10. The New Deal

After the very eventful homecoming dance, Lily was in desperate need for a normal day, which is why she woke up before her mother and sister and got into her running clothes and took off running, something that she did whenever she had time, since Lily wanted a normal day today, she had to do things that were normal for her, like taking a run before the sun has even risen properly.

As Lily was running laps around the neighborhood, she suddenly felt has though she is being followed, slowly peeking behind her Lily realised her suspicion was right as a man she had never seen before was running behind her.

Lily knew there was a high chance she was just being extremely paranoid, but something about the man just seemed very off to the werewolf, so she quickly cut a left and hid behind a wall.

Lily watched as the mysterious man also cut a left, suddenly he stopped running and started looking around in almost a panic, confirming Lily's suspicion that this man was following her, however before Lily could confront the man, she saw him pull out his phone and call someone.

"I'm so sorry Klaus, I lost the girl".

Lily shook her head hearing the man infront, she finally put the pieces together, the man infront of her was one of Klaus's hybrids, who for some reason Klaus has asked to follow her.

Without making her presence known, Lily stealthily walked behind the oblivious hybrid and snatched his phone from him.

"You had one job Tony! How did you lose her?!" Lily heard a furious Klaus as soon as she placed the phone on her ear.

"Maybe cause she isn't an idiot" Lily said, letting Klaus know it was her, while the hybrid infront of her stood like a deer caught in the headlight.

"Lily" Klaus whispered.

"Yes, Lily" Lily confirmed, "Why the hell is your hybrid trailing me Klaus?".

"It's for your safety, little luna" Klaus defended.

"My safety?" a confused Lily asked.

"Your best friend, Stefan, the one you forced me to free, has stolen my family from me" Klaus revealed.

"What?!" a shocked Lily asked, "When? Why?".

"Last night after the homecoming dance" Klaus informed, "And because he wants revenge from me, apparently his freedom came at a too high of a price".

"It did" Lily stated, "But what does Stefan wanting revenge from you have anything to do with me?".

"I'm taking precautions incase Stefan decides he wants to take the revenge one step ahead" Klaus replied.

"You think Stefan is going to come after me?" Lily asked, not wanting to believe Stefan will attack her.

"Stefan's humanity is currently off" Klaus reminded, "Right now, the only thing he is driven by is the feeling of revenge, and for that he will go against everyone, even his own best friend".

"But why me?" a confused Lily asked, "Why will Stefan attack me?".

"Because he knows" Klaus replied, "He knows that I care for you".

Lily sighed, "Look Klaus, I appericate you caring for me, but I'm not having your hybrids follow me 24/7".

"Why not?" Klaus asked, "You do know that Stefan isn't the only one after you right? After you saved my life, I'm pretty sure everyone in Mystic Falls wants you dead".

"Then let them come" Lily said, "I know how to take care of myself, I don't need your bodyguards".

"Lily--".

"Goodbye Klaus" Lily interrupted, before Klaus could argue with her, "Call me if you need my help getting your family back".

Before Klaus could say anything else, Lily hanged up on him and handed the hybrid following her, his phone back.

"You're officially off duty" Lily informed, "Go back to the big bad wolf, I'm good here".

Lily then turned around and continued her running, but the whole time she made sure to be aware of her surroundings in case of a sneak attack coming her way.

***

Lily entered the Grill to grab herself some breakfast, and as soon as she entered her eyes landed on Elena and Damon, the two of them were standing by the dartboard, a little too close for two people who are supposed to be just friends.

"Let's hope your best friend doesn't see that".

Lily looked to her side and saw Klaus standing next to her, his eyes landing on the same scene she was looking at.

"Don't tell me now you're trailing me" Lily said.

"You've made perfectly clear how you feel about being followed, and I respect your wishes, so no more trailing" Klaus assured.

Lily smiled at Klaus, "Look at you improving your behavior, I'm very proud".

Klaus shook his head and let out a chuckle, "I'm glad" he said.

