Audrey stood on the balcony overlooking the street below, her fingers tapping against the railing anxiously as she waited. With Mikael now in the wind, Klaus had turned his focus onto helping find what had happened to Elijah, who they'd still had no luck in locating. Hearing the sound of screams coming from inside, Audrey made her way back inside with a frown, following the source of the noise to Klaus's room. 

   She found the hybrid in question stood over the sink, cleaning blood from his hands and face, causing her to raise a brow. "So your interrogation went well?"

   He glances from the mirror to her as he washed up. "Eh, it turns out these witches are delicate creatures. No matter. I suspected my mother had Elijah captive."

   "So what are we waiting for?" She asked in disbelief. "Let's go find them."

   Klaus shook his head as he walked toward her. "Esther is too powerful. She won't be easily found. I need to draw her out."

   "So let's draw her out--" She paused as he brushed past her, going to close the door of his room behind him. "Wait, where are you going?"

   Klaus looked at her with a patronizing smile. "I'm going to change my shirt, and then I'm going to find my brother." He stated in an obvious one, before going to close the door again.

   Frowning, the Gilbert girl was quick to block the door with her foot. "Klaus, let me come with you." She insisted in annoyance.

   With a deep sigh, Klaus stepped in front of her with a calm look. "I know you want to help, Audrey, but you can't." He told her honestly. "My mother is wretched. She will target you in order to thwart me, and I can't very well save Elijah if I'm busy saving you, can I?" She was the one to let out a sigh this time, crossing her arms as she looked down in frustration. "Elijah would want you and the baby safe. If I return him home and something has happened, how do you think that would go down?"

   "Nik, I can't just sit around do nothing." She looked at him. "It's driving me insane."

   "Find something to keep you occupied." He suggested, before gripping her shoulders lightly, giving her a look. "I will get him back. But for not only his sake, but all our sake, stand this one down." Giving her shoulders a light, reassuring squeeze, Klaus went into his room and closed the door behind him.

   Her hands reached up toward her chest, her fingers clutching onto the charm of her necklace. She knew that Klaus was right, but it didn't make it any easier. As she moved back onto the balcony, she felt her phone begin to ring in her pocket, her eyes glancing at who it was before she answered it. 

   "Fancy a trip down into the bayou?" Hayley asked the moment she answered.

   "The bayou?" She repeated in confusion. "Why?"

   "I'm going to find Jackson." The Marshall girl told her. "I want to go rescue Oliver. If we can get Oliver, he might be able to help us find out where Esther has Elijah. Marcel and Gia are willingly to help distract Finn, but I can't go in alone."

   "Which is why you're going to find Jackson." The Gilbert girl realized. "Hayley, no one has seen him in months."

   "I know." Hayley said honestly. "But while the werewolves may be currently answering to Esther and Finn, they still have an alpha. We just need to find him."

   Audrey glanced over her shoulder back inside, toward Klaus's now closed door, and she slowly began to nod. "Alright, I'll meet you out there." She agreed. "Klaus benched me from helping him, but it doesn't mean I can't help another way."

   And Audrey would help in any little way that she could if it meant getting Elijah back.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

    Meeting up at the edge of the bayou, Hayley and Audrey began the trek further in, looking around all the possible areas for Jackson. The last time Audrey had been out there was the bombing, which didn't bring back the most pleasant of memories. But she didn't focus on them, and kept focused on the task at hand, which distracted her from the lack of updates she was getting from Klaus. She was trying to see it as a positive thing, as if he was too busy to update her on what was happening, he had to be close to finding Elijah.

   Hayley paused and stuck her arm in front of Audrey, making her stop in her tracks. Before she could question her, the Marshall hybrid spun around and caught two arrows in her hands, her eyes narrowing at figure hiding in the distance. "Is that your best shot?" She asked. "You're gonna have to do a lot better than that if you're gonna kill a hybrid."

   Stepping into the sight, the man responsible for the arrows glared at he walked toward them, pulling a short sword from from the sheath strapped to his belt. "Stop!" A gruff, familiar voice yelled, making him stop.

