16. Days Of Future Past

"Sun's coming up, Aria" Rayna said, "Make your choice, Damon or Kol".

Aria looked at Kol, then for the first time this entire night or eyes met with Damon's and immediately Aria looked away, it was too painful.

"Come on Aria, this is a easy choice, if Kol is out of the way then there is nothing stopping you and Damon from being one" Rayna said, "Kol has been alive for much longer then Damon, he has done a lot worse then Damon has, he deservers the mark more then Damon does".

"Kol was the one who stayed" Aria whispered, tears welling her eyes, she never thought a time will come where she had to choose between her past and her future, Aria looked at Rayna, "Damon and I have a past, yeah there was a time he was my soulmate, but he walked away, for five year, it was Kol and me, not Damon, I can't let you transfer the mark on him".

"So you rather Damon die?" Rayna asked.

"Did I say that?" Aria asked, "Damon might not mean anything to me anymore, but he is the reason the triplets came into my life, I owe it to him to save his life, but not on the expense of Kol".

Rayna smirked, "Well, I gave you a choice Aria, to have your soulmate back, but you didn't take it, now you're going to lose both Damon and Kol".

"What?" Damon asked, finally managing to speak after hearing Aria say he means nothing to her.

"No matter who Ri choose, you were anyways gonna send both of us back into that stone" Kol realised.

"Correct" Rayna said, "You both shouldn't have come out of the stone in the first place, now it's time you go back into it".

While Rayna was talking to Kol and Damon, her back was turned to Aria, so she couldn't see what the tribrid was doing but Damon and Kol could.

Aria's eyes landed on one of Rayna's daggers laying on the floor, she looked at Kol, who was already looking at her, knowing she had something going on in her mind.

"Keep her talking" Aria mouthed to Kol, who nodded in understanding.

"If you were planning to kill both of us this whole time why make Ri believe she had an option" Kol said, distracting Rayna as Aria took small and steady steps towards the dagger on the floor.

"She was deciding who I sent back to hell first" Rayna said.

"Let me guess, it's me" Kol concluded, as Aria bent down and grabbed the dagger.

"Correct" Rayna stated, taking a step towards Kol, her sword in her hand.

"Hey Rayna!" Aria called out, standing up.

Rayna turned around and as soon as she did, Aria threw the dagger into her shoulder.

"I can't kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you and keep you down for a bit" Aria said.

As Rayna fell to the floor in pain, Aria rushed over to Kol and ignoring the pain she felt removing the vervain ropes, she quickly removed them and they did the same with Damon and the trio quickly rushed out of the studio before Rayna recovered.

***

As Damon, Aria and Kol rushed out of the studio, Aria turned to Kol, "Here" she said, handing her car keys to Kol, "Take my car and run".

"And leave you alone here?" Kol asked, "Are you insane?".

"Kol, Rayna wants you not me" Aria said, "You need to run while I keep her distracted".

"I'm not leaving you here" Kol protested.

"Kol, listen to me" Aria said, cupping Kol's face, "I can't afford for anything to happen to you, okay? At home we have three kids waiting for both of us to come home to them, I'm not going home without you, I'm not telling them that I couldn't save their father, so for their sake, go!".

"Dammit, you just had to use the father card" Kol mumbled, he then looked at Aria for a moment, he then placed his lips on to hers, "Please be careful".

"I will" Aria assured, "You be careful too".

"I will" Kol assured, kissing Aria's forehead and then running over to her car.

Aria watched as Kol got into her car and drove away, she then turned around only to come face to face with Damon, "I assume Kol came with you?" she asked.

"Yeah" Damon confirmed.

"Great" Aria mumbled, "You're going to have to drive me, we have to make sure Rayna doesn't catch up to Kol".

"That's fine by me, but tell me how long are we going to keep chasing after her while she goes after Kol?" Damon asked.

"Not for long" Aria replied, pulling her phone out of her pocket and calling someone, "Hey Valerie, remember the person you said who knows how to kill Rayna, I need you to find that person, preferably now!".

