Mia hadn't seen Elijah since he had taken her home. She was slightly worried at first, but she also knew he was a force to be reckoned with and was not easily harmed.

She hadn't done much in the last week. She trained twice a day, face timed Peter, and read a book Loki had sent her. The book was decently interesting, the topic being soulmates.

She didn't necessarily like the topic, but the book was interesting nonetheless. She had only ever met two pairs of soulmates, those being her parents and Tony and Pepper. One bad experience and one good.

Mia liked being alone, she had never enjoyed being surrounded by chatter. She liked peace and quiet, something she rarely got at the tower if she wasn't hidden away in the vents with Clint.

Clint was the only one who ever really understood her need for silence. He would usually just turn off his hearing aids, but ever since he learned Mia liked the silence too, he had shown her his hiding spots.

Mia had known the Avengers for over seven years. She had met Tony Stark first technically.

She was fifteen at the time and was working at a small coffee shop near the tower. The coffee shop had been attacked by multiple armed men and Mia had managed to take them all down with just her fists.

It was safe to say the man was intrigued. And when he learned she was practically living on the streets, he took her in. He had the space for it and it wasn't like he was struggling for money, if anything, his pockets were struggling to hold the money in them. 

Rich people problems.

Her childhood wasn't a very good one. Her parents highly disliked her and when her father cheated, her mother sent her away to a camp. It was a camp for unwanted children known as The Red Room.

Mia had been stuck there from ages 6 to 14. She went through every protocol, every lesson and indefinitely, every punishment.

That's where she met Natasha Romanoff. She was in the older grades but the girls still bonded. They tended to each other's wounds and trained side by side.

When Mia was fourteen, a bomb went off. She and Natasha had been sleeping in their shared dorm/cell when it had gone off. Their door had been busted open from the explosion and when they got out of the building they met a man outside.

Clint Barton was the man who brought them to safety. While Natasha chose to stay with him, Mia chose to go back to New York. She still had a childish hope that her mother would take her back.

It never happened, instead, she lived in homeless shelters while she worked at the coffee shop for less than minimum wage. It was practically illegal how much they paid her, Tony would tell her.

There was a dance tonight. A fucking high school dance and Damon was forcing her to go. What a dick. Apparently, he thought she had no life, did she? No. Did she care? Also no.

Yet here she sat in the parlour in the boarding house as they talked about a plan. 

Were all their plans terrible? Yes. Would they listen to Mia? No. So, the girl stayed silent as she laid her head on Bonnie's lap, feeling as the witch played with her blonde locks.

She smiled slightly at the touch. It reminded her of Natasha.

"So we go to the dance and find him," Damon started as he sat next to Mia, putting her legs on his lap.

Apparently, Klaus had shown up and had taunted the girls during their lunch hour by sending a high school girl to do his bidding. Kinda lame. For an Original, Mia thought he'd do better. She was honestly disappointed.

"How are we going to do that? We don't even know what he looks like," Stefan argued.

"Something tells me he's not going to be sixteen and pimply."

Mia laughed at his words earning a gentle slap from Bonnie. She glanced up and stuck her tongue out before looking at Stefan.

"He could be anywhere at any time. He compelled somebody at school. Guess it's not as safe as you guys thought, huh?"

Elena sighed but before she could say anything, a knock sounded from the door before it opened.

"There you are," Damon spoke as Alaric walked inside.

"Sorry I'm late," The history teacher told him as he walked inside, having trouble keeping his eyes off of Mia.

"Hey, I need you to put Mia and I down as chaperones at the dance tonight. Klaus made his first move."

Alaric tilted his head. Mia frowned as she stared at the man, he was acting differently. Out of character almost.

"Okay, so we find him and then what? Hmm. What's our plan of attack?" Elena asked before Bonnie spoke up, "Me. I'm the plan. He has no idea how much power I can channel."

Mia continued to stare at Alaric. His eyes twitched slightly at the mention of her magic.

"If you can find him, I can kill him."

Alaric chuckled, "Heh. It's not going to be that easy. I mean, he is the biggest, baddest vampire around."

Boasting the enemy now? Alaric would normally never say much about their enemies. Even his voice sounded weird, deeper even.

His eyes met her calculating ones. "Right, Mia?"

She nodded skeptically, "He has a point."

Damon nodded as well, "I mean what if he-" Before he could speed at the witch, she pushed him across the room with her magic.

Stefan almost smiled at the sight of his brother gasping in pain on the floor, "Well I was impressed."

"It doesn't matter if he's an Original. I can take down anyone who comes at me. I can kill him, Elena. I know I can."

— — —

Mia had refused to put on any article of clothing from the 60s. She claimed they were all ugly and would never put her body through wearing the ugly colours.

She instead wore her normal clothes, black high-waisted jeans, a white shirt and the black jacket Elijah had insisted she keep.

Oddly enough, even though it had been through a round at the dry cleaners, it still smelled like him. Not that she minded, he smelled amazing.

Sixties music filled her ears as she walked inside the dance. The school always went above and beyond for these things. No wonder they couldn't afford proper classrooms and had textbooks from the actual sixties.

