WHATEVER SHALL I DO?

Caroline let out a screech as the lights were turned on suddenly, and Elena burrowed further into the pillows, groaning from the rude awakening.

"No!" Caroline whined, her eyes screwed shut. She was far too hungover for this.

"Up and at 'em, you lazy daisies!" Clementine said loudly, standing at the end of the bed. "Time for breakfast."

Elena moaned, her hungover stomach twisting at the thought of food. "No thank you."

"C'mon. Finn is all excited about cooking for his new friends. He's making eggs."

"I don't like eggs," Caroline grumbled.

"Well... that's all he knows how to make," Clem mumbled sheepishly. "Get up, please. You're the last ones. Even Stefan is up and having the most awkward time in the world with Klaus and his brothers now that they know he kidnapped their coffins."

Elena groaned and sat up on her elbows, looking sleepily at Clementine. "The point of sleepovers is staying up late and waking up past lunch time the next day."

"Well, Finn was in a box for nine hundred years, so he didn't get the message," she shrugged. Then she pouted at her, widening her eyes. "Please. I want him to feel welcome by everyone. Imagine if I was trapped in the psych ward for nine hundred years. You'd do everything in your power to make sure I was happy."

Elena could feel herself caving, and scoffed in annoyance at herself. Then she pushed the blanket off her and Caroline, who dramatically hissed like a cat. "Care, come on. Breakfast time."

"You're so weak," Caroline grumbled while getting out of bed slowly.

Clementine had a wide smile on her face as she led them out of Rebekah's room — who was still gone from her night out. All the other Mikaelsons, along with Stefan and Enzo, were strewn about the humongous kitchen, each of them looking just as tired as Caroline and Elena.

"I wish Bonnie could've come. Witches always make parties more fun," Caroline huffed.

"Yeah, but she needs time with her mother," Clem reminded her. "Even though her mom is tricking her into killing all vampires."

"I don't see why we don't just kill this Bonnie?" Kol questioned, looking up from his new cell phone.

Clem narrowed her eyes at him. "Because Bonnie is a powerful, beautiful angel sent from heaven who has done no wrong ever in her life. And she's our best friend, so if you kill her, I'll help your mom kill you. I don't know anyone from your sire line, bitch."

Kol's mouth fell open in disbelief. She'd gone through all that work to make sure his family survived only to walk back on it the moment he threatened one little witch.

Klaus snickered and Elijah smirked down at his coffee, both knowing how important Clem's friends were to her. They were hoping they were just as important to her at this point.

"Right. Suppose we'll leave the witch alone," Kol said, clearing his throat.

"Good," Clem beamed. Then she waltzed over to Finn, who was at the stove. "How's breakfast coming, Baby Girl?"

"Enzo said they needed more salt," he told her. "But I think they're almost ready."

"Thank you for helping him," Clementine said to Enzo softly, who just smiled.

He remembered what he was like fresh out of Augustine — everything in the world was so new to him. He couldn't imagine a gap of nine hundred years.

"Anything for you, Angel."

☽︎

Elena, Stefan, and Caroline had gone home, knowing they needed to get ready for the day. Enzo and Clem opted to be lazy and lounge around the living room with the rest of the Mikaelsons. Clem was explaining how television worked to Finn and Kol, both of whom seemed amazed by the technology.

Elijah was off doing something in the house while Klaus was sitting on the couch, sketching away in his sketch book. Enzo glanced at the page and smirked when he saw a picture of Kol's awed face looking at the moving picture on the TV.

Everything was so peaceful, only to be interrupted when Rebekah came in, looking a mess and in her dress from the night before. Clem wanted to laugh, but she had no ground to stand on knowing what she'd done with Klaus and Enzo the night before. Kol, however, could have all the fun he wanted.

"Well, well, well, there's our girl!" he said, standing in front of her to block her way.

She scowled at her youngest brother. "Get out of my way, Kol."

"Out all night. What a scandal!" he exclaimed, making Enzo snicker. "I trust you did better than that commoner? Matt, was it?"

"Barf," Clem muttered with a frown. Then she remembered that Matt had a broken hand, so he probably hadn't slept with Rebekah. Meaning she slept with Damon like she had in the TV show.

