04. The Five

Matt stood at the bar in Mystic Grill, cleaning a glass when Rebekah walked over to him and placed a pair of keys on the bar infront of him.

"What's that?" an annoyed Matt asked, really not wanting to deal with Rebekah right now.

"The key to your new truck" Rebekah revealed, "It's parked outside, paid for, insured, everything but a big red bow".

"If that's your idea of an apology, you should probably give it to Elena" Matt said, "She's the one you killed".

Once Matt had walked away from Rebekah, Lily walked over to her, "Out of all the people in this town, you go for him, really?".

"Don't start with me, Lily" Rebekah warned.

Lily sighed, "You're trying way too hard for someone who doesn't deserve it Rebekah".

"Lily's right", Rebekah and Lily looked to the end of the bar where Klaus sat, a drink in his hand.

"Last I heard you were leaving town, forever" Rebekah taunted her brother.

Klaus stood up from his seat and walked over to his sister, a taunting smirk on his face, "Well, I was, but then I thought to myself, how can I when my sister clearly so desperate for love and affection, is left here, bribing the help".

"You're being mean" Lily warned Klaus, standing between the two siblings, not trusting them to not attack each other.

"What do you want, Nik?" Rebekah asked, "Thought I was dead to you".

"Things change, Rebekah" Klaus said, "I've stumbled upon something that I think might be of interest to you".

"Doubt that" Rebekah said, refusing to believe her brother had anything that could interest her.

"No?" Klaus asked, "Well, what if I told you the brotherhood of the five still existed?".

"What?" a shocked Rebekah asked.

"You see?" Klaus said, "And like that, bygones, come on, love, work to do".

"We don't have anything to do, there is no we" Rebekah stated, "I don't care about the five and I don't care about you".

Klaus started at his sister for a moment, "As you wish" he finally said, "Let's go little luna".

Klaus laced his fingers with Lily's and took her away while Rebekah watched on, really hoping her brother was wrong about the brotherhood of the five being back.

***

Klaus and Lily entered the torture room in the Mikaelson mansion where Klaus was keeping Connor after rescuing him from the hospital room.

"Looks like I'll have to beef up the hybrid security detail" Klaus said, entering the room and seeing Stefan standing in the shadows.

"I was gonna take him but I figured you went through such trouble to truss him up in your red room of pain for a reason" Stefan said, walking over to Klaus while Lily stood near the doorway.

"It's from the Inquisition, I thought it was a nice touch" a smug Klaus boosted.

"What'd you get out of him?" a curious Stefan asked.

"Nothing" Lily informed.

"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" Klaus added, before turning to Stefan, "What brings you snooping?".

"Well, I can't say it in front of him" Stefan said, "As I'm sure you figured out, our friend here can't be compelled".

"You're full of mysteries, aren't you?" Klaus asked Connor.

"I told you, I don't know anything" Connor defended.

"Thankfully, I know plenty" Klaus revealed.

"Are you finally going to reveal the plenty you know" Lily said, starting to get annoyed with Klaus's secrecy.

"Of course love" Klaus said, he looked at Stefan and gestured towards the living room, "Shall we?", once Stefan and Lily had walked out the room, Klaus closed the door to the room Connor was captured in and turned to Stefan, "So, what's with the home invasion?".

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

"I was feeling benevolent" Klaus defended.

"You're never benevolent" Stefan retorted.

"It's time to spill Klaus" Lily said, also wanting to know what was going on, "Why is this guy so important? What is the five?".

Klaus looked between Stefan and Lily, "So many questions" he taunted.

"It's a good thing, neither me or Lily have anything to do today except get answers out of you" Stefan stated, before taking a seat on the couch.

Klaus looked at Stefan, then at Lily, who simply shrugged, "If you want my help, then I need the truth first".

"Fine" Klaus finally said, "You two might actually be useful in persuading my sister to cooperate, 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".

"So the five is a brotherhood of vampire hunters that have been around for nine hundred years?" Lily asked.

"Apparently" Klaus said, "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 had a thing with one of them?" Stefan asked.

"Oh, she didn't just have a thing" Stefan clarified, "She fell in love with him, he told her all his secrets, which I will gladly share with you two provided you two do one thing for me".

