𝐊𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐦, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟐

Kol sat in the Crow Club, Elijah a few feet away, as he read through her plan. It was smart, that was clear, not that he ever questioned her brains.

The one thing that worried him was that she never fully described how she was getting out, only writing what she needed.

Matthias and Jesper soon joined them, dressed in clothing they had stolen off a few merchants. Minutes later, Inej walked in before taking her place behind the bar. She, Matthias and Jesper all had hoods over their heads.

"Do we all remember the plan?"

"Get in there. Find a way to her. Slip her the battery and paperclip. And get the hell out."

The Suli woman nodded. "When we get out, Kol, you will go with Jesper. You two are in charge of the boat. Matthias, Elijah and I will take care of any collateral."

— — —

Arriving at Hellgate had been a hard experience for all of them. The Crows had never stepped foot on the island, nor had the two Mikealsons.

Thankfully, Juniper had provided a map of all the places she had been in the prison. It wasn't much, but it gave them an idea of where to go.

Entering the so-called fortress had been easier than any of them expected. It was a busy night, so it was filled with visitors.

"Why is it so busy?" Jesper whispered to Inej who held a slight frown on her face. "I don't know. I just hope it isn't what I'm thinking it is."

His eyes widened as he realized her train of thought. "Fuck."

They walked further inside, hiding in between the people as they were led into a large room with a cage in the centre.

Kol leaned down to Inej, "What is this place?"

She looked up at him after sharing looks with Matthias and Jesper. "You're not gonna like it."

— — — 

Juniper had been cleaning the animal's cells for the past few hours. It was a dirty job but it meant being out of her cell for a short while so she didn't mind it. The room had three other inmates, some cleaning cells like her, the others sweeping the floor.

The peace was interrupted when a door opened and four guards walked inside. "Get another fighter!"

She breathed out as their eyes landed on her.

"Put me in the ring," One of the other inmates spoke. "I want to face the man calling the shots to see who to damn in the afterlife."

One of the guards pushed him to the ground. "Back off. We're taking the Heartrender." He pointed at Juniper. "You, in the ring. Now!"

She didn't react as they grabbed her arms and pushed her out of the room filled with cages. She didn't want to fight. Her face was still covered in bruises from the last one. Luckily, she had healed her broken bones the night before.

She looked back at the man who was now on the floor. "I'm sorry, kid," He mouthed at her only for her to shake her head. It wasn't his fault the guards liked her most.

Inside the cage lay the dead body of a bear. The other fighter, 'Cannibal', had torn him to shreds. The Crows were thankful that Juniper had hardened their stomachs after her first few torture sessions with them in the room, otherwise, their lunch would be on the floor beneath them.

The cage door opened, the metal clanking loudly. Inej breathed out, she could hear the familiar heartbeat matched with the soft steps that were barely audible.

Cannibal paced his side of the cage as Juniper walked in. Her eyes glanced down at the bear and watched as three guards dragged it out before the cage closed.

Blood stained the sandy floor. Her eyes left the blood and moved to the man's back. They read the words 'cannibal' which were tattooed in the native Kerch language.

Kol's eyes widened when she walked in. The skin that was visible to him was covered in bruises and small cuts. His hand gripped the side of the cage, a battery and paperclip held tight in his palm as he stared at her back.

"No. No," He muttered as the man ran full force at Juniper. His legs wrapped around her neck before her body was flipped to the ground.

Juniper grunted, laying face down on the sand as the man got up. The crowd cheered around them. She grunted as she stood up only for his fist to smash against her face, the force knocking her down once more.

Her eyes met the guard and he shook his head. This is what she did almost every night. Give the other fighter hope.

She breathed heavily as she stood up again and his fist smacked against her jaw. This time it didn't knock her down, however, another hit was delivered to her ribs.

The metal bar Kol had been holding squeezed together from his grip as she kneeled, his knee bashing against her face before walking away, holding up his arms as the crowd raged.

Matthias's hand came down to his wrist. "Don't."

She glanced back at the guard and this time he nodded. She stood up from her knees as her own blood fell to the ground. The man went to punch her jaw again, but she was quicker.

