ACT THREE; MISSILES FIRED
SCENE TWO; THE INEVITABLE GROWS NEAR
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"HE IS SO MUCH MORE BORING WHEN HE'S NOT BLOWING HIMSELF UP," Salem groaned quietly, throwing her head back as she laid back on the table. "I'm bored."

"You hear that?" Klaus turns, raising a brow at Connor's tied-up figure. "You're boring my girl. That's not very nice of you to do."

Salem turns, eyes falling on Stefan as he walks in the room. "Well, this is slightly less boring,"

Klaus pauses, tilting his head as Stefan's presence registers behind him. "Looks like I'll have to beef up the hybrid security detail."

"I was gonna take him, but I figured you went through such trouble to truss him up in your red room of pain."

"Don't be ridiculous Stefan, our red room of pain is private," Salem drawls, smirking at Stefan's eye roll as she props her hands behind her head, not moving from the table. "This is our torture room. You're welcome to sign up at any time."

Klaus smirks, gesturing at the plank Connor was bound to. "It's from the inquisition. I thought it was a nice touch."

"What'd you get out of him?"

"Not enough," Klaus stepped closer to the hunter, eyes narrowing. "He's mum about the council fire and he's not saying anything about this greater evil we're all supposed to be shivering over. What brings you snooping?"

Stefan shrugs, sighing as he steps closer to the couple. "Well, I can't say it in front of him. As I'm sure you've figured out, our friend here can't be compelled."

Salem hums, eyeing Connor. "He's just full of mysteries."

"I told you, I don't know anything,"

"Thankfully, I know plenty," Klaus stepped away, gesturing for Stefan to follow. "Shall we?" 

Salem huffs as she finally rolls off the table, sending Connor a short glare that he mirrors. She follows the boys into the study, stepping past Klaus so he can pull the doors shut. She leans against the wall, watching Stefan take a few steps further into the room before turning to face them.

"So, what's with the home invasion?"

"Damon said you knew something about this guy," Stefan said. "I should've figured you were up to something when you healed Elena from the werewolf poison without asking for anything in return."

Klaus shrugs, feigning innocence. "I was feeling benevolent."

Salem's snort of amusement goes mostly unheard beneath Stefan's voice.

"You're never benevolent," He nods his head at the doors, brows furrowing. "Who is this guy? What's The Five?"

Klaus's plastic smile falls, familiar glare settling into place. "So many questions."

Stefan shrugs. "It's a good thing I have nothing to do today except get answers out of you."

Salem scoffs, walking after Stefan to throw herself into one of the chairs, legs draped over the arm. "You mean you have nothing better to do because Damon's at Whitmore with Elena, teaching her how to drink blood because you can't?"

Stefan narrows his eyes at her and she smirks, shrugging a shoulder against the chair. "What? I know things, too. Secrets don't keep friends, Stefan. And it is no secret that you are well on your way to being demoted to Salvatore number two."

Klaus hums in agreement, watching as Stefan glares at Salem. "If that's true, then you might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate." 

Stefan says nothing, finger tapping an impatient beat onto the arm of the chair, and Klaus sighs.

"The Brotherhood of the Five was a group of highly skilled vampire hunters. We crossed paths with them in the 12th century, Italy. My siblings and I had followed the Normans as they conquered the south. Feeding, turning people as we went."

Klaus paces a short distance, eyes somewhat hazy with the memories. Salem briefly wonders if it's easy to recall these things the longer they live, or if they become foggy with time as a human's memory does.

"But, with the bloodshed, came exposure. There were public executions, word spread of vampires just as vampire hunters. Elijah warned me about cooling off, leaving, but I didn't listen. Rebekah didn't either, the naive little thing."

"So, these hunters have been around for 900 years?"

Klaus takes the seat beside Salem's. "Apparently. Though our friend in the other room is the first I've seen since then. Kind of makes you wonder what they've been up to all these years."

"And Rebekah was having a fling with one of them?" Salem asked, moving to sit up in the chair so she could look at Klaus.

"She wasn't just having a fling with one of them," Klaus shakes his head. "She fell in love with him. He told her all his secrets, which I will gladly share with you, provided you do one thing for me."

Stefan rolls his eyes, entirely unsurprised. "And what's that?"

"Get Rebekah over here. She's being stubborn and hateful. I– I need to make peace with her," Klaus stands, moving on from the small sentiment quickly. "I want her to give me some very important information about the hunter, which she won't do unless she believes we've made up."

