3rd person POV
Supernatural Plane

"Wait, so you mean that it's been 17 years since...then and the twins are 16 year-old siphoner witches?" Jo asks in an exasperated tone, being unable to comprehend everything that Catherine and Stefan had told her.

"Yes and now, your brother Kai is dead so your daughters must merge because of the stupid rules of your coven. My daughter risked her life to come here and find you, so you better have a solution to suggest now," Catherine states in an almost annoyed tone. Stefan raises his brow at Catherine's changed demeanor but decided not to question it.

"Well I tried for years to avoid my own merge, from hiding my magic away to sending Kai to a prison world, we tried it all. Nothing worked, obviously, so I don't know what to tell you," Jo replies in a small voice while looking down at her hand.

"I think I might have a suggestion. It's rather unethical but it could work," Sheila Bennett speaks up next as the other three look at her expectantly.

"We'll need to strike a bargain with someone from Hell," she says with a smirk as the others look at her, confused.

"Someone from Hell? Don't tell me you're suggesting bringing back that sociopath," Catherine says and Sheila just smiles at her.

"I am, but only temporarily. I saw we send his soul back too to the real realm. Since Jo didn't merge with Kai, the system didn't work properly. What if this time, Jo did merge with him?" Sheila suggests and Jo shakes her head 'no'.

"No, the only reason I didn't merge with him the last time was because we knew I wasn't strong enough."

"Only because you didn't practice magic back then and because it all came as a surprise, Jo. It's been sixteen years since," Stefan tries to reason but she still looks hesitant.

"And something tells me you're more powerful than you think you are. You kids have a habit of underestimating yourselves," Catherine states and Sheila nods.

"But if you're still unsure, I am willing to lend my magic to you in a necklace. With extra magic backing you up, you are bound to win," Sheila elaborates.

"And then what? I lead the coven and when I die, the twins have to merge all over again. It's inevitable," Jo fires back and Sheila chuckles.

"You can't go back there permanently anyways, child. A witch can't break nature's laws and not pay the price. I saw my granddaughter pay the price and now, Lady Catherine knows the price she has to pay too. What I am saying is, you merge with the sociopath and you win so he's gone for good this time. Then with our magic, you cast a permanent spell to nullify your coven's merge system permanently, thus saving your daughters as well as their future generations. It's that simple now that Lady Catherine can even get all your ancestors to subconsciously approve of it," Sheila explains the makeshift plan to Jo.

"H-how can you convince the ancestors so easily? People have tried for years and failed," Jo trails off as the other three chuckle.

"Well, Kaitlyn and her mom are sort of witch royalty, apparently. So Catherine can make it work if you're on board," Stefan tells her with a smile.

Jo sighs loudly, "it's my daughters. I can't not be on board. What do we do first?"

"First, we pay a visit to the gatekeepers of Hell," Sheila states as they get up and walk out of the hut.

"I think I might know some people there," Stefan says and the others chuckle at his words as they head towards the mid-realm crossover bridge.

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Mystic Falls

Kaitlyn was seated on the Mikaelson Mansion's living room couch with Lizzie's head placed in her lap. Bonnie, Enzo and Alaric had gone back to get Dark Josie here as Kaitlyn had roughly explained what Catherine and Grams had told her they might need to do. Besides, she hated keeping her dear Josie away from her like this, even when she wasn't in her right mind. Catherine had also told her about the possibility of being able to permanently send Stefan back to their world. Kaitlyn, however, decided to not mention this bit to anyone yet until she was sure it could actually happen. She didn't want to get everyone's hopes up for nothing.

Right now, Elena, Damon and Davina were preparing lunch for everyone while Kol, Freya and Marcel watched over Ryan and Hope, keeping them distracted from all this chaos. Rebekah and Elijah were on the other end of the living room, speaking to each other about something in hushed tones. Caroline was seated on the other end on the couch with Lizzie's feet placed over her lap as they both dipped handkerchiefs into lukewarm water and dabbed Lizzie's forehead and feet with them, trying to keep her temperature stable.

"What else did he tell you when you saw him?" Caroline asked Kaitlyn in a hushed tone.

"He asked about everyone- you, Damon, Alaric. He asked if you'd find someone and I told him the truth."
"Which was?"

"Which was, you never even bothered to look for someone else after him, even when we tried to convince you to," Kaitlyn responds with a shrug, trying to keep the conversation casual instead of sad.

"And how are you feeling about Klaus not being here right now?" Caroline counters after a few seconds of silence. At this, Kaitlyn notices Elijah and Rebekah stop talking and try to listen in without making it obvious. Of course, they were miserably failing.

"I...I'm trying not to think about it. I mean, he must have a really good reason right?" she mutters and Caroline sighs as she had seen Kaitlyn like this before. Defending him even when she was beyond hurt and disappointed. Except this time, he had not only convinced her but everyone that he was here to stay. He put a ring on it to prove his point. So why wasn't he here now.

"What could possibly be more important than this?" Caroline throws another question at Kaitlyn as Kaitlyn averts her eyes.

