I: Nothing Girl

More often than not, the Ravens found Reese before Reese found them. Part of it was because while now they were fragmented — the divisions of the growing number of vampires and decreasing number of witches taking a sure toll — they had once been a remarkably united coven. They knew how to work with each other, with or without magic, and easily outnumbered her. That was the practicality of it, but in Reese's opinion, the numbers didn't make a difference. All a raven witch feared was another raven witch: brought up with the same teachings and versed in the same volatile, wilful magic. It depended on who had the better mind; the unreachable mind. 

Reese didn't require much beyond a strong will to cast a powerful cloaking spell on herself and Diane didn't require much beyond an equally strong will to break that spell. Count in revenge and you have a fight that never ends. 

Which in turn contributed to Reese's decision.

 Bad decision. 

 Bad decisions. 

The sole factor that motivated her to label them that was remorse. Heavy and akin to guilt, because it was the root cause. Because she ran from what she did to Az. Because it wasn't the part where she condemned Az to a lifetime of misery nor the part where she left her in the hands of humans, mind rotting away in an asylum. Guilt for not feeling guilt. Regret for running from them. 

She made a list in her head:

1) Fourteen years later, she was the epitome of a Raven Witch and everything mom and dad didn't want her to be. Jet black hair and chubby cheeks and a face carved to deceive. She held a timeless air about her which helped her pass off as a high school student. Which brought her to the next point:

2) Mystic Falls. 

Mystic Falls invoked some weird feelings in her. It was a remarkably prosaic town when she chose it — fairly rich population; lots of white people; the everyone-knows-everyone jig. Elijah and Nik's childhood home. The twisted poetry or the idea that she would settle in a place with no magic made it the perfect candidate.

Of course, she'd been proven wrong almost immediately. Bonnie Bennet and Elena Gilbert had done that. It was suspicious that Bonnie, being a Bennet witch, had no clue of her ancestry. But Elena . . . Reese didn't know what she felt about Elena. Her initial instinct had been to take out her phone and call him. She found his doppelganger and she hadn't even been trying.

But the cruelty about Reese Yung was that there was no middle ground with her. Elena's life didn't matter to her enough for her to spare it . . . no, what stopped her then was something else. Something Esther; this overpowering feeling in her bones that told her no. It was the pesky Raven connection — with the state Reese had left Esther in, she knew it would've taken a lot to get that through.

She did what she always did — wait.

3) She had her time here, in high school, pretending she wasn't Reese Yung — the true meaning of her name lost amongst humans, homework and partying. Three full years to create friendships built on her lies and the quiet heaviness in her stomach, reminding her that one day . . . one day, she would have to leave. Again, everything regarding Mystic Falls was a blur, including what she felt about it. Acrimony, sadness, disregard? The words rolled over her thoughts without making an impression. 

The fact of the matter was she knew this was coming; she knew Time would bring Nik and Elijah right back to her. Her coven — if she could call them that at this point — would follow closely. And her life would be back to running. 

Reese Yung had predicted every twist of the tale, except this one: 

4) She didn't think she actually wanted to leave. 

Which was incredibly ill-timed. Leading to,

5) Elena was interrogating her. A few nights ago, she'd been kidnapped, something that was progressively getting less alarming (which in itself was quite alarming) in situations Katerina was involved with. Reese, with nothing better to do, had offered her all-powerful witch help to the Salvatore brothers. But. She'd arrived late at that abandoned mansion. She was greeted by the decaying, grey body of Elijah Mikaelson, pinned to the wall by a wooden stake and Elena sparing furtive glances at her . . . 

First, of course, Reese went to her apartment and cleaned the shit out of it. Then, she received the message she was waiting for — Elena wanted to meet. 

And that led to this: 

Reese draped across the sofa, legs tangled; one hand holding her chin upright and the other in the air, a silent reminder of the magic on her fingertips. Elena, sitting stiffly in the armchair, brows knotted in and maintaining a safe distance from Reese. 

"I know you're lying," Elena said, crossing her arms. "To us. About a lot of things."

"Yes," Reese agreed. "I am. Are you surprised?" 

"I should be," Elena replied. "But at this point, I've come to expect the worst from you."

All Reese had done to the Mystic Falls gang till now was hide the fact that she was a witch. So. Dramatic. "Hm. Go on. Grant me some clarity."

"Rose said some stuff about you. A lot of stuff about you, actually. And —"

"— of course she did. Y'know, I'm like, famous in the supernatural world. Anyone who's anyone knows who I am."

Elena pursed her lips. "Yes. Elijah — the Original — is looking for you."