"What do you want?" a curious Lily asked.

"Get Rebekah over here" Klaus demanded, "She's being stubborn and hateful, I need to make peace with her, 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".

Stefan stood up from the couch, "And what's in it for me?".

"Just get her here and I'll tell you" Klaus said, "Oh, and Stefan, trust me when I say this, that hunter in there holds the answer to all your prayers".

***

Matt walked over to April, who was sitting at a table in the Grill, "Hey, April" he greeted, "Can I get you some more water?".

"I'm good" April assured, "I'm not just sitting here alone like the loser new girl, I'm with my friend, she just--".

"Sorry, family drama" Rebekah apologised, taking a seat infront of April.

"You two are friends?" a kind of shocked Matt asked.

"Is it so hard to believe I'd have one?" a kind of hurt Rebekah asked.

"Yeah, it is" Matt stated.

"Well it shouldn't be" Lily said, walking over and sitting next to Rebekah, "Because she has two, and not to be a possessive friend but I'm the best friend here".

"Finally ready to accept my best friend role?" Rebekah teased.

"Yeah I figured it was finally time to give you such an important role in my life" Lily teased back, Rebekah laughed as Lily turned to Matt, "One bourbon, please".

"Coming right up" Matt said, before looking at Rebekah, "And I'm keeping the truck".

"You gave him a truck?" Lily asked Rebekah once Matt had walked away.

"It was my way of apologising to him" Rebekah admitted.

"I still don't see what you see in him, you deserve so much better" Lily said.

Before Rebekah could say anything, Stefan walked over to the three girls and took a seat next to April and started compelling her, "You won't remember any of this" he compelled before turning to Rebekah, "Klaus wants me to fake peace with you so you'll talk about the five".

Lily face palmed, "Really subtle" she commented.

"I bet, don't help him, he'll just betray you, it's what he does" Rebekah warned both Stefan and Lily.

"He won't betray me" a confident Lily said.

"That's cause he wants to get into your pants" Rebekah retorted.

"No it's cause we have feelings for each other" Lily retorted back.

"As much as I hate the fact you have feelings for my brother, I am very proud of you for admitting your feelings out loud" a proud Rebekah said, knowing it wasn't easy for Lily to admit her feelings.

Lily gave Rebekah a smile, "Thank you" she said, "Now, I know Klaus is going to hate me for this, but if you don't want to help Klaus, then at least help Stefan".

"Why?" Rebekah asked, "He hates me more than Klaus does".

"Because I wanna figure out what he's up to" Stefan admitted, "And plus, I can give you the one thing he won't".

"And what's that?" a curious Rebekah asked.

"A clean slate" Stefan replied, "I'm not saying I'm willing to forgive you for what you did to Elena, but I'm willing to set it aside and start over".

"You're giving Rebekah a clean slate?" Lily asked, "Shouldn't she be doing that to you? Since technically whatever happened to Elena, was your fault in the first place".

"Exactly" Rebekah said.

Stefan let out a sigh, "Lily, I'm just looking for a way we can all get along".

"What if I don't care what you or anyone else thinks?" Rebekah asked.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that you care what Lily thinks" Stefan pointed out.

"Don't use me against Rebekah, she knows she doesn't need a clean slate with me" Lily retorted.

Rebekah sighed, "I'll help you" she told Stefan, "But not because you're willingly to give me a clean slate", Rebekah looked at Lily, "But only because you want to help Stefan and Nik".

Lily gave Rebekah a grateful smile, "Thank you".

"Anything for you" Rebekah said.

***

"You feeling all right, mate?" Klaus asked a chained up Connor, "Are the shackles too tight? Welcome home, sister".

"Is this a trick?" a confused Rebekah asked, entering Klaus's torture room with Lily, while Stefan stood on the doorway, "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" Klaus informed, "Let's eat", Klaus walked over to Lily and forwarded his hand towards her, "Shall we, little luna".

"What are we eating?" Lily asked, placing her hand into Klaus's.

"Your favorite" Klaus said, leading a smiling Lily towards the dinning table and Stefan and Rebekah quickly followed.

***

"Thank you" Lily said, smiling at the girl serving her.