"If you don't shut your mouth, the next thing to come out of it will be your teeth," she threatened, making Klaus grin. "Don't start, Nik!"

He looked at her with an innocent smile on his face, his dimples appearing. "I didn't say anything."

"Was it Damon?" Clementine asked, a frown on her face. "Really?"

"Oh, I heard you three before I left. You have no ground to stand on, Clementine Donovan," Rebekah said, narrowing her eyes.

That just put a smug smile on Enzo and Klaus' faces while Clementine at least managed to blush. Then Kol sighed dramatically as if he was distraught that the attention wasn't on him.

"I'm bored. Our sister is a strumpet — as is Niklaus — but at least they're having fun. I need entertainment," Kol whined.

Klaus raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "What are you waiting for? Go on, have at it."

"It's not fun to go alone," he whined. "Join me, Nik! It's the least you can do after sticking a dagger in my heart."

"I feel offended you don't ask me," Clem said with a frown.

"That's because I'm dragging you with even if you're kicking and screaming, Darling," he told her with a smug smirk. "Now, Nik?"

"Okay. Why not? I didn't have nearly enough to drink last night, what with you trying to murder Clementine's brother," Klaus said, grinning.

"Yes, please go, this house has enough men rolling around it in," Rebekah complained.

"Just like you, Bekah," Kol teased.

Rebekah threw her shoe at him as everyone else laughed. Clem got off the couch and stretched her limbs. "I've gotta go home and change first. Baby Girls, are you coming?"

While Enzo nodded, Finn just shook his head. "I don't think I'm quite well adjusted enough for a night out with Kol."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kol asked with a scoff.

"I think you know," Clem said flatly. The. She kissed Finn on the cheek before heading to the door. "See you later!"

The three men followed Clementine out of the mansion, ready to go wherever she took her. And okay, she was going to take them to the Grill because there wasn't anywhere else exciting for her to show off to Kol.

"Good riddance, all of you!" Rebekah couldn't help but childishly call despite there being an amused smile on her face.

Then she saw Elijah enter the room, who had a peculiar expression. "Rebekah."

"Not you too, Elijah," she whined.

Elijah shook his head and glanced between her and Finn. "I'm worried about mother.

"Well, she is trying to kill us," Finn said, rolling his eyes.

"Yes, but we've bested her with your little soul-bound mate," Rebekah said, thinking nothing of it.

It was then that Elijah held up a burnt herb. "Burnt sage. She was doing a privacy spell."

"You think she's on to us?" Rebekah asked, frowning. "Surely she hasn't had time to come up with a new plan."

"Someone needs to keep an eye on Elena," Elijah declared. "Her blood is needed to link us. And that's the only conceivable way Mother could kill us all, Niklaus included."

"Perhaps she'd like to extend that sleepover since I missed it," Rebekah suggested.

"Yes, you missed so much fun while you had your sleepover of your own," Finn said with a sly smirk. "Though I don't approve of your company."

Rebekah rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Oh, my oldest brother doesn't like my suitor. Whatever shall I do?"

☽︎

Alaric had been stabbed a few days ago, not that anyone made a big deal out of it given that other hundred things going on in their lives. But he and Jenna were at the Grill, discussing his x-rays, which Dr. Fell said were inconclusive.

"I just wish I could remember the attack."

"Could you have been compelled to forget?" Jenna asked him, trying to think of answers. Most people were drained of blood — not stabbed.

"Wait... you think the killer's a vampire?"

"There are no other suspects. And you're a freaking vampire hunter. Shouldn't your first guess be vampire?" Jenna asked, raising her eyebrow.

"You do realize the irony of being a vampire hunter that's best friends with a vampire, right?" Clementine asked as she walked up to them, hearing the tail end of their conversation. It was stirring up a memory inside of her, who had honestly forgotten about the whole Alaric thing

Alaric sighed and took a sip of his scotch. "Never said I was a good vampire hunter."

"And no one is accusing you of being one," Enzo said, grinning. "But sorry you got stabbed, mate."

"Just wish I knew who did it," he grumbled.

