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Talia gracefully exited the plane, her chin was lifted up, attempting to keep an air of confidence. She was okay, she had to be okay. The mark around her throat was hidden under a scarf, and she tugged the beanie she wore further down over her ears, the cold mountain wind biting at her skin. One long leg stepped in-front of the other, taking her further from the plane, and closer to the ground. Tension lifted from her shoulders as she let herself drink in the scenery. 

Montana was the home of the wild, the air held the smell of pine trees and the sky seemed to stretch for miles until met by the mountains. The mountains held a power one could barely scratch the surface of explaining. The sky was so blue, the mountains massive and strong seemed to hold it up. Everything was green and Talia felt safe, for some inexplicable reason, Montana felt like home. 

It was an unruly place, no massive skyscrapers or a patrol of cops. It had rolling farmland, horses, cows, wildlife and small towns here and there, all about thirty miles or more from each other. It was distanced and vast and Talia loved it. 

She stepped off the steps onto the ground, the feeling of the cement under her heeled shoe jolted up her spine, warming her heart. This was home. 

Klaus appeared oblivious to the feeling, which confused Talia, since they shared the same feelings, but at the same time she was glad. This was something that was hers, and he wasn't taking it from her. 

Walking ahead of her companion, the young woman spotted a black limo she could merely assume to be of the Hybrid's doing. She glanced back at the blond man who was paying the captain and gathering their bags. At least he remained a gentleman in his rage, but Klaus was always a gentleman. Rarely abusive and often polite, but quick to anger. 

Sighing, the young woman opened the door of the limo and slid in, pulling the door closed behind her. Her attention turned to the driver who was someone she didn't recognize, it was strange, she knew all of Klaus Mikaelson's employees. She had hired them, of course. 

"Are you a new driver?" Talia attempted to make conversation, keeping a tight smile as she met his eyes in the rear-view mirror. 

He shook his head and spoke in a thick European accent. "No." 

"I don't recognize you, I apologize. When did Mr. Mikaelson hire you?" She smiled warmly, placing her hands in her lap. 

The man smiled, pressing something next to him and Talia heard child's lock turn on, which was confusing before it slowly fell into place a moment later with his next words. "He didn't."

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Klaus glanced up from the baggage carrier, looking around for Talia. He watched her slip into the limo and he relaxed, turning to thank the captain when it hit him. He hadn't hired a limo, he was driving back to the house. 

His entire body swiveled in a second, but the limo was gone, and with it, Talia. Klaus bolted towards the area of the limo, looking around for the girl in terror. In that moment, he wasn't even scared for himself. He wasn't scared that he would die, he was scared that she would. 

His eyes flashed gold, mentally searching the bond to see if he could locate her but there was some sort of block. She was gone, and he couldn't find her. 

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Talia groaned awake, her first thought was to search the soulmate bond for Klaus, but somehow whoever had her had turned it off. Blinking and shaking her unruly curls from her face, the girl looked around and found that she recognized where she was. Her bedroom in Klaus's mountain cabin, which made no sense. 

Looking at the clock on the wall, she realized she had six hours missing from her memory, six hours that she had no idea how to remember. 

Pushing herself off the mattress, the Companion turned on the bond and stretched, looking around at the room. It was clean, obviously Klaus had gotten someone to get everything ready for their arrival. Her body moved with gentle ease, shoulders rolling back as it settled into it's usual habit of perfection. Even in weakness, the woman had been trained to be professional at all costs and had a feeling it would never go away. 

In the moment after she could clear her head, her mind was being attacked by Klaus's worried telepathic messages. That fear he used to instill in her, that sense of dread she felt in his presence was gone, replaced by something colder, something darker. 

'Talia? Thank God, where are you? Who has you?' His mental voice was filled with worry, anxious and surprisingly gentle. A confusing sound coming from him.

The girl took an unsteady step forward, unsure how to answer the question. 'I'm at the cabin, I can't remember the past six hours.'  She rested against the wall, blinking to clear her eyes. It was true, looking back on the past few hours she only came up with a blank, the last thing she remember was the man turning and injecting something in her neck. 

"Six hours?" Klaus was suddenly in-front of her, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her into his chest. "Talia, you've been missing for three days." He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling for a moment before abruptly stepping back and pulling his arms to his chest. "You have no memories of it?" 

She shook her head, wincing slightly however, when she turned away from him. "Ow, shit, what the hell?" A mild pain settled on her abdomen, resting just under her rib-cage on the right side. 

Klaus's attention was on her in a second, searching her over for whatever had hurt his Companion. In the moment, Talia didn't feel disgusted by his presence, just temporarily comforted by the fact he was worried. But then the feeling went away when realization set in that he had just been worried about his own life. Her death meant his death, and he didn't want to die so soon after becoming the Hybrid. 