He smelled her the second she walked inside.

"Thanks for being here everybody!" She heard Dana say through a microphone at the main stage. "We have a special shout-out tonight. This is for Mia, from Nik."

The sounds of 'Cecilia' by Simon and Garfunkle began to play through the speakers. It wasn't from the sixties, not that any of the teenagers noticed.

Damon grinned as he spun her to face him, "Ooh who's Nik? Is he your boyfriend?"

"Fuck off," She answered simply before escaping his hold and walking over to Alaric who had been watching her since she walked inside. "Ric," She greeted.

"Mia. Did you like the song?"

She chuckled, "It was alright. I would have rathered AC/DC but I guess you can't be picky when a psychopath dedicates a song all to you."

She stayed silent for a moment before glancing up at him, "Why Alaric's body? Why not homie hop into Stefan's? You would have found out much more information that way."

He smiled, "Oh, like how you kissed Bucky Barnes at an art auction in London at exactly 5:13 on a Thursday?"

"Oh, don't tell me you look like Mr. Aberdeen? He was a sweet man, but I'm not into 70 year olds."

"You know it took everything in me not to kill your little friend after he touched you like that? It wasn't until you drank actual bleach that I realized you only kissed him for a distraction."

Mia chuckled softly, "Jealous, are we? Your brother reacted the same way. This isn't going to be a weird sibling orgy, is it?"

He smirked as he leaned closer to her ear, "We'd take turns, don't worry, love. We wouldn't want to wear out our little hero. Can't have you so tired you can't save the world from another alien invasion."

Her hand came up to his chest, pulling him in slightly, "If you're going to flirt with me, do it in your own body, Mikaelson."

The girl walked away from him, stopping by Damon and telling him Klaus was inhabiting Alaric's body before leaving the school.

— — —

Wheels squeaked loudly against the tiled floors as she was pulled into a laboratory. She fought against the restraints that held her down but it was pointless. She was powerless against them.

"Please don't do this!" She screamed as they pulled out a scalpel. The doctor stared at her with nothing but hatred as he carved into her lower stomach.

The ten year old Mia cried out in pain, tears streaming past her eyes as she felt the knife cut deeper.

"Stop!"

Mia was taken out of her dream by the sound of her phone ringing. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she rubbed the skin. She hadn't had a nightmare like that in weeks.

Her hand moved to her bedside table before grabbing her phone, "What?"

"Can you meet me at the Lockwood estate?"

Mia glanced at the clock across the room, "It's 8 am, Elena."

"Elijah's back."

Just his name sent her heart into a frenzy. "I'll be there in an hour."

As soon as she hung up she sighed, "Friday? Can you tell Tony to send me more of those sleeping pills?"

"Of course, Ms. Rutherford."

— — —

"Do you need me to come to Mystic Falls?" Tony asked through the phone as Mia walked towards the Lockwood estate.

As soon as Friday told him about her request for sleeping medication, he called her.

"I'm okay, Tones. You don't have to come here. It was just one bad dream."

"I monitored your sleep, kid. Your heart spiked and you were screaming. The last time that happened you had to go to Wakanda and help Bucky with the goats for a month."

Mia breathed out as Elijah came into view. Her heart immediately calmed as she got closer to him.

"I'm fine, I promise, Tony. I was just a little shaken up."

She could hear him sigh, "Alright but if you have another dream, you're coming home. You shouldn't have to go through them alone."

The Avenger nodded, "I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Tony."

"I love you, kid."

"I love you too."

Mia smiled as she got closer to the Original who had patiently been waiting at a bench for her. 

"Ms. Rutherford," He greeted with a small smile as he noticed she was wearing his coat.

"Elijah," She smiled back as she sat next to him, looking out over the small river. "I thought Elena was here?"

"Ms. Gilbert had to leave temporarily. I requested you come in her absence."

Mia silently nodded before speaking up again, "Where did you go? It's been a while since I saw you last."

"Your friends daggered me," He told her before clarifying, "A silver dagger with white oak ash can temporarily put an Original to sleep."

"Like a coma?"

"Yes."

Mia sighed, "I'm so sorry- I didn't even know. I-"

His hand came up to hers, holding it gently, "There is no need for apologies, Elskan... I was told you had a run-in with my brother."

She nodded, her eyes on their intertwined hands, "He's alright. Apparently, he was in London when Buck and I were there."

Elijah chuckled, "I recall him mentioning that. He wasn't particularly happy when he saw you kiss that boy."

"You're not gonna let that go, are you?" She teased, still holding onto his surprisingly warm hand.

"No. I don't believe I will, Mia."

"Then I guess you won't like that I kissed Wanda not even ten hours later," She told him with a small smirk before getting up and walking towards the small bridge, "You coming, Lijah? Or are you going to sit there looking like a fish?"

Elijah eventually stood, straightening his suit as he walked toward her, "You kissed a girl?"

She smirked, "Do you have a problem with that, Elijah?"

His eyes widened, "No! No- I- That's okay! I- Um-"

Mia grinned, he was a stuttering mess. It was adorable. "I know, Lijah. Calm down, honey."