"I don't know, Care. I mean, it's not like he gave Elijah an explanation or told me anything about going away when I called him. If what Elijah is saying is correct, when he answered his phone, he had already snapped Elijah's neck. So why didn't he tell me he wasn't coming back with Elijah? He didn't even say goodbye, again. So I don't know what to think right now, Care and honestly, I don't want to think of this right now," Kaitlyn answers truthfully and Caroline nods in understanding.

"For saying you're not trying to think of this, you've thought it all through pretty clearly," Rebekah comments as she approaches Kaitlyn and she looks up at her.

"Well you know me, Bex. I don't think about things. I always overthink. I don't know, maybe the proposal was a heat of the moment and the thought of commitment scared him so he just took off. I mean, it's Klaus so I wouldn't be surprised if the thought of letting someone in forever freaked him out," Kaitlyn retorted.

"It's Nik," Rebekah corrected her, fearing that deep down, Kaitlyn was hating Klaus right now, "and he's never been scared to let you in."

Kaitlyn laughs sarcastically at her comment, "you're right. Only took my constant nagging and me nearly dying twice for him to open up to me. And you remember what happened next? He disappeared for over a week, without any notice," Kaitlyn points out the irony and the others remain silent, knowing she had a point.

"Did you read his letter? Maybe he left an explanation there," Elijah chimes in.

"I...I can't bring myself to read that now, Eli. I just need to help my daughters. And then, maybe I'll read it," she comments and he nods in understanding. Of course, as always, someone else came before her own concerns. Classic Kaitlyn.

"Hey, lunch is ready!" they then hear Damon's voice ring through the relatively quiet house.

"You guys go ahead, I think I'll sit with her," Kaitlyn comments as Kol descends down the stairs, followed by Ryan, Hope, Freya and Marcel.

"Nonsense, you're going us," Kol orders as he holds out his hand for Kaitlyn to take.

"Yeah mom, you need to eat something," Ryan chimes in.

"Especially after all that interdimensional travelling. God, how crazy is your life when you can just casually say that?" Hope comments with a chuckle and the others laugh at her words.

"We do live pretty crazy lives," Marcel repeats as the others then nod.

"But it's our normal," Kaitlyn comments as she holds onto Kol's outstretched hand and stands up, slowly placing Lizzie's head on a pillow and laying a blanket over her. 'It's our normal' was a phrase that Kaitlyn had come up with the first time they went against the tomb vampires many, many years ago. And since then, it had stuck around. Whenever like got too crazy, which was like always for them, they'd use the phrase to point out how they stuck by each other and overcame all struggles in the end. 

Everyone was currently seated around the kitchen counter and the dining table when Bonnie walks into the living room, followed by Enzo and Alaric with one of Josie's arms slinging around each other their shoulders. Damon is the first to notice them as he had already finished eating and was helping Caroline with doing the dishes.

"Hey, you're back," Damon comments with a smile as his eyes land on Bonnie but as they trail off to Enzo and Alaric, he frowns, "and I see Josie is still out like a bad drunk."

Alaric chuckles as they lay her down on another couch in the living room and everyone slowly backs back there from the kitchen, "trust me, I'd much prefer is she was out because of getting badly drunk one night rather than this dark magic consuming her and me having to put my own daughter down every time she wakes up," he says.

"Be careful what you wish for, Ric. Remember how furious Sunshine was when Ryan got them drunk on her birthday?" Kol says, trying to lighten up the mood.

"I have never been more scared of mom," Hope comments at the same time as Ryan says, "I wish I could forget that."

"You weren't even there, Kol," Freya points out.

"Yes but Ryan called me and told me all about it. Practically begged me to convince Sunshine to forgive him," Kol laughs as Davina elbows him.

"Way to keep a secret, Uncle Kol," Ryan replies with an eye roll as everyone else laughs along.

Suddenly, they hear a groan from behind them and all turn simultaneously to see Lizzie starting to wake up. Kaitlyn immediately rushes to her side.

"M-mom?" Lizzie mumbles, barely being able to keep her eyes open due to the fever.

"Yeah I'm here, sweety. We're all here," Kaitlyn says as she stoops down before her and runs her hand through Lizzie's blond curls.

"It hurts so bad, like I'm burning," Lizzie mumbles again as Caroline walks over with a new set of handkerchiefs and lukewarm water to pat her down with.

"Just a little longer. Grandma Catherine is going to send help soon," Kaitlyn reassures her and Lizzie then opens her eyes to look at her mother.

"You...you went on with your plan? How long have I been out for?" she questions.

"About a day, give or take," Caroline answers.

"Mom, everyone warned you and you still did it? What if something went wrong?" Lizzie yells lightly as Kaitlyn averts her eyes, "Oh god, something did go wrong, didn't it?"

"No no, nothing went wrong. I was gone and back in a jiffy and I talked to my mom there. She said she'll find help soon," Kaitlyn told her, lying through her teeth while not trying to worry Lizzie right now.

"How's Jo? Still dark?"

"Yeah, she's here," Kaitlyn answers as the others move away and Lizzie sees her twin sister lying unconscious on a couch opposite hers.