Reese interpreted that Elena posed that as a question of why, but Reese just grinned. "Didn't Damon stake Elijah?" 

"Yes."

"Then why the present tense?" Is-looking-for-you. Elena was smart — she would've at least theorised something by now.

"It just doesn't make sense," Elena said, momentarily forgetting her wariness. For three years, they'd been friends — keeping her guard up around Reese won't come naturally. "If they're the first vampires — and Rose said, from the Old World — so that's around, what, a thousand years? They must have so many enemies. If it were that easy —" She cut herself off for a second as if preparing herself, "— they would be dead by now. Someone would've killed them."

"I mean if Damon managed to stake him . . ." Maybe Elijah lost his touch sometime in the past three years?

"And that," Elena gestured toward Reese. "Lying by omission — your thing. You're not saying he's dead. Just that Damon staked him."

 The strength of Reese's deceit relied heavily upon, well, the inanity of people here. They overlooked a lot of things. Now, with the pieces right in front of her . . . Reese hadn't expected this from Elena, so she got a mildly condescending: "Clever little Elena. Elijah got staked, but he's not dead. From personal experience, neck-snapping and heart-ripping don't work either. No need to get your hands bloody unnecessarily."

"Right." She inhaled quietly. "Rose also said stuff about . . . the Raven Coven."

"Bunch of melodramatists, if you ask me. But then again, who am I to speak?"

Two pairs of eyes trailed their path to Reese's wrist. The black silhouette of a raven in flight printed on it became another puzzle piece Elena greedily picked up. "Your coven. I always thought the raven was . . . nevermind. Rose said stuff about 'the fire' in Mykonos, and the Viper Murders? And how you were involved in them."

"God," Reese said like it was a curse, rolling her eyes dramatically. "I get that rumours get things mixed up. But to this extent? I mean, the number of times I've had to tell this story."

"You murdered people?"

"Yes."

A pause. "Okay."

It was clearly not okay. "Your time will come too, Elena. That's just how this world works."

"The Viper Murders," Elena moved on, "You were —"

"Not the culprit." If you look beyond the brutal killing part, the means and methods were quite ingenious. And Reese isn't a science person in that way. She would've drawn inspiration, rather than create something entirely new. But that psychoanalysis wouldn't quell Elena. "But those don't even tie into this situation at all. Raven politics and Originals? No thanks."

"But they do tie into it. You're a raven witch. And you know the Originals."

"That still doesn't explain what exactly it is that you want from me. Information? Protection? You want to hire me as your personal bodyguard, is that it? Or you're gonna hold me hostage for something?"

She opened and closed her mouth like a fish. "Is that what . . . normally happens?"

"You, of all people, shouldn't be that surprised."

Elena slumped. Frowning.

 "There's really nothing I can give you," Reese said, instigated by her silence. "You'll have more luck with Katerina."

The difference was that with the right motivation, Katerina would be willing to give up her past. What could Elena and her gang possibly have to offer that Reese couldn't gain on her own? And that was simply the truth she lived with. She never had to need anything from anyone. After her parents died and New Orleans stopped being home, it came on its own. 

"Whose side are you on?" Elena asked. 

Reese tilted her head, giving it some thought. "Well, I've known Elijah longer than I've known you. At one point, I even considered us friends." That was until she stabbed him in the back, both figuratively and literally. "Thing is, I'm sure you can handle Elijah long enough. It's —"

"— Klaus," Elena guessed. 

"You should be worried about, yes." She made a humming noise, scrunching up her nose. "Yeah, and me, I'm gonna have to be worried about both. For a while, at least."

"Are you gonna tell me if I ask why?"

"Family drama is the most comprehensive way to put it."

"And elusive."

Huh. She forgot to consider that part. Perhaps it's turned into a habit.

"Well," Elena continued, "I've already talked to Katherine. She told me about the curse."

"You know, I didn't have anyone to actually place bets with, but I always thought you'd be the self-sacrificing type. Because like, he's not gonna let you go." She endured enough angry rants to realize that whenever his next chance was, Nik would not waste it. Not after waiting for so many centuries. "He's also a little bit obsessed, so you should . . . keep that in mind."

For some reason, Elena tensed once more, fingernails digging into the fabric of the armchair. "Did you . . . know? That I'm a doppelganger?"

"Duh."

"So, you're not on their side." She relaxed. "You've been here three years — if you were on their side, I'd be long dead." She stopped flitting her gaze and held eye contact. There were unshed tears in her eyes. "Then again, you're not on ours either . . . pretty clear."

"Think of me as the neutral, non-participating third party."

"You're just gonna sit back and watch? You can't expect me to believe that."