"And," Stefan stands, mirroring Klaus's stance. "What's in it for me?"

"Just get her here, and I'll tell you," Klaus says, voice showing no room for argument as he turns to walk back to the doors. "Oh, and Stefan, trust me when I say this– that hunter in there holds the answer to all your prayers."

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"Are you feeling alright, mate? Are the shackles too tight?"

"They're back," Salem mutters, just as Stefan and Rebekah walk into the room. "Hi, Bekah."

The blonde spares her a brief nod, less warm than usual in the face of her brother and the man on the plank. "Is this a trick? How do you know he's one of the Five? Where's his bloody tattoo?"

"Oh, the tattoos aren't visible on this lot like they were on the last," He steps away from Connor, smirking. "Let's eat."

Salem smiles at Rebekah's eye roll, gesturing to the table and the two people reluctant to sit at it. "It's better to indulge him."

She moves to sit to the left of Klaus, Stefan and Rebekah eventually taking their seats before the perfectly plated food. The compelled woman comes over with a smile, pouring them all a bit of wine.

Salem offered the girl a smile, dismissing her. "Thank you,"

"I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town. They made my life so much easier," He leans forward, brows furrowing. "Rebekah, love, eat your veggies."

Rebekah sits stone-faced before him. "I'm not eating until you apologize."

"For which indiscretion? There have been so many,"

"You left me to die and saved that wretched girl instead,"

"You were perfectly capable of saving yourself, I had to save Caroline in order for Bonnie to put me back in my body," Klaus huffed. "No one would like it if I was stuck in Tyler Lockwood's body forever."

Rebekah scoffed, face twisting up. "You left me to die, and Salem saved me. And then you threaten the both of us, because she defended me? Defended our family?"

"She destroyed Elena's blood in your name, and now I can't make any more hybrids, I think all's fair right now,"

Stefan's eyes widened in surprise, and he met Salem's gaze across the table. She raised a brow, shrugging half-heartedly.

"You take me for granted, Nik."

"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart,"

Sighing exasperatedly, Stefan cut into the argument. "Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now,"

Salem pushed her lips out in a pout, feigning hurt. "You don't like my company?"

Klaus huffed loudly, sitting back in his chair. "Alright, fine. I'm sorry. I often forget how delicate you are. Forgive me?"

Rebekah's silent for a moment, and Salem grimaces at the horrible apology.

"I'll take it under consideration."

"For the record, that was the worst apology I've ever heard,"

Klaus shot Salem a short glare and she matched it quickly. "Not helpful, darling."

"Who said I had to be helpful?"

"Okay, great. Really productive conversation. Why don't we keep it going?" Stefan leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and turning to look at Klaus. "Tell me about Rebekah's hunter."

"Right," Klaus's face seemed to light up at the reminder. "Alexander. Nice chap, forgoing the obvious issues."

Rebekah's face flashed with irritation and Salem sent her a pitiful look that the girl just sighed at. They shared a commiserating look, one that two of the only people to truly know Klaus Mikaelson could wear.

"He was looking for creatures of the night, which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings. He spared no words, telling us about the mission of the Five. They wanted to eradicate all vampires, and according to Alexander, they had a weapon that no vampire could survive."

"So, that's what this is about? A weapon,"

Rebekah shook her head at Stefan. "Not just any weapon."

"Rebekah, love, don't get ahead of the story,"

Stefan rolled his eyes slightly, looking between the Originals as Salem sat silently, observing the whole scene.

"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?"

The siblings shared a look, Rebekah's one of realization and Klaus's one of urging silence.

The look didn't go unnoticed by either outsider at the table.

Stefan sighed, dropping his napkin onto the table. "Okay. Why don't we just skip with the theatrics and get right to the point?"

Klaus smirks slightly at Stefan's insistence. "Not quite yet. Because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle, which seems to have disappeared."

Stefan's brows furrowed. "What puzzle?"

Salem narrowed her eyes, watching Klaus's face shift. "The tattoo. The tattoo that nobody can see. What's the tattoo?"

"A map," Klaus answers her easily. "Leading us to its treasure."

"Fat lot of good a tattoo's gonna do if we can't see it."

"We can't, but someone else can," Klaus turns, gesturing to the compelled woman that had joined them again. "Why don't you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?"

Stefan's face twisted confusedly, but realization dawned on Salem, so she just sat back in her chair, crossing her arms over her stomach as Klaus continued his story.