"But if you're not following me, then why are you at the Grill?" a confused Lily asked.

Klaus gestured towards Elena and Damon, "I'm here to have a chat with them".

"About Stefan?" Lily asked.

Klaus nodded his head in confirmation, "Stay here, I'll be right back".

"Trust me, I have no desire to be near them, I'm going to order myself some breakfast, you want something?" Lily asked.

"Whatever you're having" Klaus replied.

Lily nodded her head and while she walked over to order herself and Klaus some food, Klaus walked over to Damon and Elena.

"Don't mind me" Klaus said, interrupting whatever conversation Elena and Damon were having.

Elena turned around and her eyes went wide in both shock and fear seeing the hybrid, "Klaus" she whispered.

"Gonna do this in the Grill?" Damon asked Klaus, standing infront of Elena in an attempt to protect her from the original, "In front of everyone? That's a little beneath you, don't you think".

"I don't know what you're talking about" Klaus said, "I just came to my local pub to have breakfast with my friend".

Elena and Damon looked in the direction Klaus was looking at, only to see Lily sitting on one of the tables waiting for Klaus, as soon as Lily saw both Elena and Damon look at her, she gave both of them a wave, a taunting smile on her face.

Damon glared at Lily, before turning back to Klaus, "Surprised you stuck around long enough for happy hour".

"My sister seems to be missing" Klaus stated, "Need to sort that out".

"Cute, blond bombshell, psycho?" Damon asked, "Shouldn't be too hard to find".

"Truth is", Klaus took a few steps towards Damon, "I've grown to like your little town, thinking I might fancy a home here", Klaus snatched the darts from Damon's hands and proceeded to walk over to the dart board, "Now, I imagine you're wondering, how does this affect you? And the answer is, not in the slightest, as long as I get what I want and everyone behaves themselves you can go on living your little lives how you choose", Klaus turned to Elena, "You have my word".

"What more could you possibly want?" Elena asked.

"Well, for starters" Klaus walked closer to Elena, "You can tell me where I might find Stefan".

Damon walked between Klaus and Elena, "Stefan skipped town the second you freed him from your compulsion".

"Well, you see, that is a shame" Klaus commented, turning around and throwing a dart right at the dartboard, hitting bullseye, "Your brother stole from me, I need him found so I can take back what's mine".

"That sounds like a Klaus and Stefan problem" Elena commented.

Klaus turned to Elena and took a step towards her but before he could reach her, Damon once again blocked his path, making Klaus let out a chuckle before turning to Elena again, "Well, this is me broadening the scope, sweetheart".

Klaus then walked away from Elena and Damon and over to Lily to have breakfast with her, leaving Elena and Damon behind to ponder what Klaus will do if he didn't find Stefan.

***

Damon stood in the Salvatore's library, pouring himself a drink when suddenly he felt a presence behind him, turning around he saw both Klaus and Lily standing at the entrance of the library.

"I think it's about time we had a drink, don't you?" Klaus asked Damon.

"I'd say we were overdue" Damon commented.

"Well, you've been so busy with what all your plotting and scheming" Klaus taunted.

"You know me" Damon said, "Never miss a chance to plan an epic failure".

"For the first time in your life you said the right thing" Lily said, making Damon roll his eyes.

"Don't be so hard on yourself" Klaus told Damon, walking towards him while Lily took a seat on the couch, "Who could guess that someone would have decided to go against everyone and save my life?".

"Definitely not him" Lily commented.

"Well, I did have a front-row seat when your sister lied to you" Damon told Klaus, he then turned Lily, "Wait, you were there too, right Lily?".

"Yeah, well, she's fickle, that one" Klaus said, anger evident on his face when he remembered Rebekah's betrayal.

Lily rolled her eyes, "She's not fickle, she was hurt, and she had all the rights to be", Klaus looked at her in confusion, wondering what is she on about, but Lily shook her head, letting him know she'll tell him later on.

Klaus nodded and turned back to Damon, "And you say you have no idea of her whereabouts?" he asked.