***

"Hey" Aria greeted, sitting in the car as Damon drove her, while she talked to Kol on the phone, "How's the running go?".

"Awful" Kol replied.

"What happened?" a concerned Aria asked, "Are you okay?".

"I'm fine but Rayna knows where I am" Kol informed, "She called me to inform me, thinking about it now, I don't even know how she got my number".

"How does Rayna know your location?" a confused Aria asked, "You aren't even marked".

"I might have stole Rayna's sword when she dropped it at the new station" a sheepish Kol admitted.

"Are you insane?!" Aria snapped, "It's like you want her to send you back into that damn stone".

"It was to make sure she didn't use it on you" Kol defended.

"Well now she's going to use it on you" Aria retorted, she sighed, "Kol, no matter what you do, don't stop driving".

"I will have to stop to get gas" Kol said, looking at his nearly empty tank.

"Dammit Kol, you're going to die" Aria snapped.

"Then you better reach me before this bloody huntress does" Kol stated.

Aria turned to Damon, who was clearly listening to Kol and Aria's conversation, "You need to press harder on that pedal".

"I'm driving as fast as I can, Aria" Damon said.

Aria turned her attention back to Kol, "Just keep driving, we're on our way".

"Hurry" Kol said, hanging up on Aria.

After the call, a frustrated Aria took a bottle of pills out of her pocket and ate one, she knew she promised Enzo she wouldn't take another one of these pills till he figured what they were doing to her, but right now her emotions were haywiring, and she knew when that happened her magic flared and she didn't want to risk the armory finding her.

Damon frowned seeing Aria take a pill, "What is that?" he asked concerned as to what that is for.

"A pill" Aria replied simply.

"Yeah I can see that, but what is it for?" Damon asked.

"To hide my magic and to stop the pain" Aria replied.

Damon looked at Aria in confusion, "Excuse me?" he asked, "Why are you hiding your magic, and why are you in pain?".

Aria looked at Damon, "First of all, none of your business, second of all, you really don't know why I've been in pain for the past five years?".

Realisation suddenly crossed Damon, a guilty look came on his look, "Pain of staying away from your soulmate".

"Ding, ding, ding" Aria said sarcastically, "Congratulations Damon, you figured it out".

"But I never felt that pain" a confused Damon said.

Aria looked out the window, not saying anything to Damon, she wasn't going to tell him that she had found a spell which will prevent one person in a pair of soulmates to stop feeling pain if they apart, and instead of doing that spell on her, five years ago a heartbroken but still very much in love with Damon Salvatore, Aria Connor did the spell on him by using one of his old t-shirts.

"Drive faster Damon, we need to get to Kol before Rayna does" Aria simply said, letting Damon know their conversation was over and she no longer wanted to talk to him.

Damon sighed but nonetheless pressed harder on the accelerator.

***

"What are you doing?" Aria asked confused seeing Damon pull his phone out of his pocket and dial someone.

"Calling Enzo" Damon informed, putting his phone on speaker.

"And why are you calling Enzo?" Aria asked.

"To know if his friends at the armory can help us" Damon replied.

Aria scoffed, "The armory isn't going to help us, but you're free to try".

Damon narrowed his eyes at Aria, "Do you know something I don't?" he asked.

Aria looked at Damon, "Yeap" she replied.

"And are you going to tell me?" Damon asked.

"Nope" Aria replied.

Damon rolled his eyes, "Figured" he said, just as Enzo answered his call.

"Damon Salvatore, a voice from the great beyond" Enzo greeted.

"Well, if the great beyond is near Dallas, then yep" Damon said, "Listen, are you still friends with those nut-jobs in the armory?".

Enzo let out a chuckle, "Ever to the point, Why? What do you need?".

"I need to set up a meet" Damon informed, "Rayna Cruz is now on Kol's tail and he needs to come in for a landing".

"I know just the spot, literally" Enzo said, "The armory uses an airfield near Dallas, I'll text you and Kol the coordinates for the hostage exchange".