"You see, the hunter was so eager to get to the bottom of his mystery tattoos that he mentioned there was only one other person that can see them."

Miles walked in with Jeremy in hand, the younger boy stomping his feet in attempted resistance. Salem raised her wine towards Miles in silent greeting, earning a wave from the man.

Stefan gets up as soon as he realizes it's Jeremy, but Klaus is up and cutting him off before he can reach him. "I wouldn't. Lucky for us, young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist."

"I'm not helping you with anything,"

Klaus glances at Miles, who manages to catch on, and he grabs the Gilbert ring off of the boy's finger and tosses it to Klaus, who catches it easily.

Holding it up tauntingly, Klaus smirks. "Oh, I'm afraid you are."

Jeremy seemed to hesitate, and Salem raised a hand, her hand humming with the warm yellow, almost golden glow that weaved its way through her fingers, a warm caress against her skin. The thin-lines marked over her fingers and hands briefly shimmered with the magic, and she smiled softly at the smallest show of sentience.

"I could always make you," She offered, voice low but not soft. "But my magic doesn't really like other people's heads. Makes 'em go kinda... crazy."

His shoulders slumped, defeated, and Miles took the cue and walked him through the doors to where Connor was still tied down. Shutting them firmly behind him, the four sat in brief, tense silence and Salem let the warmth of her magic slowly fade back into her skin, sending tingles up her arm.

Stefan glared unhappily, but he stood down, taking his seat again as Klaus did the same.

"So, tell me more about this tattoo,"

"My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything," Klaus sighed. "Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate, isn't that right?"

"Don't be crude, Nik," Salem scolded lightly, seeing the distant hurt wash through Rebekah's eyes.

Klaus sighs, continuing on. "My sister's boyfriend threw a slumber party that night. He and his brothers put us all down in our sleep. Elijah, Kol, Finn, and me."

Salem ducks her head at the mention of the eldest Mikaelson, and she hides her wince as she looks between the siblings.

"How was I supposed to know?"

"Cheers," Klaus lifts his wine glass. "To my sister's uncanny ability to choose men."

Rebekah rolled her eyes, and Stefan ignored the not-so-subtle dig at himself.

"I thought the daggers didn't work on you because of your werewolf side."

Klaus smirked. "They don't. But they didn't know that. So, I waited for the right moment, and I slaughtered them all. And when Rebekah woke, I asked her what could have made her trust a man whose sole purpose was to kill us, over me, over our family. What could he have promised her to make her betray us like that, and nearly get us killed."

He gestures to the blonde, smirk turning sharp. "Go ahead, Rebekah. Tell them. Tell them what the hunter told you the tattoo leads to. What's this great weapon that could bring about the end of the vampire species?"

Rebekah bit her tongue, jaw clenching before she looked to Salem and Stefan. "A cure. He said there was a cure."

Disbelief washes over Stefan's face, and Klaus quickly gets up from the table, making Stefan do the same.

"There's no such thing as a cure for vampirism."

Rebekah stands, desperation leaking into her voice. "He's telling the truth."

"Then why wouldn't you have searched for it, found it?"

Salem falls into step beside Rebekah, her shoulders tensing as she shared a look with the blonde.

Klaus uncaps a bottle of bourbon, pouring a drink. "Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night, the marks disappeared from their body. The map was gone, the Brotherhood of the Five extinct. For 900 years there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town."

Rebekah sighed, shaking her head. "Well, now we have the map. What do we do next?"

"We don't do anything," Klaus shook his head, quickly retorting. "You can't be trusted, little sister. You'll be blabbing this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty."

"Klaus,"

He ignores Salem's voice, laughing coldly. "I mean, it's pathetic, really, isn't it? How she continues to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection. You think she would've learned by now, from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception!"

"Klaus,"

"But I haven't!" Rebekah speaks over Salem, tears welling in her eyes. "Instead, I stay with you and let you leech every moment of happiness from my life. You know, at least I fared better than Finn. Klaus left him daggered because he was tired of his judgment."

Klaus tilted his head, eyes darkening with his sister's rebuttal. "No, Finn was a dullard. Now he's daggered because he tried to harm us, harm Salem. He's more interesting lying in a box," The hybrid quickly crosses the room, standing before his sister.

Rebekah's face scrunched up in disgust. "You want the cure for Elena, don't you?"

Salem's eyes snapped up to Klaus's, and she watched as his face fell in shock.

"So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids. That's why you brought Stefan in– because you knew he'd help you, even though he hates your guts. You know what, you can shove your cure."