Talia crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him quietly before deciding to check whatever had pained her. Tugging up the side of her sweater, the girl stared in confusion at the mark on her mid-section. "Wait, you're not hurt? What hurts one of us always hurts the other." 

Klaus eyed her, pulling up his own shirt, revealing the exact same mark. It was a tattoo, a broken heart split open with two arrows sticking out of it. They watched as it healed on him, before doing the same on her own skin and disappearing. 

"What the fuck?" Talia stared at the unmarred area, her eyes narrowing in confusion. "What the fuck!" Her eyes lifted to the blond Mikaelson's, both sharing the same confused look before his phone rang. 

He glanced at the caller ID and looked up, meeting her eyes before answering. "Portland is fantastic. Once you get over all the whiny music and healthy looking people, it is literally a breeding ground for werewolves." His voice was clipped yet teasing, not letting in on the lie. She had to resist rolling her eyes at his paranoia, since obviously he needed it. 

The voice on the other end spoke and Klaus lifted his head, meeting Talia's confused gaze with wide eyes. 

"What did you say to me?" His voice became a low rumble, a growl building in his chest that worried Talia. Whoever was calling was an idiot. 

The person spoke again, Talia could hear sarcastic undertones in their voice, even if she couldn't hear the words. 

"Well, first I want you to explain to me exactly what happened." Klaus went quiet for a moment, listening to whatever the person was saying, and Talia was practically bouncing with the need to know what was going on. "I want to see him, I want to see his rotting body for myself." 

Talia's eyes snapped up, meeting his cold blue ones. Who's body? Who could enlist such a reaction in their death except . . . except for the one person on this earth that Klaus feared more than her. Mikael. 

Mikael was a man that Talia never had the pleasure of meeting, if she had, she wouldn't have survived the encounter. If Mikael knew of the very mortal girl's ability to ensure Klaus's death, he would've snapped her neck the first chance he got, or done something far crueler and dastardly. But Talia had heard stories of him, the man that plagued his son with a constant assault of abuse and violence, raining rage down upon him every waking moment. The true reason why Klaus was so cruel. 

His hand reached out almost subconsciously, and even in their hatred towards each other, even in their disgust and their fighting, Talia couldn't help herself from comforting him. He truly was terrified of Mikael, and if her hand could calm him even slightly, she knew she had to help. 

A thousand years of fear was horrible, something she could barely imagine. She was already  suffering thirty years of terror, a thousand would break her. That thought made her realize that she would have a thousand, perhaps even a million more years trapped at Klaus's side. Slowly breaking apart into nothing. "If you are lying to me, Stefan, your compulsion will expose you. So, answer with your life: Is what you are saying the truth?" 

The girl released his hand, standing and stretching she looked out the window with a sigh. Whoever had taken her had stolen these days in Montana from her. She had no idea when she would next be here. In this lifetime or the next, but Montana was waiting for her, it stood wild and free and she knew that she could always come back to it, in life or death. It was the one thing that could protect her from falling apart completely. The one place she didn't have to feel perfect in, somewhere she could shed her coat of perfection and expectation and live freely. 

Klaus finished the call after a few more minutes, his eyes turning to her. "Come on, love, we have to return to Mystic Falls." His voice was gentle, yet held excitement. It was strange to hear such a sound coming from him. He was not often excited, usually his words dripped venom, his eyes cold and emotionless. Normally, he was Klaus Mikaelson the Feared, not Niklaus the Boy Who Was Scared of His Own Shadow Because of Mikael. 

Turning to face him, Talia met his eyes, determination on her face. "I still hate you, with every ounce of my being I despise you." The words came pouring out in a torrent. "But whatever that mark meant, whatever this night will bring us, I will stand by you. I promise, but I don't promise my love or my trust, or any of the things you used to have. But I promise my loyalty." She watched his face fall, that excitement from Mikael's death, draining by the look in her eyes. She should've felt guilty for ruining it, if momentarily, for him. But she didn't. She meant what she said, and she knew he knew it. 

"I would expect nothing less from you, get in the car. No limos, we'll figure out the mark tomorrow. I'll grab our bags." His voice returned to venom, cruel and void of any love she might've heard. On another day, another world, another timeline and Universe, Talia and Klaus might've been happy. Perhaps even in-love. But on this day, this world, this timeline and this Universe, they saw each other as the villains in their stories, the one they were forced to stand by for eternity. The one who brought them the most pain. Klaus motioned to the door, eliciting a nod from Talia as she silently obeyed. 

What would Mikael's death bring? That was a question that haunted the girl, for what would it bring? What would Mikael's death bring if he was dead at all? Perhaps this was a ruse, created by the Salvatore brothers to end Klaus once and for all, and in turn, end her own life. Would she survive, would either of them live to see another tomorrow? That question she didn't have an answer to, but she had a feeling it wasn't good.