   The three instantly turn to see Jackson appear in sight, stepping out of his trailer that was stationed just a few feet ahead of them. Hayley's face instantly softened as she locked eyes with him. "Jackson?"

   "Hayley." Jackson nodded, no clear look on his face. "Audrey. I see you both met my friend Ansel."

   The stranger, they now knew to be Ansel, gave Jackson a confused look. "You know them?"

   "Yeah, actually, I do." The Kenner man nodded, his gaze falling entirely on Hayley as he continued. "She was supposed to be my wife." 

   Hayley bit her lip and looked down at that, Ansel giving a nod as he put his weapons away. Jackson waved them over, and the three sat around the small fire pit set up outside of his trailer, Ansel sitting on a log across from them as he sharpened his knife. It was clear he wasn't a fan of them, especially Hayley due to her being a hybrid, but they chose to ignore the looks he was sending in their direction.

   "After Francesca Guerrera took over the wolves, she offered me a moonlight ring as long as I'd call her Alpha. I declined." Jackson explained to them, after both them asked what had happened to him the last couple of months. "So, a couple of her brothers dragged me out here and left me for dead. By the time I healed up, word had spread about what happened to you, to your baby." Hayley looked down once more at the reminder of Hope, and Jackson cleared his his throat. "So, I knew it was over, and I just drifted. And that's when I met Ansel. See, he's been teaching me the old ways, the traditions. What it means to be a wolf."

   Hayley laughed with a scoff. "You mean by living out in the ass end of nowhere?"

   Ansel's previous looks of distaste morphed into a glare, but Jackson quickly intervened. "Hey, easy. Your kind make him ornery." 

   "My kind?" Hayley repeated with a frown. "Jack, whatever you and your friend think of me, my kind is the wolves. Even if they did pledge allegiance to a witch. All that means is they need an Alpha." She sighed. "Ollie needs one, too."

   Jackson took a swig of his beer with a bitter look at Oliver's mention. "Yeah, I heard about that." He nodded. "The thing is, Ollie betrayed me. He plotted with the Guerreras. He spilled his own people's blood."

   "He was trying to make up for that." She sighed. 

   "He knew the risks helping, which got him into this situation." Audrey piped up in agreement. "He wanted to put things right."

   The Kenner alpha just shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Witches have him-- he's dead. Not that I care."

   "You're not serious?" Audrey looked at him in disbelief. "Jackson, he made a mistake he's trying to make up for. We all make mistakes. That doesn't mean he deserves to die."

   "You don't want to be Alpha?" Hayley frowned as she pushed to her feet, no longer willing to deal with his attitude. "Fine. I'll save Ollie myself." As she turns to leave, Ansel gets up and gathers his weapons, moving to follow her. "Hey, you got a problem, old man?" She snapped when she noticed.

   "I have no love of vampires, but I will not allow a wolf to be killed by witches." Ansel stated before he brushed past her to walk ahead.

   Hayley turns back to Jackson at that and shoots him a look. "At least someone is interested." Her eyes fell onto Audrey. "Come on, I'll drop you off at--"

   "No." Audrey cut her off, shaking her head. "I'll wait here till you get back. I go back to the compound, I'll drive myself crazy thinking." She admitted honestly. "Go, I'll be fine." She assured, and Hayley nodded before walking after Ansel.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *

   "Here." Audrey looked up from the fire pit, to see Jackson holding a cup out to her. "It's water, don't worry." He assured as he sat down beside her. "I heard about--" He paused, nodding to her bump. "You and Elijah must be happy."

   "Yeah." She nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, we are. Right now, all we can focus on is making sure we're bringing them into a safe home."

   "What's your definition of safe when it comes to New Orleans?" He raised a brow, grabbing himself a beer. 

