapped viciously as he entered the room again. 

   Cami turned to face him with a glare, gripping the white oak stake tightly as she pointed it at him. "Stay the hell away from us! Or, I swear to God, I'll kill you myself."

   Mikael looked at her mildly impressed, chuckling humorlessly as he walked closer. "You have a warrior's heart. Perhaps I'll keep it as souvenir." Before he could lay a finger on the blonde, Marcel rushed into sight and pulls him away, hitting him quickly and repeatedly. Taking a moment to adjust to what was happening, Mikael snarled as he pushed Marcel flat on his back, holding a broken piece of wood threateningly above his heart. "Now, ENOUGH! This night has been a long parade of fools. I'll enjoy killing every last one of you."

   Klaus gasped awake at that moment, as Cami pushed to her feet weakly and shakily. Suddenly, a chain wraps around Mikael's neck, yanking him off his feet forcefully. "Yeah, I wouldn't bet on it." Hayley replied, before whacking the chain around his face.

   As he went to stand up, Audrey appeared above him with a blank look, as she stabbed the metal pipe into his abdomen. "I'd say that's long overdue." She stated coldly before she, Hayley and Marcel moved to stand beside Klaus and Cami, and Davina appeared to stand beside them also. 

   "It's over, Mikael." Klaus smirked at his father, as Mikael got to his feet with a grunt, ripping the pipe out and tossing it to the ground. "You're outnumbered. Are you going to beg for your miserable life?"

   Yet despite the odds against him, Mikael just laughed at his words with a mocking look. "You think having people makes you strong? It proves how weak you are." He shook his head. "Come find me when you don't have fools, women and children fighting your battles." He stated before he rushed away, leaving the group alone. 

   Exchanging a look, Marcel and Hayley rushed out to make sure that he was gone, and Klaus focused his attention on the weak Cami. Audrey went to help, when Davina's hand wrapped around her wrist, tugging her in the direction of another room.

   "Davina, what are you doing?" She pulled her hand back in confusion. 

   "Mikael attacked him." She let out, as she led her toward where a boy around her age laid on the ground, a small cut on his head. "Klaus will try to kill him, so will Marcel."

   Audrey carefully knelt down beside him, as he came to with a groan. "Why would they?" She asked, as she gently examined the cut. "He'll be fine. Just one hell of a headache." She assured her, raising a brow for an answer. 

   "You know me, darling." He looked at her with a small smirk. "Can't help but piss dear Nik off."

   It clicked for her instantly, staring at him in shock. "You..." She slowly shook her head. "Of course." She slapped his arm repeatedly. "Are you insane, Kol?!" She hissed. "Working with Esther?"

   "Oi!" He groaned, swatting her hand away. "And here I thought you'd be happy to see me."

   "Of course I am." She glared at him, clipping her hand around his head. "You just happened to catch me on a bad day." She muttered in defense, before rubbing her face with a sigh. "Davina, get him out of here. Before he does anything to warrant Nik killing him." She gave him a look for a moment, before wrapping him in a tight hug. "I missed you."

   "That's more like." He mumbled as he hugged her back. "I'll see you soon, sweetheart. I'd say we're overdue a catch-up." He said as he gestured to her bump, before leaving with Davina.

   Audrey watched them go with a sigh, before she got to her feet and went to join everyone else, the tough wall she'd been putting up slowly crumbling as thoughts of Elijah slipped back in.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   In a tomb inside thee cemetery, Elijah hung weakly from the wall by his wrists, kneeling on the ground pale and tired. All day had been constant flood of past memories, Esther hitting him with one dark truth after the other, taunting him with his past. 

   "No more." He pleaded as he looked at his mother.

   Esther shook her head, crossing her arms across her chest. "I'm afraid we've just begun." She told him, making him lower his head defeated. "You will hang here, remembering. Every atrocity you've hid behind that door will emerge to haunt you. And, as you grow weaker, you will be ripped of your strength, your will, your hope. And, as you rot here, alone, you will reconsider my offer. A new life. A way to be freed of your demons. A chance at peace."

   Suddenly, Audrey appeared behind her, swinging a metal fence rod around her head at full force. The blow knocks Esther to the ground unconscious, and Audrey dropped the rod, tilting her head at her. "Well, that's enough of you." She said, before turning and walking toward Elijah, who looked at her in relief. "I'd kill her, but she'd just body jump." He slumped forward tiredly as she grabbed his chains, trying to pull them down. "How do I get these off?"

   "The doll, up there." He nodded to the poppet hanging above him. "Break it. She's using it to bind me."

   Reaching up, she pulled the doll down before breaking it in half, and moving back to the chains. She pulled them down one by one, before kneeling down in front of him in worry, cupping his face in her hands. "You need to feed."

   He instantly pulled away worriedly, shaking his head as he turned away from her. "I can't--"

   "Elijah, you're weak." She said softly.

   He swallowed hard as she offered her wrist to him, growing more and more anxious as he looked at her pleadingly. "I can't! I crave you. My hunger, it could overwhelm me."

   "Hey." Audrey moved closely, caressing his face as their eyes met. "I'm not afraid. I love you." She said wholeheartedly. "And I trust you." She moved her hand to her bump, resting her forehead against his. "We trust you."

   The couple stared at one another for a long moment before Audrey leaned forward and kissed him heatedly, Elijah not hesitating to return it as he pulled as he close as he could, her arms snaking and wrapping around his neck. In that moment, his hunger was entirely forgotten, managing to keep control as he grew completely lost in her. Nothing else mattered to him but her and their child, and no matter what his mother said, he'd never do anything to hurt either one of them. Audrey would never end up another face behind the door. 

   If only he knew his moment of sanity was nothing but a dream. 

I feel so bad for Elijah right now, and I enjoyed Audrey hitting Esther in that dream a lot. Though, she deserved a hell of a lot worse for what she was doing. I tried to make the chapter a little more lighthearted then it is, with a special phone call appearance from Caroline, and Audrey seeing Kol in his new body. 

The next update will either be tomorrow or Friday, depending how long it takes me to write.

I hope you all enjoyed!