"I've done it longer than you've been alive, Elena. Literally." 

A pause.

 Reese sighed. "Ok, just because I don't hate you, I'll tell you something. For the past decade or so, my coven's been a mess. They're looking for me, and they're not happy with me." Deadly combination: unhappy, determined Ravens. "All they know is that I was with the Originals for quite a while. It's stale information, but if Elijah's here, Klaus will follow soon, and so will my coven. As I said, Originals and Raven politics don't mix well."

"But why would the Ravens care about me?"

"They won't. Which means they don't care about your life, either." 

They would kill her in a heartbeat if they had to. All it would lead to would be another supernatural war . . .  yeah, Reese was in for a busy few months. 

Maybe she should sort out exactly everything she had to do . . . people she should meet, people she should kill, people she should torture. The order in which it was done mattered too. 

Elena took in another deep breath, jumping to the next question. "Is there a way to . . . I don't know, undo the curse? Or alter it to remove me from the equation? Anything?"

Reese's mind went to the necklace resting on her chest: the purple gemstone; a home for the magic of every person Nam Duri, and in succession, Reese, had ever killed. Reese's spell and the curse were both bound to a stone, so theoretically the method to undo them followed the same logic. 

But the way Esther sealed the curse was strange. Doppelganger blood was special, sure, but Tatia's blood would've been completely normal. 

The doppelgangers came after. 

Which didn't make any sense. 

If Tatia's blood didn't already have special properties — something — then nature wouldn't have created the doppelgangers. 

Even now, miles away, if Reese focused, she felt the connection. Thoughts involving Esther made it easier to feel. Usually, a diluted version of Esther's emotions wove through her, but this time there was only her confusion flowing steadily. 

"No," Reese decided to tell her. It wasn't difficult to guess that with this answer, Elena would shut away from the notion of it ending in any other way. "Anyways, I was going to give you some advice, just because . . . what Elijah's planning on doesn't matter. Not to you, anyways. He's going to offer you a deal. Take it."

"A deal," Elena said flatly.

Reese shrugged nonchalantly. "It's kind of his thing."

"What's your thing?"

A smile grew across her face. "If only you had something I needed."

"Maybe something you want."

Reese didn't respond to that.

"Right now, I'm the only one who knows . . . about this mess. About your part in it. I know you don't care what most of us think . . . but I also know that you stuck here for three years because you wanted to."

"Didn't I kidnap the lot of you a week ago?"

"And then you decided not to kill them once Caroline transitioned."

"I was in a good mood. A seriously good mood. Vampires are so annoying."

"Don't you still exclusively hang out with them?"

"I've got trust issues and vampires are easy to subdue."

 A whole world she could've explored. It was about hiding, at first. If Reese had been a bit more privy to her feelings she would've confessed that it was her friendship with Caroline that reeled her into Mystic Falls. 

"The point is," Elena said, "You like being here. If they find out, things will change."

"They're gonna find out eventually. Especially since I didn't really go out of my way to lie about it. You just never asked the right questions."

"Wouldn't you rather tell Caroline yourself?"

Wait a second. Elena was . . . Reese's smile grew once more, cold and amused. "You're a fast learner."

"I can keep your secret . . . if you help me deal with Elijah."

"Sounds like a sham."

"It isn't."

The cruelty about Reese Yung was there was no middle ground with her. It was either love or hate. The in-between didn't count; the in-between didn't matter; the in-between was more dangerous than the hate. 

There weren't many people she loved, and there wasn't much that mattered beyond them.

And it wasn't as if her love was something big or epic or dangerous. 

It was just there. 

It was scarce and selective, but it was always there. 

Part of it made her who she was. Part of it was fire and the stench of burning flesh and deafening screams. Part of it helped her stay ahead of the game. Part of it was why she was powerful. 

And part of it was complicating this more than she wanted. 

─────────────

Elijah was smart enough to find himself a way into the Gilbert house. That was what Reese deduced when she got the call, Elena's small voice instructing her to get to her house as soon as possible because Elijah was there. It was definitely an entertaining sight: Elijah and Elena sat on opposing armchairs in her room, Elena's gaze flitting nervously while Elijah remained as still as a statue. The silence was golden, if not excruciating awkward. Both of them seemed to be relieved to see her enter. 

"Not all this awkward silence," Reese said by way of greeting, smiling brightly. "Get to know each other; this whole thing is going to take time to blow over."

Elijah stood up, drawing all of her attention. Elena's presence became a waning echo, for now, because Reese thought this felt so nice. Truly. He looked exactly how she'd left him — three-piece suit, impassive face, dubious haircut with that awful middle partition. Slowly, a half-smile, half-smirk crept onto his face, eyes twinkling. 