"I'm loving your James Bond vibe" Damon said.

"Somehow I didn't miss you at all" Enzo said, hanging up on Damon.

Damon looked at Aria, "Told you it will work".

"Sure Damon, whatever will help you sleep at night" Aria said.

Aria knew Enzo no longer worked for the armory and this meet wasn't for the armory to capture Rayna but it was for Enzo, but Aria didn't tell Damon that, honestly she didn't care who took care of Rayna, she just cared about her being taken care of.

***

After receiving an text from Enzo, Kol arrived at the airfield but to his shock he didn't see Rayna there, he saw Alex, a women he despised with everything he had.

"What the hell are you doing here?" an angry Kol asked, stepping out of his car.

"I lured her here" Enzo informed, appearing with Nora.

"And why did you lure me here?" Kol asked confused.

"You're here because we might need your original strength, now less talking more listening" Enzo told Kol.

"Where's Mary Louise?" Nora asked Alex.

"Resting in the office" Alex informed, realising she was cornered, she pulled her car keys from her pocket, "I hope you remember how to drive".

"What about the antidote?" Enzo asked, suddenly gaining Kol's attention, making him realise why Enzo actually wanted him here.

"Who said I had an antidote?" Alex asked.

"You said you'd help Mary Louise" a confused Nora reminded.

"I said I'd give you everything I know about the pills" Alex corrected, "Here's what I know, we tried to create the antidote, and we failed".

"What?!?" a shocked Kol asked, dreading what that meant.

"Meanwhile, Mary Louise will be dead within the week" Alex continued.

"I'll tear your throat out!" Nora yelled.

"No, we need her first" Enzo said, stopping Nora from attacking Alex.

"You can stay here and yell at me if you want, but then I might not give you a car" Alex said, holding her car keys, "I suggest you go make the most of the time your girlfriend has left".

Alex threw her keys at Nora, who caught them and rushed to go see her girlfriend, leaving Enzo and Kol alone with Alex.

"For your sake Alex, I bloody hope you're lying" Kol said, glaring at the human infront of her.

Alex looked between Enzo and Kol, "Why so interested in the pills?" she asked, "They're really only useful if you wanna fight a witch, or hide from a locator spell".

"Speak plainly Alexandria, I'm not in the mood for delay" Enzo snapped, equally as worried as Kol.

"I know you've been raiding the armory's supplies" Alex revealed to Enzo, "Figured it out after Rayna escaped, but why did you steal so many pills? Who could you have been giving them to? And why is Kol involved in all this?".

"I haven't stole anything, all right?" Enzo denied, "Seems to me, you've just lost track of your possessions".

"Or perhaps you're lying to me" Alex retorted, "We're family, so you know I'm not an idiot, give Aria Connor my regards", she looked at Kol, "I will you give the same advice I gave Nora, spend as much time as Aria as possible, because she won't be here".

After Alex walked away, Enzo and Kol looked at each other, realising that it was now time to come to clean to Aria and tell her the thing they've been hiding from her, about the pills slowly killing her.

***

"Alright, I'm going to go talk to some other people, someone has to know some kind of antidote" Enzo told Kol.

Kol nodded, "Let me know what you find".

"Will do" Enzo assured, getting into his car and driving away.

Kol walked over to his car, just as he opened the front door, he suddenly fell to the floor as he was shot with wooden bullets in his back.

Rayna, the one who shot Kol, walked over to him and pulled her sword out of his backseat and started walking over to the original, who was now laying on the floor in pain.

"Before I send you back to hell, let's have a conversation shall we?" Rayna asked.

"You could have just called me, you have my number, didn't have to come all the way here for a chat" Kol snapped.

"Tell me something Kol, why leave Aria with Damon?" Rayna asked curiously, "Did you not for even a second think how that will impact yours and Aria's relationship?".

"I trust her" Kol stated.

"I'm sure you do but you know the history those two share, right?" Rayna asked, "Despite knowing what Damon is to Aria, you let him back into her life, when Damon wasn't there, you were happy with Aria and the triplets, but then you had to let him through that door".