"That's the thing with younger siblings" Damon mocked, "You just never know what they're gonna do", both Klaus and Damon let out what clearly was forced chuckles, Damon downed his drink and showed the empty glass to Klaus, "Drink?" he asked, turning back to pour himself and Klaus a drink.

***

Damon handed Klaus a glass of bourbon.

"Cheers, mate" Klaus said.

"Down the hatch" Damon said, clinking his glass with Klaus's and both the vampires taking a sip out of their respective glasses.

"You know, we've actually got a lot in common, you and I" Klaus told Damon.

"Really?" Damon asked, clearly not believing Klaus, and the look on Lily's face said she didn't believe that either, "Well, yeah, maybe we can bond over our mutual loathing of my brother", Klaus walked over to Lily and handed her the glass of bourbon, "Why are you so mad at him? He stole something?

"My family, the originals" Klaus informed, as Lily took a sip of the bourbon and handed it back to Klaus, "I had them daggered, boxed up, awaiting the day when I saw fit to wake them and he went in and pinched the bloody lot".

Damon let out a chuckle, "Of course he did, ah, such a buzz-kill, my baby bro, well, I'd love to find him, just the trouble is, I sure as hell don't work for you".

Klaus smirked at Damon, "You know, your drink stinks of vervain, so I can't compel you, there will be no point killing you because you're actually the one with the most hope of getting me what I need, and yet it would seem a demonstration is in order, perhaps I wasn't clear enough when I told you to find Stefan, oh, well, it seems you people respond best to displays of violence, why don't you take this as an example of my reach?".

As Klaus pulled his phone out of his jacket pocket and dialed someone, Damon looked towards Lily, wondering if she knew what Klaus was up to but she seemed just as confused as her, all Lily knew was that whatever Klaus was up to, she had a feeling she wasn't going to be happy about it.

"There he is" Klaus said, talking to someone on the phone, "So that thing I told you to do, why don't you go ahead and get on with it?".

"Klaus" Lily said, standing up, "What did you do?".

"Nothing much, little luna" Klaus said, "Just telling Damon what I'm capable of, through Jeremy".

Hearing Jeremy's name the smirk fell from Damon's face and Lily face palmed.

***

"Compel the men to open up this wall" Klaus ordered one of his hybrids, while at the construction of his new home, "We need sun, I want a fortress, not a dungeon".

Lily walked into the room and walked over to Klaus, anger evident on her face, as soon as she reached she shoved him, "You are so lucky, Klaus!" she snapped, "You are so lucky that Jeremy didn't get hurt, otherwise even I don't know what I would have done to you!".

"So everything went okay?" Tyler asked, walking into the room before Klaus could say anything to Lily.

"Well, Tony ran down Alaric instead of Jeremy but apples, oranges, message lands the same" Klaus replied to a shocked Tyler, who didn't expect Klaus to try and kill Jeremy.

"You said that you were sending them a warning" Tyler said.

"And I did, an effective one" Klaus said, "Elena's family suffers, she's motivated to get me what I want".

"Or here's another option, Elena's family suffers, in return she convinces Stefan to make your family suffer" Lily retorted.

"She doesn't have it in her to do that" Klaus told Lily, making her shake her head at him.

"I didn't think we'd actually have to kill anyone" a panicked Tyler said.

"It's Klaus, what else did you expect his warning was going to be like?" Lily asked her best friend.

"Tyler, mate, what you're feeling is the remnant of a guilty conscience" Klaus informed, "I need you to get over it, okay? End of the day human life is just a means to an end, our means to our end, you'd do well to remember that".

"Not everyone's like you" Lily snapped, "For some people, human life means a lot, not all of us can turn our hearts into stone Klaus".

Before Klaus could say anything, a furious Lily walked out the room.

***

Lily laid in her bed, scrolling through her phone when she received a call from Elena.

With a roll of her eyes, Lily answered her phone, "How can I help you Elena?".