Rebekah shakes her head and walks off, and Salem stands eerily still as Klaus turns to face Stefan.

"Well, I hope you got what you wanted out of her before you chased her off."

"She never would've told me what I needed to know, but she'll tell you."

Stefan hesitated, looking away from Klaus, and Salem's blank stare. "What do you need me to find out?"

"The map is useless without the tool to decipher it," Klaus says.

"The sword," Stefan says in realization.

"She knows where it is. And you're gonna get her to tell you," Klaus stepped forward, sensing Stefan's wariness. "You have a chance to save Elena from the very thing that's going to destroy her. You can call it a deal with the devil if you like, but you know you won't walk away from it."

Salem watches Stefan nod dutifully, and silently excuse himself, and she waits until Klaus turns to face her before she speaks.

"Is Rebekah right?"

"Usually not,"

"Klaus," Salem's voice holds no room for argument. "Is she right? Do you just want the cure so Elena will be human again, and you'll be able to make more hybrids?"

"Salem,"

She cuts him off, shaking her head. "I'm not doing this again. I'm not. I destroyed what was left of her blood for a reason,"

Klaus reaches for her arm, wrapping his hand around it tightly and stopping her from turning away from him. "What are you going to do?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Salem, do not do anything rash, we can talk about this if you just wait."

She stopped, turning to face him fully and shifting, bringing her hands up his chest and neck, resting on his cheeks. Her eyes soften as she blinks up at him, luring him towards security. "Klaus. Nik. Listen to me,"

He sighs, eyes fluttering beneath her gentle touch. "Salem,"

Her hands suddenly clamp down on his cheeks, nails digging crescent moons into his pale skin. "If you give the cure to Elena just to get your hybrid blood bag back, I will end her entire bloodline. Do you understand?"

"You will not–"

Salem twists her hands sharply before he can finish his biting words, and his neck snaps with an audible crack. She drops her hold on him, stepping back as he drops to the ground. Looking down at his limp form, she raises a brow. "I told you I was jealous, baby,"

Her hands go to her hips with a sigh and she rolls her eyes, stepping over the picture he paints on the floor, quiet and peaceful for once.

Salem tries to commit the sight to memory, because it certainly won't last long.

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"You snapped my neck."

Salem looks up at Klaus's furious face from beneath her lashes as he storms into their bedroom, rage flushing his cheeks pink. "That took longer than I thought it would,"

"Yes, well, forgive me, it's been several centuries since someone snapped my neck."

She hums, tucking her pen into the spine of her sketchpad and tossing it to the other, unoccupied side of the bed. "Are you sure you weren't just being dramatic?"

Klaus glares harshly, standing at the end of the bed. "Says the woman who snapped my neck before I could finish speaking,"

"I wasn't being dramatic," Salem shifts to her knees, crawling to meet him at the end of the bed, watching his eyes rave over the exposed skin of her thighs where the old shirt rides up on her. "I told you multiple times what I would do if you pulled something like this again, it's not my fault you didn't believe me."

Klaus clenches his jaw, snapping his eyes back up to hers and dutifully ignoring the smug glint in them. "You infuriate me. Do you know that? You're the first person in centuries to snap my neck and not be killed for it."

She smiles, draping her arms over his shoulders. "How lucky for me,"

He's silent for a moment, brows furrowing. "You're not going to Italy with me, are you?"

"No," She answers immediately, surging forward to kiss him breathless.

His anger quickly depletes and his arms wrap around her waist as she presses their lips together so harshly he thinks she might draw blood. He's barely able to process it before she pulls back, and he meets her gaze with blown out pupils.

"Have a good flight," Salem pats his chest a few times before removing herself from him completely, sliding off the bed and leaving him standing alone in their bedroom, yet again blindsided by her actions.

He fights the urge to follow her and wring her neck just like she had his. He's torn between killing and kissing, dancing a fine line between love and hate with the woman who has turned the tables so quickly on him.

He hates that he doesn't hate her. Not completely, at least. A part of him still resents her for making him love her in the first place.

It's easier to blame her for it all instead of recognizing it was inevitable from the beginning. Better to tell himself that the witch put a spell on him, than accept he did it all to himself.

(He knows, though. He will always know that he loved her first, and he will love her long after she has left him.)

(He also knows, with certainty, that she will leave him. Everyone does, eventually.) 

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author's note; toxic by britney spears plays faintly in the background

edited and published; 12.19.23.

- liz