"My darling Reese." And back at it again. "It seems you've turned into an awful, back-stabbing, pathological liar."

Reese's own, genuine smile revealed itself for the first time in three years. It was the kind of smile that made her a whole different person — out of bounds and real and dimpled; her cheeks getting all scrunched, marking her resemblance to a cherub. 

"You know I learned from the best," she said.

"And I have no one to blame but myself."

Elena cleared her throat. She looked back and forth between them. "Okay. So, there's . . . that."

"Right." Reese flopped onto the armchair Elijah had previously occupied. "Better make this quick. Elijah, sit." She gestured toward the window nook. "Elena, you go first."

Once Elijah had shuffled toward the alcove and managed to seat himself, Elena began: "Why'd you kill those vampires when they tried to take me?"

"I didn't want you to be taken," Elijah replied simply. "Klaus is the most feared and hated. Those that fear him are desperate for his approval. Word gets out the doppelganger exists . . . there'll be vampires eager to take you to him, and I can't have that."

"Isn't that exactly what you're trying to do?"

"Let's say my goal is not to break the curse."

Before they could continue, Reese raised a hand of interjection. "Okay, pause . . . Elijah, your goal is not to break the curse. Don't be stupid, then, and remove yourself from the narrative."

Elijah knew exactly what Reese meant. "No."

"I said don't be stupid." He was still pursuing his goal of killing Niklaus. With the foolish determination he was displaying, Reese decided at this moment in time, that she knew him better than he knew himself. 

"This is not the point of this conversation," Elijah said. "Elena, by all means, continue to berate me with your questions."

"Yeah, so what is your goal, exactly?"

"Klaus' obsessions have made him paranoid —"

"That's sugarcoating it," Reese interrupted. 

" —he's a recluse. He trusts only those in his circle." Hm. True. Did Reese still count as part of his circle?

"Like you?" Elena asked.

"Like Reese," Elijah answered. 

They both stared at her. "Ok, this conversation is beginning to feel awfully targeted at one side of the situation. Bottom line is Elijah wants to kill Klaus. He needs to draw him out, and to do that, he needs to use you."

Reese was trying to keep her stance simple. What she wanted — needed — was to keep the Ravens away from her, and possibly, away from this mess. Elijah's presence was concealed for now, but once word got out about Elena and Nik's minions came crawling here, it would draw the Ravens' attention, comprising her hiding spot. What a rotten thing too, because she liked Mystic Falls. The best solution to all these problems was to stop Elijah from interfering. In the end, it would benefit them both. 

"Use me how?"

"Do nothing," Elijah said, once again standing up. He always had a flair for the dramatics. "Do nothing, live your life, stop fighting . . . and then, when the time is right, you and I shall draw Klaus out. I'll make certain your friends are unharmed."

"And then what?"

"Then I kill him."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Reese rolled her eyes. It was easy to amend this to fit her narrative: she would be doing everything and anything useful, and in the end, would have to choose a side. There was a lot that spending time with both Elijah and Nik had taught her, but the fact she retains most unquestionably is that family meant everything to them. It was how they were still together, even a thousand years later, albeit some of them were incapacitated.  

"I'm a man of my word, Elena," he continued. "I make a deal, I keep a deal."

"How are you gonna keep everyone safe?"

Elijah gestured towards Reese. 

"First say please," Reese commented half-heartedly. She guessed this was the part she played. "Besides me, there are other, less powerful witches. And of course, the minions."

"Right." Elena pouted. "The minions, of course."

Reese shrugged. "They're very obedient."

She left out the part about the minions being theirs — as in, Reese and Elijah's — as a result of some magical experimentation during her years on the run. Blood magic was volatile, and she'd been getting used to her newfound power, so they ended up being rather  . . . adhesive. The loyalty they honed for the two of them was well in the blind faith zone. Reese found their undying devotion endearing, if not prone to becoming a hindrance. She could have used their assistance, but in the long run, they would've ended up ruining her cover. 

"Art, Zeke, Jake," she listed, "these are just a few."

"Just three," Elijah amended, to imply that he had way more. "So do we have a deal?"

There was a long pause. Elena visibly battled through whatever thoughts were going through her head. 

Reese decided she needed to have a chat with Elijah after this. Half for sentimentality — because for all their arguments, she really did miss him — and a half to knock some sense into his head. 

"I need you to do one more thing for me," Elena said finally.

 Elena was a fast learner. 

Reese hummed. "Hm. Good girl."

─────────────

"You are being incredibly foolish."