"I need you to bring Klaus to the boarding house" Elena said.

"First of all, I don't take orders from you" Lily said, "Second of all, you have a phone, don't you? Call him yourself".

"I don't have Klaus's number" Elena said, "I have no way to get in contact with him".

"And why are you trying to get into contact with someone who just tried to kill your brother?" a confused Lily.

"I have a peace offering for him" Elena informed.

"Which is what exactly?" Lily asked.

"I have Rebekah" Elena replied, finally gaining Lily's attention.

***

Elena opened the front door of the boarding and saw both Klaus and Lily standing there.

"Thank you for coming" Elena told the two werewolves.

"Though Lily refused to tell me what this is about, she did say it was something beneficial for me" Klaus said, moving past Elena and entering the boarding house, "So I trust you have news of Stefan".

"I couldn't find him" Elena said, making Klaus turn and glare at her in annoyance.

"Before you get angry, just listen to her" Lily said, knowing by Klaus's facial expression that he was about to start his threats again, "She has something else, or should I say someone else".

Elena led Klaus and Lily down to the basement, she opened the basement cellar door and as soon as Klaus and Lily entered they were shocked seeing Rebekah laying on the ground, with a dagger in her back.

"My poor sister" Klaus whispered, while Lily glared at Elena, she knew a vampire couldn't dagger an original, only one person could have daggered Rebekah and that was Elena, and Lily hated that because of the doppelganger Rebekah had to miss out on a dance she was so existed for, "I can't turn my back on her for a moment".

"You have Rebekah" Elena pointed, "A deal is a deal".

"The life of my sister in exchange for your brother?" Klaus asked, "Yeah, I'd say that's a bargain, consider him spared".

"You should know, I was the one that daggered her" Elena said, immediately causing Lily to clench her hands into a fist, she hated how causally Elena mentioned that, "When she wakes, she'll come after me".

"As she should" Lily snapped, making Elena flinch in surprise.

"I can control Rebekah" Klaus assured Elena, kneeling next to his sister's body, "Besides, I still need your help finding Stefan".

"I told you, I don't know where he is" Elena repeated.

Klaus removed the dagger from Rebekah's back, "You're lying" he told Elena, "Fortunately, you have no shortage of loved ones, so if I don't find my family, the question you should be asking who's gonna die next? Bonnie? Matt? Damon?", Klaus stood up, "It's only a matter of time before Stefan gives me what I want".

"He doesn't care about me anymore, you made sure of that" Elena snapped, "You turned him into a monster, now he's your problem, and just so you know, I'm not the only one Rebekah wants dead, she knows what you did to your mother, she knows that you killed her".

A shocked Klaus looked at Lily, who gave him a small nod, confirming Elena's words.

***

"Here we are, Rebekah" Klaus said, walking over to his unconscious sister, that laid on a table at the Mikaelson's in progress home, "Home, sweet home, it only took a thousand years, and to think I was counting on you being here with me, but that's all ruined now, isn't it?", Lily walked into the room and leaned against the doorway, she watched as Klaus walked closer to Rebekah, "I'm so sorry", Klaus caressed Rebekah's cheek, "Sister, we will meet again one day", Klaus then plunged the dagger into Rebekah's chest, tears welling in his eyes.

Klaus then turned around and came face to face with Lily, "I had no choice, she--".

"Stop" Lily interrupted Klaus, "I'm not the one who needs a explanation from you Klaus, from what I know about you and your mother, I don't blame you for killing her, but Rebekah is different, that was her mother, she's the one who deserves a explanation, not me, I can't tell you what to do, at the end of the day it's your choice, but this isn't right, this isn't going to help Rebekah forgive you, it's just going to make her more bitter towards you".

Lily then walked away, leaving Klaus behind to ponder over her words.

***

Presenting 2x10 of Fire & Flame!

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Klaus trying to protect Lily?

Thoughts on Lily getting angry at Klaus for trying to kill Jeremy?

Thoughts on Lily's words to Klaus about Rebekah?