"Mom, dad, please fix this. I'll merge and I'll let her win if that's what it takes to bring her back. She's hurting so much, it hurts me to watch her like this," Lizzie cries as Alaric walks over and wraps her in a hug.

"No one has to merge, we'll find a way, Liz," Kol chimes in, hurting to see his best friend and his nieces in such a helpless situation. Lizzie and Josie were like her daughters, in a sense as he had basically watched them from back when they were toddlers. He loved them, loved being Fun-Uncle Kol who fought with their mother and took them out to candy stores and spoiled them with gifts. He loved how they'd always convince him to tell him bedtime stories whenever he visited and how fascinated they'd get when he told them about his adventures over the thousand years he'd lived for. Seeing them grow up and interacting with them was another thing that had comforted him in knowing one day, he could commit and have a family of his own with his love-Davina. He could go from being Uncle Kol to Dad Kol one day, if Davina decided they were ready to have a kid of their own and of course, when he discussed it with Kaitlyn before proposing to Davina, she had told him he'd be a great husband and a great dad someday. That she'd be there to help them both through it all, in any way they needed her to.

Suddenly, they all get snapped out of their own thoughts and the conversations halt as the mansion starts to shake beneath them.

"In this an earthquake or is this," Damon begins to ask but stops when he notices a flash of thunder-like lightning strike the backyard with a thud.

"Definitely not an earthquake," Kol comments as they all get to their feet and rush to the backyard, only Ryan staying back with Lizzie.

Everyone rushing into the open backyard to see a big burn mark in the grass where the bolt had hit. But there was nothing or no one else present. Everyone exchanges confused looks amongst themselves, trying to comprehend what had happened until Kaitlyn gasps loudly as a lightbulb goes off in her head.

"Oh my god," she whispers as everyone else turn their attention to her.

"What?" Alaric asks.

"They...they sent someone back. Mom said she'd send a sign when she sent someone back. This...this must be the sign," she answers and it's everyone else's turn to gasp in surprise now.

"Who?" Damon asks next and Kaitlyn shakes her head.

"I... I don't know. She just said she'd send a sign and," she continues as she frantically looks around.

"And what, Lyn?" Elena pushes.

"And she said the person would come back at their place of death," she whispers.

"So the Hall or the dungeons?" Damon asks.

"Both," Kaitlyn mumbles and the groups automatically split into two, venturing to both the places. Elena, Rebekah, Davina, Freya stay back while Kol, Kaitlyn, Damon and Caroline head towards the dungeons where Stefan had sacrificed himself to the Hellfire; and Bonnie, Enzo, Marcel and Alaric head to the wedding Hall where Alaric and Jo had gotten married.

༆☼︎☾︎ꨄ︎☽︎☼︎༆

Kaitlyn, Kol, Damon and Caroline came rushing into the underground dungeons and immediately split into groups of two to look around. While Kol and Kaitlyn looked around outside, Damon and Caroline went inside. It was safe to say everyone's nerves were high and so were their expectations. Kaitlyn didn't know who she was hoping it would rather be- her best friend, Stefan or her daughters' mother, Jo.

Suddenly, her phone begins to ring and Alaric's Caller ID flashes on the screen as Caroline and Damon walk out, hearing the phone ring. Kaitlyn would be lying if she said she didn't feel her heart sink a little in disappointment but Jo being back was also good news. She answers the call and puts it on speaker, "hey Ric."

"Bee, it's...it's Jo. She's here and I...I'm taking her home. She's still wearing the bloody wedding dress and," Alaric starts to ramble as Damon's face falls and Caroline's lips start to quiver, as if she was trying not to cry.

"Alright Ric, take her to the mansion. Calm her down and stay there, we'll see you soon," Kaitlyn replies before hanging up and turning to Caroline.

"I'm sorry, Care," she whispers.

"No no, it's...it's okay. The twins, they need Jo more anyways. This is good," Caroline repeats over and over again, as if trying to deceive herself into thinking so.

"We should head back," Kol speaks softly as the others nod and Damon wraps an arm around Caroline and they begin to walk out of the pipeline dungeons.

Suddenly, Caroline stops in her track and gasps before rushing back inside the dungeons. Everyone exchanges a confused look before following her. They walk in to see her on the floor, crying while cradling something in her hands. Kaitlyn crouches down next to her and hugs her softly, "Care, shhh, it's okay. I'm sorry."

"What's in your hand?" Kol asks as Caroline opens up her palm and reveals a ring. Damon and Kaitlyn simultaneously gasp at the sight of it.

"Isn't that?" Kaitlyn trails off as Caroline vigorously nods her head.

"But that means," Damon begins and frantically looks around everywhere until his eyes land on the entrance to the dungeons.

"Hello, brother," they all hear from behind them.

And there he stood, in all his glory...Mister Hero Hair.

Author's Note

Idk why I feel like y'all aren't liking this plot/story anymore. Could be my overthinking or could be true. Please, lemme know any opinions/suggestions you might have for the story. I'll be more than happy to consider them. It's all for you guys, after all. And thanks for everything!

With love,
Awwmoons.