She grabbed his arm, held him tightly before her elbow smacked against his face. He held his nose in pain as blood streamed down his face.

Juniper glanced around the room for a moment before she grabbed him by his waist and knocked him to the ground. She gripped his leg, holding his other down with her knee before she snapped the bone in half.

He whimpered in pain before her fist hit his face, the force knocking him unconscious.

She went to walk out of the cage only for the door to stay shut. She glanced at the guards and watched as they entered, surrounding her.

Three guards grabbed her by her arms once more and kicked her knees in, knocking her to the ground. The main guard sighed as he pulled out a needle, squeezing out the air before he stabbed it into her neck.

"You know, I've always wanted to be in charge of a woman," The guard spoke as the drug filled her veins. 

She struggled against it, the sounds of the crowd disappearing as the parem filled her senses.

Juniper looked up at him, a smirk on her face. "I had a question. About your mother and whether the rumours are true." 

Jesper glanced at Matthias and both men held back their smiles. She was still their Juniper. 

He pulled the needle out before patting her face hard. "One more word about my mother and you'll be back in the pit. One more fight. If you win, you can go back to your cell."

Juniper stayed on the ground as they walked out. It felt like her senses had been dialled to eleven. She could feel everyone's heartbeats, hear as their blood pumped through their veins.

Juniper Zenik was gone. The Angel of Death, or more newly known, Corpse Witch, was back.

Kol watched as her eyes changed, turning a deep colour of blue as if she were in the dark.

"What was that?" Elijah whispered to the Crows.

"The finale," They answered, eyes filled with sadness as they watched twelve new fighters enter the ring.

She didn't move as they walked in. She didn't even blink as they began to hit her. She let the hits come until she was knocked against the back of the cage by a hard kick.

Her body rolled onto her back and she looked up. However, nothing could have prepared her for the sight she saw.

Kol Mikaelson was staring down at her with tears in his eyes.

He kneeled down and their pinkies latched to each other. His eyes gestured behind her and she quickly stood up, standing in front of his body with their fingers still together.

She ignored the feeling of water rising past her chest. She ignored the feeling of Wylan's bloated skin or the blood that covered her hands as the men walked toward her.

"Don't watch this," She whispered, quietly enough that only the Crows and him could hear her.

Her finger refused to leave his as she focused on the men's cells. Reading everything that made them who they are. Before they could reach her, their blood began to boil. They howled in pain as they fell to their knees.

Blood bubbled out of their lips as she held up a single hand, fingers moving slowly as she tied their organs together. A slow, painful death. Just like the guards wanted.

The crowd cheered as the final man took his last breath before his head hit the ground. Juniper could feel his free hand slip into her pocket before she felt a new weight appear.

Her pinky squeezed his before she was pulled away by the guards.

— — —

"What the hell was that?" Kol yelled as they walked out of the prison, stopping at the empty dock where a boat sat.

"I told you he'd be angry," Jesper muttered under his breath.

"Did you know?" He asked.

They nodded slowly. He glanced at Elijah. "Did you?"

"I had an idea."

"And none of you did anything?" He shouted. "Juniper is dying in there! Every time they give her more parem, her body relies on it. If she even tried to go off it, she would die!"

"There's a possibility of survival."

"Point one of a chance! That's not good enough." His anger was mostly directed at his brothers. He knew the Crows would listen to Juniper, do whatever she thought was best. But his brothers had the power to stop this. They could have stopped this before it even began.

"We'll help her, Kol," Inej told him. "We won't let her die."

— — —

Juniper was in her cell again. A few minutes before, an inmate she paid off came by and she slipped him a book with a small piece of folded paper. "Little gift for you. Last door on the right."

As he left, closing the small food door behind him, she tore up a few of her books, placing the pages in the water from the small fountain in her cell. Once they were wet enough, she placed them against the window and vents.

An hour later, dinner time had rolled around. A guard passed in a tray with what was called nutraloaf. She grabbed it from him before she shut the door once more.

Nutraloaf was filled with a few thousand grams of salt which masked the taste. She stuffed it into a sock before placing it into the water and wringing it out into the toilet.