"Oh!" Clem exclaimed. Then for affect, she put her fingers to her forehead, acting as if she got a vision. "You stabbed yourself."

Alaric rolled his eyes. "Ha ha, Clem—"

"No! Your ring," she said, grabbing his hand to look at the Gilbert ring. "Remember I told you what would happen when Damon asked how things could get worse that one time?"

"And you said he'd turn into an evil vampire killing vampire that died," Jenna recalled, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, I guess the ring is still doing that," Clem said with a frown. God, she had to get better at this kind of stuff. "Maybe call in a favor with Bonnie's Grams — not Bonnie. I'm tired of everyone using her for her magic."

"What else do you see about him, Darling?" Kol questioned, tilting his head. He'd never seen a Seer like Clementine and he couldn't help but marvel at how different she was when getting visions. They were like flashes of thoughts instead of overpowering glimpses that incapacitated her.

"Uh," Clem hesitated. Now that Jenna was alive, actually, Alaric's future was pretty much up in the air. Plus, once Kai was released, Clem wasn't all that sure Jo was gonna survive. "Haven't seen much, really. The visions come and go whenever they want."

"Interesting," he noted, thinking deeply.

"And bloody annoying when she can't see things like evil hybrids possessing her history teacher and then killing her," Enzo said before ordering a drink.

"Are we ever going to forget that?" Klaus asked, rolling his eyes childishly.

"No. I'll hold it over you forever," Clem said flatly as Enzo also ordered her a peanut butter milkshake.

Klaus scoffed but was secretly pleased by the idea of forever with Clementine at his side. He didn't particularly care how many others would also be at her side so long as he was one of them.

☽︎

Clementine's laughter was cut off by her phone ringing. She looked away from Kol, who was losing horribly to Jenna in a game of pool. When she saw it was Bonnie calling, she immediatly went to the corner where it was quieter.

"Hey, Bon!" she greeted brightly. "You and your mom should swing by the Grill. We're having a—"

"Clemmy," Bonnie cut her off. When Clem heard how her voice trembled, she immediately shut up. "Clem, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Slow down. What are you sorry for? If it's for waking Esther, we're over it."

"No, it's for continuing to help Esther," she whispered before sniffing. "I thought — I thought it was what's right. What nature wanted. But this is too much. And you..."

"What about me?"

"You're soul-bound to the Originals," she told her. "I didn't know. But - but Esther said if they go, so do you, and—"

"And what?" Clem asked, her eyes wide. She glanced at Klaus and Kol, both of whom were having such a good time. And she was about to ruin that. "They weren't linked with the champagne, Bonnie. She can't hurt them."

"But they are," she said weakly. "She did it some other way. They're linked."

"Fuck," Clem swore before rubbing her face. "Okay, we'll get all of them back to their house where they're safe. If Esther can't separate them, she can't do any real damage."

Bonnie hesitated before speaking again. "She has Finn — he was alone in the house. And now - now she's channeling our line, and I can't stop it. It's too late."

"It's never too late, Bonnie," Clem murmured, her mind running in circles as she thought. "I'll fix everything. Look, just stay safe."

"I'm the one that should be saying that to you," Bonnie cried.

When they hung up, dread and guilt crept up on Clementine. Because she knew what still had to be done. Bonnie's mother still had to die.

☽︎

Damon and Stefan pulled up to the old witch house with clear instructions from Clementine. They couldn't believe she was the one to call all the shots, but all of them agreed that the plan would work. No one told Bonnie, Elena, or Caroline about the plan, as Clem didn't want them involved. And when the time came and someone started to point fingers, she said she'd take all the blame and play the bad guy.

"Only one of us has to do the actual deed.
Stefan. Hm. So, who's it gonna be, brother?" Stefan asked. "She's gonna be mad at Clem either way."

"Well, heads I do it, tails you do it," Damon said, only partly joking as he pulled out a coin.

"Awful lot of effort for someone who pretends not to care about her any more," Stefan muttered.

"Pot, kettle, brother," Damon accused. "And pointless given the Clem of it all."

Stefan sighed and leaned his head back against the headrest, a broody expression on his face. "At least someone will get the girl."

