ACT TWO; TARGET IN SIGHT
SCENE FIVE; YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE
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"YOU LEFT US."

Salem's eyes shift to Rebekah where she's sat on top of the bar beside her, and then to Stefan as he walks down the short stairs towards them.

"Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode."

Klaus huffs, bringing his glass up to his lips. "Tell me about it."

Salem looks down at Klaus, raising a brow as he sends her a taunting smile in response.

"What's she doing?"

"She's failing," Klaus cuts in before anyone else can, answering Stefan's question regarding Gloria.

The witch in question shoots a glare in Klaus's direction. "It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on."

Stefan furrowed his eyebrows. "What about Salem? Doesn't she have magic, too?"

Salem started to respond, but Gloria cut her off. "Salem's magic doesn't work like that. She has what we call defensive magic, and it's one of the strongest kinds, but without an ancestral tie, she's useless in tracking things down."

Salem smiled sarcastically, holding her glass up mockingly in his direction. "What she said," Though she was unaware of how Gloria knew that, she just figured it was because of some sort of ancestral witch thing she wasn't in on.

"So use me," Rebekah swings her legs off the chair she'd had them propped up on, shrugging her shoulders. "I only wore it for a thousand years."

Gloria gestures gratefully to Rebekah as the blonde walks over to the table, giving Klaus a somewhat scolding look. "See, this one offers a solution. Give me your hand, sweetheart."

"She's, uh," Stefan glances away from Rebekah to look at Klaus. "She's looking for the necklace, huh?"

Salem tilts her head, regarding Stefan with a calculating look that makes him frown.

"I can sense something," Gloria's words make them all pause, and Salem leans forward, eyes narrowing as the witch mutters under her breath in Latin for a moment before releasing Rebekah's hand. "I found it."

Salem's eyes widen and she watches Gloria look at Stefan knowingly before she looks at Klaus. Smirking to herself, Salem sits back, propping her hands on the bar as she watches Rebekah look at the witch in a pressing manner.

"So where is it?"

Gloria shook her head lightly. "It doesn't work like that, doll. I get images. There's a girl, with her friends–"

"Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back."

"Well, I'll have to dive back in to get the details."

"So dive," Klaus says, walking over towards them.

Gloria looks at him with rising frustration. "I need more time. And space. You're harshing my ju-ju."

Klaus chuckles emptily. "We can wait."

"I'm sure you can," Gloria nodded. "But that's not what I asked."

Shifting uneasily, Stefan walked over to Gloria and Klaus, patting Klaus on the shoulder. "Hey– hey, you know, why don't we just, uh, why don't we just come back later? I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."

Klaus pauses for a moment before he pushes off the table Gloria's sitting at, and he turns towards Salem where she still sits on the bar, beckoning her off of it with a wave of his fingers. "We'll be back."

Salem hums in agreement, hopping off the bar with a tap of her fingers that sends barely noticeable sparks down the grains of wood. She steps away with a smile, giving Gloria a lingering look as they exit.

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"Can I talk to you?"

Klaus looked up from where he'd dumped the last body they'd drained, his eyes roaming over Salem as she appeared suddenly nervous before him. "About what?"

Stefan had long since left the warehouse, and not long after, Klaus and Salem had departed to get rid of the bodies. Rebekah had lingered, stating she didn't want to go back out into the world because it was loud. Salem had to wonder, then, how horrible it would be to go to sleep in the 1920s and suddenly wake up 90 years later, in a world you were entirely unfamiliar with.

It seemed like hell. Though, she supposed that was the point. Klaus punished his siblings for threatening to leave him, they couldn't just get away with those sorts of things. He left no deed, good or bad, unpunished.

Salem cleared her throat, looking around the dark, empty parking lot that they'd found a dumpster in to leave the bodies. "It's about your hybrids."

Klaus stills, his nonchalance disappearing as he takes a step closer to her, suddenly glaring down at her. "What about them?"

"I think–" She stops, closing her eyes and shaking her head. "No, I know why they're dying. I know why it's not working."

Klaus runs his piercing eyes over her, like he's trying to figure out if she's telling the truth. She stands before him unblinkingly, and whatever he finds seems to answer his question. Raising a brow, he urges her on. "Go on, then. Tell me why it's not working."

"Elena is alive."

There's a split second before Klaus is suddenly moving towards her, wrapping his hand around her throat and slamming her against the car they'd driven here. She grunts and wraps her fingers around his wrist, her skin glowing as her magic burns against his skin. He groans softly, the sound growing as she keeps her hand there, and eventually he rips his hand off of her throat, rubbing at his wrist as it heals.

They glare at each other, Salem's chest heaving as she catches her breath and Klaus practically steaming with his rage.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill you right now,"

"If you let me talk, I'll tell you." She huffs, clearing her throat slightly. "I didn't know, alright? I swear that I didn't know– not for sure, at least."

"Salem–"

She lunges, slamming her hands into his chest and sending him stumbling back a few feet. "Let me speak, Klaus! You let me finish talking, or we'll kill each other right here,"

Taking in a deep, seething breath, Klaus nods once, silently.

Salem mirrors his nod, clenching her fists at her sides. "The night of the ritual, Elena's biological father John Gilbert showed up with this spell from the Gilbert journal. It was their last chance to save Elena, but I didn't believe it was gonna work."