"You had Ri, what the bloody hell was I supposed to be?" Kol asked.

"Not let Damon back into your life" Rayna snapped, "Because of him, here we are, you can see the cause and effect, right? You can see that as long as you keep letting Damon back to Aria's life, her and the triplets will never fully be yours".

"That's not true!" Kol yelled, "Damon wasn't there but I was there, I was there for Ri and the triplets for the past five years, it doesn't matter that his back, it will never change my position in Ri and the triplets lives, and tell me something why the hell do you care so much about me and Ri?".

"It's not me who cares" Rayna snapped, "It's the phoenix stone, it's voice is in my head, all the time, you have no idea how loud it is, it wants to make you realise Kol, it is still trying to show you the only way for Aria to love you is if you keep her away from Damon", Rayna kicked Kol, "You ignored it's wisdom before, are you finally ready to keep Damon away from Aria?".

Kol looked at Rayna, "That's not my choice to make" he whispered, "That was, if and will always be Ri's choice".

Rayna shook her head, "I tried giving you an chance Kol, but clearly you don't want it" she said, "Hopefully you survive the hell stone again".

And with that Rayna stabbed Kol with her sword, sending his soul back into the phoenix stone.

***

Damon and Aria finally arrived at the airfield, both of them rushed out as soon as their eyes landed on Kol's body, Rayna gone to chase after Nora and Mary Louise.

"Kol!" Aria yelled, running over to the original's body, she kneeled beside it, "No, no, no!" she cried, she held his face in her hands, "I'm going to bring you back, okay?! I've done it before and I promise I'll do it again".

"Where's the damn sword?" Damon asked, also kneeling by Kol's body, he looked around for Rayna and her sword but found nothing, "Where's the sword?!".

"You promised to never leave me" Aria sobbed, placing her head on Kol's chest, "You can't leave me Kol, you can't leave the triplets, they need you, I need you!".

Suddenly, Aria's phone, which was placed on the floor by her beeped, letting her know she had a voice note from Rebekah, knowing the triplets were at Rebekah's, Aria, with her shaky hands clicked the voice note.

"Hey Mom and Dad!" Aria and Damon heard the triplets yell into the phone.

"Mom, I miss you, Mia and Alec won't stop fighting, I just want to block them and read books with you, please come home soon" Asher said.

"Mom, Dad, don't listen to Ash, he always talks shit, opps sorry mom, I didn't say shit and dad definitely didn't teach me that" Alec said.

"Alec!" Asher yelled, and a smack noise was heard.

"Ow!" Alec said, "Dad, Ash just slapped the back of my head".

"Dad, don't listen to them, you listen to me, your bunny, I miss you and I want you to come home to me, I've never spent so long without you and I miss you, please come back soon".

"Bye, we love you mom and dad, see you soon!" the triplets yelled into the phone.

"Did you hear that Kol?" a hysterical Aria asked, the triplets voice note breaking her heart even more, "Mia, your bunny wants you to come home, your sons miss you, you have to come home to the triplets, please come back".

An emotional Damon watched as Aria hugged Kol and cried, he blamed himself, he should have never involved Kol and Aria into this, he knew Aria was capable of fighting Rayna, he should have just kept running, he should have never showed up at their door, but now it was up to him to bring Kol back to Aria and the triplets, his family who needed him.

"I'm gonna save you" Damon whispered to Kol, "After everything you've done for me, I promise I will save you".

"We" Aria corrected, looking at Damon, "We will save him".

Damon looked at Aria, and nodded, "Tell the triplets, that their will soon be home to them, safe and sound".

***

Presenting 7x16 of Cold Hearted!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Rayna wanting to send both Kol and Damon back into the phoenix stone?

Thoughts on the pills to hide her magic and stop the pain that Aria has been taking actually slowly poisoning her?

Thoughts on Aria having done a spell on Damon to stop him from feeling pain of being away from her without him knowing?

Thoughts on Rayna managing to send Kol back into the phoenix stone?