"I could kiss the council for burning up all the vervain in town" Klaus admitted, "They made my life so much easier".

Lily chuckled, "I could tell".

Klaus grabbed Lily's hand and placed a kiss on the back of it, he then looked towards his sister, "Rebekah, love, eat your veggies".

"I'm not eating until you apologise" Rebekah stated.

"For which indiscretion?" Klaus asked, "There have been so many".

"You tried to break my neck" Rebekah snapped.

"You threw away Elena's blood so I can't make anymore hybrids" Klaus retorted.

"Because you took me for granted" Rebekah argued.

"That's what big brothers do, sweetheart" Klaus stated.

"Let me just name the million other people I'd rather be having dinner with right now" an annoyed Stefan said.

"What are you on about?" an amused Lily asked, "This is an extremely entertaining dinner".

"All right, fine" Klaus said, "I'm sorry, I often forget how delicate you are, forgive me?".

"I'll take it under consideration" Rebekah finally said.

"Okay, good, ahem" Stefan said, leaning forward and looking at Klaus, "Why don't you tell me about Rebekah's hunter?".

"Right, Alexander" Klaus remembered, "Nice chap, forgoing the obvious issues, he was looking for creatures of the night which is why we felt quite safe around him wearing our daylight rings".

"Ultimate weapon?" a confused Lily asked, after Klaus finished telling them what Alexander told them.

"Not just any weapon" Rebekah said.

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

"How is a weapon the answer to all my prayers?" a confused Stefan asked.

"Hey, none of that" Lily snapped seeing Klaus and Rebekah exchange looks between them, "Get to the point, now".

"Not quite yet, little luna" Klaus said, "Because in order to find this weapon, we need to solve the puzzle, which seems to have disappeared".

"What puzzle?" a confused Stefan asked.

"The tattoo" Lily suddenly realised, "That's the puzzle isn't it?", Klaus nodded his head in confirmation, "What is it?".

"A map, leading us to its treasure" Klaus revealed.

"Fat lot of good a tattoo is if we can't see it" Rebekah snapped.

"We can't, but someone else can" Klaus informed, before turning to one of the compelled girls, "Won't you tell the hybrid to bring him in, love?", the girl walked out of the room and Klaus turned back to the trio, "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", suddenly one of Klaus's hybrids dragged Jeremy into the room, immediately causing Stefan to speed towards them, but Klaus, already sensing that, speeded over to Jeremy first, "I wouldn't, lucky for us, young Jeremy here is a bit of an artist".

"I'm not helping you with anything" Jeremy told Klaus.

Klaus looked at his hybrid, who immediately removed the gilbert ring from Jeremy's hand and threw it towards Klaus who very easily caught it, "Oh I'm afraid you are".

***

"Just tell me more about this tattoo" Stefan demanded after Jeremy had gone inside the room Connor was captured in.

"My sister's suitor was unwilling to tell us anything" Klaus informed, "Rebekah, however, was more than willing to investigate, isn't that right?", Klaus then went on to tell Stefan and Lily about Alexander betraying Rebekah and daggering her, immediately causing Lily to grab Rebekah's hand in hers and give it a reassuring squeeze, letting the youngest Mikaelson know she was here for her, Rebekah looked at Lily with a small smile on her face, really grateful for her support, "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".

"How was I supposed to know?" Rebekah asked.

"Cheers" Klaus said, lifting his glass of alcohol up in the air, "To my sister's uncanny ability to choose men".

"Hey, she didn't do anything wrong, she just fell in love, no blaming her for that" Lily scolded.

"You're seriously taking her side?" an annoyed Klaus asked.

"Yes" Lily stated, causing Klaus to glare at Rebekah who in return gave him a smug smile.

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

"They don't" a smug Klaus confirmed.

"So you killed the brotherhood of the five?" Lily asked.

"Yeap" Klaus confirmed, before turning to his sister, "Go ahead Rebekah, tell Stefan and your best friend, 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?".

"A cure" a teary eyed Rebekah revealed, shocking both Stefan and Lily, "He said there was a cure".

"There is no cure for vampirism" Stefan snapped, refusing to get his hopes up about something he has never heard anything about.

"He's telling the truth, Stefan" Rebekah promised.