   "Better than the way things are now." She said honestly. "The rest? We'll figure it out as we go along." He nodded as he took a drink, and Audrey looked at him for a moment. "Look, Jackson...I know better than anyone how it feels when someone you trusts betrays you." She began, making him look up at her. "It's happened to me more than times than I count. By people that were meant to be friends, my own siblings. It sucks, to put it mildly." Jackson looked surprised as he listened. "But I know when people regret their mistakes, and when they're just apologizing then not doing anything to stand by that apology. Oliver was trying. He was owning what he did wrong and trying to make it right. Don't write him off just yet."

   "Did you?" He asked. "Write them off?"

   "Eventually, yeah." She told him honestly. "Because unlike Oliver, they didn't see what they were doing as bad. Not until I had to spell it out for them, and even when they knew and did want to apologize, it was too late. Too much has happened for me to ever just forgive them. But that's not the case here. I know it, so do you."

   Jackson didn't say anything as he took in her words, the pair looking up as they heard footsteps approaching. Seeing Hayley carrying a weak Oliver along, Audrey got up and took his other arm, helping her set him down up against a tree. 

   "Well, you got him. Great." Jackson spoke in a cool tone. "Where's Ansel?"

   "He was busy being a man." Hayley shot him a look. "He should be right behind us."

   "Jack..." Oliver said weakly. "I have to tell you--"

   "I already know, Ollie." Jackson cut him off. "You sold me out to Francesca."

   "Look, I know that I can't make up for that." The blonde man began knowingly. "But, you need to hear this." Jackson just looks away and finishes his drink, but it doesn't sway Oliver from continuing. "You're the one." He struggles to his feet, and the Kenner man instinctively grows defensive. "You're the Alpha. Our people are not meant to be slaves! You can free them."

   Suddenly, Oliver begins to cough before falling to his knees, making Jackson's eyes widen in alarm. "Ollie? Ollie?" He looked at Hayley. "What is wrong with him?"

   "Oh no..." Audrey's face fell as it clicked what was happening.

   Hayley's face fell in shock as she realized too. "It's the witches."

   Jackson was quick to get his knees at Oliver's side. "Ollie?" He said worriedly, holding him in his arms.

   "They said he only had until midnight..." Hayley let out in a quiet, horrified voice.

   Jackson didn't listen as he propped Oliver up in his arms, desperately trying to help him. "Ollie? Stay with me." He pleaded.

   Oliver begins to cough violently once more, blood coming out this time as the three could do nothing but watch in horror. "Jack..." He choked out, as blood began to pour from his eyes and nose, before Oliver went still and lifeless.

   Gently, Jackson laid him back on the ground with tears in his eyes, gripping onto his hand tightly.  Regret and forgiveness clear in his eyes as he mourned his friend. Oliver may have made some bad choices, but to the three stood there now, he died a good man. There was nothing that would convince them otherwise.

   A message from Klaus drew the two girls out of the bayou and back to the compound. Before they left, Hayley made sure Jackson would be okay on his own until Ansel returned, and promised she'd be back for the funeral the next morning. When they got upstairs, Audrey's eyes widened when she found Klaus in her room, laying Elijah down on their bed.

   "Oh my god." She breathed out as she moved to his side, climbing onto the bed beside him and cupping his face in her hands. "What did she do to him?"

   "She's been messing inside his head." Klaus told her quietly. "Something to try and persuade him to take her deal. I can't wake him."

   "Elijah?" She spoke gently, stroking her thumb across his cheek. "Elijah, can you hear me? Wake up." She said softly, worrying filling her once again as his eyes remained closed. "Please, Elijah."

   "We'll wake him." Klaus promised, placing a hand on her shoulder comfortingly, but she could see the worry in his eyes as she looked over at him. "We'll find a way, I promise." With a small nod, Audrey leaned down and pressed a kiss on Elijah's forehead, lacing her hand with his and never wanting to let go.

Well, Elijah's not awake, but he's now back at the compound and away from Esther. It's a start in the right direction. We lost Oliver, which was a sad death to write. I did end up liking Oliver in the end, he was trying to put his mistakes right. The girls also unknowingly met Klaus's father, Ansel. 

Next chapter, Klaus and Audrey get tot work trying to wake Elijah up from the sleep Esther's put him in. 

I hope you all enjoyed!