Sighing, she recalls the night just three months ago, feeling like it was years ago with how long the summer has been. "Damon had given Elena his blood earlier that day, so she had vampire blood in her system. Even without John, she wouldn't have died that night, not really. But the spell was to save her soul. If she died, John's life force would save hers and she could come back as a human, even if she still had the vampire blood in her system."

"So, you're saying–"

"I'm saying that John Gilbert died and Elena came back to life, and Stefan has known about it this whole time. He's been watching you fail, watching the hybrids die one by one, and he knows exactly why it's been happening."

Klaus's jaw clenches and she sees the dark veins make their way up to his eyes before he gathers himself. "And you? How long have you known?"

"When the hybrids went rabid in Tennessee..." She trails off, and they both recall the mess that had been. "I wondered why, after everything, they didn't work. I realized that no one ever told me if she survived or not, and then I left with you before I could find out for sure. But earlier, when I called Alaric, he said–"

She lets out an incredulous laugh, shaking her head. "He said that he, Damon, and Elena all were in the mountains with us that day, and that Stefan saw them. He saw them, and he kept us both distracted so we wouldn't notice them. And then last night at the bar, with Damon showing up? He wasn't alone. Elena was with him. They've been trailing us all summer, trying to get Stefan back, and he knew."

Klaus walks towards her again and she lets him crowd her against the car this time, the both of them leaving their hands at their sides despite their chests pressing together from their close proximity. "Why tell me now?"

She swallows, staring up at him. "Because I wanted to get you alone, in case Stefan overheard. And because I left– I left what is basically a trail of breadcrumbs with my magic in the bar and with Stefan earlier, and both of those trails went haywire at the same time which can only mean shit went bad, and Stefan's trying to cover his tracks."

Klaus is silent for a moment, taking in her words, the implications they held, and her place in the midst of it all. He brings a hand up slowly this time, careful to make sure she sees it before he rests his palm on her cheek, dragging his thumb along the freckles scattered messily on her cheeks.

"I promise," She whispers, voice low under the thick blanket of tension sitting between them. "I promise, Nik, I didn't know."

"You would turn your back on them despite helping them in the beginning?"

"Yes," She nods, not hesitating before answering. "They don't care about me, it's all about Elena. The only way I'd be of importance to them is if I was willing to die for Elena, and I'm not. I'm not loyal to them, I'm loyal to you."

"Why?" He urges, stepping impossibly closer to her. "What have I given you to deserve your loyalty?"

Her brows furrow, like she doesn't understand why he doesn't get it. "You gave me what I wanted and you didn't even know you were doing it. You showed me a life outside of Mystic Falls, you showed me a life without fear. I told you my secrets and you told me yours. You've been loyal to me... why wouldn't I give you the same in return?"

Klaus hardly lets her finish her question before he smashes his lips against hers in a kiss that's so passionate it's violent. Salem makes a startled noise that quickly melts into a gasp of pleasure as the sharp prick of his fangs tugged on her bottom lip and she brought her hands up to his hair, running her nails through the dirty blond curls, earning a groan from him in response.

He parted for a short breath before immediately going back in, stealing what little air she had gathered away with his ministrations. The hand cupping her cheek had slid back into her hair, fingers sliding between the humid-frizzy braids, while he kept his other firmly around her waist, pressing her into him.

When they finally parted for air, Salem panted for breath, looking up at him with stars in her pretty eyes.

Klaus's eyes opened slowly, reflecting yellow down into hers, and as if in response, hers flashed the bright hue that reflected the sun on the brightest of days.

"We should go to the bar and figure out what made my magic freak out," She murmured, hesitant to break them out of their bubble. "And then..."

"And then we'll deal with Stefan."

She licks her lips, eyes roaming his face as he untangled his hand from her hair. She hesitated before stepping away, pressing up on her toes to give him one last kiss. She pulled away quickly, unable to stop the way her lips twitched into a smile that she staved off.

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When they finally make their way back from the bar to the warehouse where Rebekah and Stefan are, Salem's hand is clasped firmly in Klaus's. It draws Stefan's eyes immediately, and he snaps his gaze up to her, eyes narrowing in confusion at the united front they pose.

Salem raises a daring eyebrow at him, and something in her expression makes him panic.

The hybrid looks between his sister and the Ripper, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "What's going on?"

Rebekah glares at Stefan, ignoring his fearful look. "Something's wrong. He was asking about Mikael."

Klaus faces the vampire with a dark look, his hand falling from Salem's as he steps towards him.

"He's not with us, Nik. I can sense it."

Stefan shakes his head, attempting to hide his panic with a nervous chuckle. "She's wrong. Come on, Klaus,"

The hybrid doesn't allow his feeble attempts at redemption, and he instead reaches for his neck, snapping it with little exertion. The vampire falls to the floor, temporarily dead, and Salem flicks her eyes over his frame angrily.

Klaus lets out a sigh through gritted teeth, and turns towards his sister. "Make sure he stays dead while I gather our things. We'll be going back to Mystic Falls tonight."

Rebekah looks at him in slight surprise. "Why?"

He glances at the quiet woman over his shoulder, then back to his sister. "Salem has informed me of Stefan's indiscretions, and I feel like causing a bit of ruckus."

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author's note; i have this book written all the way to season 4 already 💀

edited and published; 3.27.23. 

- liz