"If there was a cure, you would have found it" Lily told Klaus, "So why haven't you?".

"Because when the hunters drew their final breath that night the marks disappeared from their body, the map was gone" Klaus informed, "The brotherhood of the five, extinct, for nine hundred years, there was not a whisper of another hunter until our friend in there showed up in town".

"Now we have the map, what do we do next?" a curious Rebekah asked.

"We don't do anything, you can't be trusted, little sister" Klaus replied, "You'll be babbling this secret to the first boy who calls you pretty, I mean, it's pathetic, really, how she hands to hand her heart to any man who shows her a hint of affection, you'd think she'd learnt by now from the endless cycle of disappointment and deception".

"Enough Klaus!" Lily yelled.

"I haven't!" Rebekah cried, "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 judgement".

"No Finn was a dullard, he's more interesting lying in a box" Klaus stated

"You want the cure for Elena, don't you?" Rebekah suddenly realised, "So you can go back to mass producing your hybrids, that why you brought Stefan in, cause you knew he'd help you even though he hates your guts, you know what? You can shove your cure".

Once Rebekah had stormed out of the Mikaelson mansion, Lily turned to Klaus, "You are one insensitive asshole, you know that, right?".

"Yet you love me" Klaus teased.

"Really starting to question myself" Lily snapped.

"Yet you can't stop" Klaus retorted.

"You're unbelievable" Lily snapped, before rushing after Rebekah.

"See you at night!" Klaus yelled after the Forbes werewolf.

"Not likely!" Lily yelled back.

"Well, I hope you got what you wanted out of Rebekah before you chased her off" Stefan told a chuckling Klaus.

"She never would've told me what I needed to know" Klaus stated, "And she won't tell Lily because she knows Lily can't hide anything from me, but she'll tell you".

"What do you need me to find out?" a frustrated Stefan asked.

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

"The sword" Stefan realised.

"She knows where it is" Klaus revealed, "And you're going to get her to tell you".

"I can't do that with Lily being with her" Stefan retorted.

"Don't worry about Lily, I'll handle her, you handle Rebekah" Klaus said, "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".

***

"I hate you" Lily told Klaus, reentering the Mikaelson living room.

"I love you" Klaus said, walking over to Lily and placing a kiss on her lips.

"You made one of your hybrids kidnap me" Lily snapped.

"Is it really kidnapping if they bring you home?" Klaus teased.

"Klaus!" Lily yelled.

"Lily" Klaus retorted, placing another kiss on Lily's lips.

"Kissing me isn't going to make me any less angry at you" Lily snapped.

"I know but we both know you can't stay angry at me for long anyways" Klaus said.

Lily let out a frustrated sigh, "Why do you make it so hard for me Klaus?".

Klaus smirked, "Isn't that the thrill of it all?".

Lily shook her head, "I'm going to go check on Jeremy" she said, lightly pushing Klaus away from her.

"I'll come with you" Klaus said, grabbing Lily's hand before she can walk away, and together the two werewolves walked into the room Connor and Jeremy was in, Klaus looked at what Jeremy was sketching, "Nice lines, now if you could just hurry it up a little bit".

"I'm done" an annoyed Jeremy informed, standing up from his seat.

Lily took the sketch from Jeremy and looked at it, Klaus looked at the sketch over Lily's shoulder before turning to Jeremy, an angry look on his face, "What is this?" he asked.

"It's the tattoo" Jeremy informed.

Klaus wrapped his hand around Jeremy's throat, causing Lily to face palm in frustration, "I've seen the tattoo, you impertinent punk, there's more to it".

"That's all of it" a panicked Jeremy revealed, not trusting Klaus to not hurt him in his anger, suddenly the Gilbert boy remembered something, "He said every time he kills a vampire, it spreads".

Klaus shoved Jeremy back on to the chair, "Nate!" he yelled, immediately causing one of his hybrids to rush into the room, "Tell the girl to take Jeremy home, keep this one alive at all costs" Klaus said, pointing towards Connor.

Before following after Klaus, Lily looked at Jeremy, "I'm sorry about him, he doesn't have much people skills".

"Yeah, I can tell" Jeremy snapped.