"Why did you kiss her? Was it for the 'thing' you had to kiss Bucky for?"

"Wanda wanted to one-up Bucky. My friends have this thing where they all flirt with me but none of them have been able to get anywhere," Mia explained.

It was true, even Peter had tried by giving her a lego set of her favourite motorbike. However, that was just a ploy for them to play with lego away from Bucky who had been annoying them all day.

He nodded, "I see. And why have none of them succeeded in winning your heart?"

Mia shrugged, she didn't have an answer for that. She could have easily dated Wanda or Steve, both of which had crushes on her when they first met her. She just never felt the same, sure she was attracted to them, but she couldn't even fathom the thought of being in a relationship.

She had never been good with relationships, partially due to The Red Room but also due to her feelings toward soulmates. She was trained to believe love was a weakness and with her bad experience with soulmates, she just never bothered to delve into that side of her.

Before Elijah could speak again, Elena arrived. "Welcome back," Elijah greeted simply.

"Tell me. What is Klaus's curse?"

Mia frowned, she had forgotten to tell them that. To be fair, she was a little busy with her movie nights with Peter.

Elijah gestured towards the house, "Please."

As soon as they entered the house, Elena sat down on one of the couches, glancing at Mia who stood against a wall before looking back at Elijah.

"You know, my family was quite close. But Klaus and my father did not get on too well. When we became vampires, we discovered the truth. Klaus was not my father's son. My mother had been unfaithful many years before. This was her darkest secret."

He paused. It looked as though he didn't want to tell her but he continued, "Klaus was from a different bloodline. Of course, when my father discovered this, he hunted down and killed my mother's lover and his entire family."

"He didn't realize that he was igniting a war between the species that rages until this day."

"A war between the species?" Elena inquired, not understanding him.

"The vampires... and the werewolves."

"So... Klaus's real father was from a werewolf bloodline? What does that make Klaus? A werewolf? Or a vampire?"

Mia sighed, "He's both, khuylo."

"Mia is right, Klaus is both. A hybrid would be deadlier than any werewolf or vampire. Nature would not stand for such an imbalance of power. Therefore the witches, the servants of nature, saw to it that my brother's werewolf side would become dormant."

Elena leaned forward slightly, "That's the curse Klaus wants to break?"

"He wants to trigger that part of him that's a werewolf. If allowed, Klaus would sire his own bloodline. He'd build his own race... endangering not just vampires but everyone."

"But you helped him."

"I helped him because I loved him. That's changed now. He must die."

Mia frowned slightly at his words. For some reason, she didn't like the thought of the hybrid dying. 

Elena stepped forward, "We have the dagger now, we can stop him."

The Original sighed, "When a werewolf is wounded by silver, it heals. An Original can't be killed by anything but white oak ash on a silver dagger, so you see the conundrum? The dagger does not work."

"What are you saying? Klaus can't be killed?"

"There's one way to kill any supernatural species. At the hands of the servants of nature themselves."

"A witch. If they can channel that much power. But it would kill them..."

"The curse must be broken during the full moon. When Klaus is in transition, that's when he'll be at his most vulnerable. A witch with enough power can kill Klaus."

"What if I told you I knew a witch who could channel that much power?"

"Then I would tell you there's one more thing you should know."

Elijah had delved into yet another story, one of which Mia didn't fully listen to. To be fair, being in the same room as Elena made her want to stab herself.

"You found a way to save the life of the doppelganger?"

"Yes. I did. Unfortunately, Katerina took matters into her own hands first. I believe you already know how that played out."

"You cared about her, didn't you?"

He shook his head, "No. I didn't want an innocent woman to die."

He glanced back at Mia, holding his hand out to the blonde, "I'll take you home."

Mia had driven them both to the boarding house. Elijah had wanted to drive but Mia insisted. She had seen how vampires drove and she actually liked her car.

When they arrived, Stefan and Damon were fighting as usual. Mia almost laughed at the sight of them. They were growling like dogs as they held onto each other's necks.

"Stop!" Elena yelled causing them to part.

Maybe they were part dog, Mia wondered as she watched them listen to her command.

"Now you've invited him in?" Damon grumbled as he watched the Original who stood a few too many inches close to Mia.

"Elijah and I renewed the terms of our deal."

"Really?"

"The two of you will come to no harm at my hands. I only ask for one thing in return."

"What?"

"An apology," Elijah told them. Mia almost laughed, sure Stefan would apologize, but Damon? Not a chance. 

"A what?" Damon asked, earning a soft laugh from Mia as she walked over to their booze selection.

Stefan sighed, "I'm sorry for the part that I played in your death. I was protecting Elena. I will always protect Elena."

"I understand."

Stefan and Elena glanced at Damon, expecting him to do the same, but he only scoffed.

"The sacrifice is going to happen, Damon. Bonnie will be able to kill Klaus without hurting herself and Elijah knows how to save my life. I told you I'd find another way, and I did."

"Is that true?"

"It is."

"And you're trusting him?"

"I am."

"You can all go to hell."

Mia breathed out as she sipped on a glass of bourbon, "Feels like I'm already there," She muttered before downing the liquid.