The salt acted as an electrolyte and when you combine that with the current of a battery, you get electrolysis, she thought, remembering the books she read when she couldn't sleep at night. She placed the battery into the toilet before she squeezed more of the nutraloaf in.

She moved away from the toilet and grabbed the mattress from her makeshift bed. She ripped out the drawstring before moving the bed into the center of the room and stood on it.

She hooked her fingers into the light fixture and pulled out the plastic covering. Her fingers fiddled with the wires before the light turned off. She pulled a bandaid she had stolen off a guard's skin and wrapped the wire and string together.

Juniper jumped off the bed, moved it back to the wall before grabbing a few pieces of the soaked paper and stuffed it into her ears.

She grabbed the mattress, slid under the bed and wrapped it around her head before she yanked on the string. The metal door of the cell quickly blew away, and the sirens went off.

She quickly ran out of the cell and to the very far door. She pulled out the small slip of paper and the door opened. She could hear the guards banging at the door but she kept running.

— — —

The bang travelled over the ocean and Kol frowned. "What was that?"

Jesper smiled. "That would be your wife. Come on, untie the stern."

— — —

She went to slide through a gate but it closed too quickly. She hid behind a wall as the guards crowded at the door behind her.

"Code red! Code red! I got an inmate- she's trying to escape!" She heard Inej's voice shout through a radio. "She's in the kitchen! I'm out numbered out here!"

The guards finally opened the door but they stopped. "She's in the kitchen. Stay here in case she backtracks," One of them spoke before they ran off.

The man walked in and Juniper quickly bashed his head against the wall before she ran out of the now unlocked door.

She ran into the laundry room pulled out the paperclip Kol had slipped her and started unscrewing the bolts on one of the shelves. With the newly formed ladder, she placed it against the window before grabbing a laundry bin. She pulled out all of the clothes, and the long piece of tied together shirts she had made the day before.

She tied it around a pole which stuck out from the wall before she grabbed a fire extinguisher. She placed the nozzle inside the laundry bin and held the lid on tight as she filled it with carbon dioxide. Once the extinguisher was empty, she poured in a bottle of alcohol and stirred it with the end of a broom.

With the cryogenic liquid on the brooms end, she smeared it along the bars on one of the windows along with the glass. Once it was covered, she used the wooden broom handle and yanked back at the iron causing it to snap in half.

Once the window and iron were gone, she moved a crate and held the string of tied together shirts in her hand as she jumped out onto the roof. She placed a few shirts on the barbed wire before she threw down the string of shirts.

Kol watched as she threw the clothes down. "That's her plan?" He yelled. "That wire will tear right into her."

"Have some faith," Jesper told him as he moved the boat a little further to the right, far enough away so the prison couldn't see them.

It wasn't until he saw her pull out a makeshift later that he was able to breathe. She hooked it against the next roof before climbing up it. As the guards climbed out of the window, she quickly pulled up the ladder.

She started running as fast as she could along the roof until she reached the edge. She couldn't see the boat through the foggy air.

She glanced back when she heard a commotion and saw multiple guards running toward her. Juniper looked back down at the rocky shore beneath her.

Dying was better than this though, so, she jumped and hoped she would hit the water instead. As she fell, it didn't feel like slow motion, it felt cold as the wind whipped against her already bruised skin.

She stared at the ground below her and her eyes widened. She really hoped Kol wouldn't have to find her mutilated body on a pile of jagged rocks.

It wasn't until she felt the water surround her body like it had all those years before, that she calmed.

Her eyes opened and she was met by the sea of blue above her or below her, she couldn't tell. She felt like the water was holding her down, forcing her not to move as she willed herself to keep her mouth shut.

She couldn't die. Not after all of this.

Her mind crossed the idea of moving somewhere where there wasn't so much water. It seemed as though destiny had taken a liking to making her drown.

Her head moved side to side, trying to see anything in the dark blue, but it was too dark. She sank further, nearing the rocky bottom.

"She should be up here by now," Kol muttered, his knee bouncing. Matthias, Inej and Elijah had joined them moments prior and all witnessed the fall.