After giving Jeremy another sheepish look, and cursing Klaus multiple times in her mind for putting her in these awkward situations, Lily quickly followed after the original hybrid, hoping he wasn't going to create anymore trouble somewhere else.

***

Stefan stood in the Salvatore's living room, pouring himself a drink, when he heard the front door open and Rebekah entered the boarding house.

"I got your message" Rebekah informed Stefan, "I'm sorry, I know you wanted my help, it's just, he makes me so angry".

"No one deserves to be treated that way" Stefan said.

Rebekah walked closer to Stefan, "I wanted it back then" she admitted, "The cure, I was willing to leave behind my family for it", Rebekah grabbed the glass of bourbon from Stefan's hand, "Would you take it if you had the chance? Or is it just for Elena?".

"Part of me wishes that she and I could have an eternity together" Stefan admitted, "But Damon's right, there's not a single vampire who hasn't killed a human, Elena will kill, and then, there will be the pain, the guilt, and then--".

"The humanity switch" Rebekah finished.

"Elena, she's driven by love, by compassion" Stefan informed, "If she turns off her humanity, then I don't think we'll ever get her back, so I'd do anything to save her".

"I envy that" Rebekah admitted, tears welling in her eyes, "You and Elena, Nik and Lily, I envy the love you guys share amongst you, I really did believe Alex when he said he loved me, he promised we'd be married, we even picked out a church, San Vittore in Brienno, I know you want my help Stefan, but I just can't do anything that lets my brother get what he wants", Stefan nodded his head in understanding, Rebekah took a sip of the bourbon and then placed the glass on the table and turned to leave.

"I never did answer your question" Stefan said, stopping Rebekah from leaving, "If it meant that I got to be with her, have children, grow old with her, if it meant that we'd die together, be buried together, then yes, I'd take the cure".

"I buried him" an emotional Rebekah revealed, "Even after everything, I laid him to rest in the place where we were to be married, what kind of hopeless fool does that?", Rebekah's eyes suddenly went wide in shock, realisation drawing on herm "But that's what you wanted to know, isn't it? Because I buried him with his sword".

"I'm sorry, little sister, but you're right" Klaus said, appearing behind Rebekah, the dagger and white oak ash hidden behind his back, once Rebekah faced him, Klaus showed her the dagger, "You really are a hopeless fool", Klaus dipped the dagger into the ash.

Rebekah tried to rush out the boarding house but Stefan blocked her way, "I'm sorry, Rebekah" a guilty Stefan whispered.

A teary eyed Rebekah looked at her brother, "Go right ahead" she cried, "Laugh at the girl who loved too easily, but I'd rather have lived my life than yours Nik, no one will ever sit around a table telling stories about a man who couldn't love, even with your claim to love Lily, no one believes you or your fake love, do it", Rebekah walked closer to her brother, "Look me in the eye and do it, you coward, do it!".

Rebekah lunged towards Klaus immediately causing him to stab her with the dagger.

***

"I have a plane waiting" Klaus informed Stefan, who was placing a sheet over Rebekah's body that now laid on the Salvatore's couch, "I'll get the sword, my hybrids will keep an eye on Connor, you put Rebekah where no one will find her and make sure Lily doesn't find out about this, and make sure Jeremy forgets everything he heard today".

Klaus handed Jeremy's ring to Stefan, "I'll take care of it" Stefan assured, taking the ring from Klaus's hand.

"No one must know about the cure, do you understand?" Klaus asked, "Not Damon, not Elena, nobody, if this gets out, it could mean all our deaths, so if you tell anyone I'll erase each and every memory from all of you".

"I won't say anything" Stefan promised.

"It's just you, me and Lily in this, Stefan" Klaus said, "And I'd rather keep Lily away from the dangerous parts of this mission, so basically it's just you and me in this", Klaus glanced at his sister's body, "Some secrets are stronger than family".

***

Presenting 3x04 of Fire & Flame!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Stefan and Lily wanting answers about the five from Klaus and Rebekah?

Thoughts on Rebekah willing to consider forgiving Klaus for Lily?

Thoughts on Klaus irritating Lily?

Thoughts on Klaus daggering Rebekah and deciding not to tell Lily about it?