☽︎

A glare was fixed on Finn's face as he stared up at his mother. He was weakly lying on the grass in the center of a pentagram. Esther had snuck up on him with some kind of spell and knocked him out, taking him away.

"They'll come for me," Finn said through gritted teeth. "They'll stop you."

"As if they'd notice you were gone," she said cruelly. "Besides, you should be thanking me. You've always detested what you are."

"What you made us into!" he accused. "And that was before. Before I had a chance at a family — a chance I've not had since Henrik. Since Freya."

Suddenly, pain erupted over Finn's body as his mother gave him an aneurysm. He cried out and rolled over, groaning in agony.

"Do not speak of her," Esther said, her voice shaking. "And you—"

Esther cut herself off, looking to the distance. She could see five figures trekking toward her ritual site — her children and Clementine. Inside the witch house, Bonnie was watching with relief, no idea what was coming for her mother. 

"My children, come forward," Esther said trying to remain calm even though her spell wasn't ready. The moon wasn't high enough in the sky. "But know you cannot enter."

"Let Finn go!" Kol snapped. "How pathetic you are, mother, to choose the favorite son as your sacrificial lamb."

"Be quiet, Kol. Your brother may not be here willingly, but he knows virtue you cannot even imagine," Esther told him.

"Whatever you think of us, killing your own children will be an atrocity," Elijah told her.

Esther shook her head. "My only regret is that I did not let you die a thousand years ago. Before a soul was split amongst you."

"And I'd like for them to keep that soul, thanks," Clementine spoke up, crossing her arms. "No one but you is dying tonight."

The witch eyed her with interest. "I'll have to thank you for not completing the soul bond with any of them or this would be near impossible."

"Oh how cruel fate is to ruin your plans," Klaus said smugly. "That's been completed, I'm afraid. With one of us, at least."

A confused frown made its way onto Esther's face. "Every witch in your presence would know if you've completed the bond. And Bonnie Bennett is the only one even remotely powerful enough to complete the spell."

"Oh," Clem said, feeling a bit awkward. "Did not know that completing the bond meant a spell. Never mind."

Klaus cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably as Rebekah rolled her eyes. "Enough. All this talk is boring me. End this now, Mother, or I'll send you back to hell."

"For a thousand years, I've been forced to watch you. Felt the pain of every victim, suffered while you shed blood. Even you, Elijah, with your claim to nobility, you're no better. All of you. You're a curse on this Earth. Stretched out over generations. If you've come to plead for your life, I'm sorry, you've wasted your time," Esther said, shaking her head.

"Oh, shut up!" Clementine snapped. "Boo hoo. Your children suck. Go to therapy, not try and kill them and hundreds of thousands of others."

"Enough out of you, Clementine," Esther said before waving her wrist.

Clem's scream was cut off as her head twisted at an odd angle. And Kol caught her body before she could fully drop to the ground.

Inside the witch house, unaware of how things were going, Bonnie and Abby were walking around, the oldest of the two looking at the wooden walls. "This place has some serious vibe in it."

"The witch spirits will protect us from the Originals, but we should get into the basement," Bonnie said, not wanting to risk getting hurt now that Clem and the others were there to intervene. However, as Bonnie went toward the basement, she noticed her mother had disappeared. "Abby?"

Stefan appeared in front of her suddenly, startling her. "Stefan? What's going on? Did Clem find a way to stop this?"

"Esther's drawing from the witches. The only way to cut her off is if one of you is no longer a witch," Stefan said.

Upstairs, Damon had Abby and was forcing blood into her mouth. "This will only hurt a second," he said before snapping her neck.

The ramifications were instant. Outside, Esther could sense it as the ancestors left her. "No! Sisters! Do not abandon me!"

The torches around the pentagram flared up, blinding all of them as they cowered away. And by the time the fire died out, Esther was gone, leaving Finn behind in the pentagram.

Silence fell over them, everyone either looking at Clem or Finn. Rebekah was the one to break the silence, moving to stand next to Kol as she studied Clem's peaceful expression.

"Well, at least she'll get to see the man in her head."