"Where did she fall?" He asked, pulling off his boots.

"You're not going in there," Elijah told him, moving to hold his shoulders. "Like hell, I'm not. That's my wife down there! And she's going to run out of air any minute."

Jesper handed him a flashlight as he moved to stand on the edge of the small boat they had stolen. "This should work down there."

Kol nodded as he grabbed it before he dove into the freezing water.

He could barely see as he swam deep into the ocean. The flashlight did little to help but it was enough to see the surrounding area.

Juniper's back hit against the rocks, scratching her skin and drawing blood. The force of the hit had her mouth open in pain. Water filled her mouth as she quickly closed it.

She calmed as much as she could before she breathed out of her nose, causing bubbles to appear. She squinted her eyes as she watched the direction they floated in before weakly following it.

She was too weak though. From the blood seeping out of her wounds to the bruises that covered her skin, the tide knocked her around like a ragdoll. It was like she was that scrawny little kid all over again.

When she hit the rocks, he could smell her blood. He swam as fast as he could, moving against the harsh water as he searched for her scent.

It felt like hours. Just him fighting against the current, and her body sinking further into the ocean she had sunk in once before.

It wasn't until the water around him turned red that he stopped to fully look around him. And then he saw it. Her body floated idly, completely still as the waves knocked her around.

He swam faster than he thought possible until he grabbed her hand and dragged her to the surface.

"It's been too long," He heard Matthias whisper from above them as he kicked his legs to the surface, his eyes on Juniper's face as he held her waist tightly to his side.

"No. No. Juniper isn't dead. We didn't do all of this just for her to die. Not like this." He heard Inej speak, her voice shaking as she stared down into the murky water.

Just a few more meters until the surface. He could hear her heart slowing to a pace where he could barely hear it. And then he reached the surface. He gasped for air as he pulled her body up before handing her to Matthias who quickly pulled her out.

He held the edge of the boat before he pulled himself out and placed her head on his thigh as he pinched her nose and breathed into her mouth.

"Please," He whispered as he breathed in once more. He couldn't hear her heart. She was completely still as he held her.

He went to bite into his wrist but stopped when she started coughing out the water that had filled her lungs. Kol breathed out, his hand holding her cheek as she breathed heavily.

"I hate water," She whispered, her voice hoarse. He chuckled softly, his thumb moving along her cheek as he wiped a few drops of water off her skin.

And for once, the water didn't come. She didn't feel nauseous, she didn't feel like Wylan was dragging her back into the sea or Kaz's blood covering her palms. She just felt him.

"I missed you," She mumbled, her eyes barely open as she felt sleep begging her to fall. He nodded, choking out slightly as he felt tears fall from his eyes. "Go to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get home."

And then the gunfire started. Juniper's eyes opened, her head turning to see where the shots were coming from and saw multiple men on a boat across from theirs.

"We can't kill them all. It would make us no better than them," She heard Elijah say.

Juniper, however, rolled her eyes as she grabbed two of Jesper's guns and shot at them, each bullet piercing into their skulls, knocking them off their boat. "I am no better than them," Her eyes met Jesper's, "Feel like a little grand theft boat?"

He grinned as he turned the boat around, driving toward the larger yacht. "Sounds like fun."

She shot three more times before they hijacked the boat, each man falling to their death before they even got onto the boat. Jesper, Matthias, Inej and Elijah got on first, all going to the wheel as Kol carried Juniper's weak body out of the small boat.

He set her on one of the couches, keeping her head up on his thigh as he moved her hair out of her face. He smiled down at her as she leaned into his touch, too tired to think about anything other than him.

"Go to sleep," He repeated as he took the guns she held out of her hands and placed them on the table next to them.

She went to reach for them but he moved her hands back. "They can take care of it from here. You are going to sleep."

Juniper sighed but stopped fighting. "Fine. Only if you stay."

He adjusted himself so he was laying next to her, holding her waist tightly, careful to not touch the cuts lining her skin. "I won't leave. I'll never leave you again. I promise."

Her eyes weakly met his. "Don't make promises you can't keep."