Tonight, Mystic Falls was alive. The Grill was busy, lights were shining, and Elijah was disapprovingly staring at Reese. After Elena's demands were heard and accepted, Elijah vamped the two of them out here. Reese proceeded to ignore him until she was comfortably seated with a strawberry milkshake in front of her and a black coffee in front of Elijah. 

This was the thing: they needed to talk. Like, really. 

They'd spend a good chunk of time together training, travelling, and learning. He helped discover the limitations of Reese's powers and how to eliminate them. He encouraged her to experiment with different types of magic — spirit and ancestral magic being off the list, of course — and sprang up all sorts of creative ideas for her. She'd been wary of trusting them because no matter how old he was, he wasn't a witch, but he turned out to be pretty knowledgeable about their practices. He said it came from the millennia they'd spent trying to break Nik's curse, etc, etc. 

Even though it wasn't in her nature to willingly depend on people, she trusted Elijah. She did not want to deny the fact that she was as powerful — as proficient  — as she was because of his support. 

Then, in the desperation to get done with this Raven business, she'd struck a deal with Nik and stabbed Elijah in the back — more specifically, daggered him. After everything went down and she prepared to flee yet again, she'd woken him up and taken the dagger with her. 

And that was years ago.

He had found answers to a lot of his questions, but he deigned to lament Reese's actions — having pinpointed the ones she regretted the most — profusely. 

So, stirring the thick pink froth with her paper straw, Reese huffed. She avoided looking at him. "This isn't how I wanted to do this."

"Oh, I agree." Elijah sipped his coffee, somehow managing to look threatening while doing so. "I suspect if it had been up to you, this wouldn't have happened at all. You'd have avoided me forever."

Not true. She just wished to see Nik before she saw Elijah. 

Elijah skillfully hid behind his nobility, which left Reese with this will to live up to his expectations, with her mind screaming about the utter hypocrite he was. Like a two-faced god, ripping out hearts and wiping his hands with a hankey as he promised to keep his word.

Because he was dignified; because he was the better brother; because he didn't betray. At the end of the day, it remained: she didn't want to disappoint him. 

Seeing Nik first would have been easier. 

"Elijah 1, Reese 0. Let me repeat myself again: this isn't how I wanted to do this."

"Of course. You prefer more deceptive strategies, right? Like stabbing me in the back."

"No need to be prissy, Elijah." Reese slumped, resting her face on her folded hands. "I'm not planning on handing the dagger over to them."

That might or might not have been a lie. 

Luckily he decided to back off a little. "I hope you'll stay uninvolved."

Reese grinned. "Oh, I know. I really do tip the scales, don't I? One could say, I'm the deciding factor over whether you lose or win."

"Which is not as gleeful of a truth for the rest of us." He set his coffee cup on the plate with a clink. "I have a grating question for you, Reese."

"So do I. When are you going to give up on this pipedream you have of killing Nik?"

"You've known about the doppelganger for three years, and yet, failed to inform either of us . . .?"

"Can't answer questions with questions."

Reese was certain Elijah had already guessed why she didn't spill about Elena. Both the Esther thing and the other thing. And if he hadn't before, well, he definitely had now. 

"You have to stop running, Reese," he stressed. 

"How are you going to do it?" She asked.

He paused, pursing his lips. "After the curse is broken, he will be vulnerable. With the help of the Bennet witch, I will be able to kill him."

 ( Reese thought back to the deal he struck with Elena. Devil's in the details. )

She had just wanted a little time to see what a normal life would've been like. "That seems very inadequately prepared, especially coming from you."

"We never did discover how my mother planned to kill us last time."

Ah — that is what he wished to know. From here, it was easy to divert the conversation. Some strategy was all it took. 

"Sure. But before that, she was going to use my mother to siphon you all to death. And between us, finding a siphoner might just be easier than you actually managing to kill him."

"And she did not disclose her plan to you?" Elijah leaned forward. "She was plotting for centuries — I do not believe she didn't have a —"

"Plan B through Z, yeah, neither do I. But she's trapped, and at the time, she'd been a little preoccupied trying to exchange our lives —" Crazy stuff with the Mikaelsons, always — "Look, I'm not going to stop you. I'd just expected you'd have a more solid plan. Kinda makes me think you don't really wanna go through with it."

"You seem confident I won't be able to do it."

 "I am. He's your brother." And, she thought, he has a great bargaining chip. "And if what he says is true — if he really has dumped your family into the Atlantic — you're going to want to hold on to what's left of it."

 "Such lovely sentiments. And when are you packing up and leaving, again?"

"I'm well on my way to being compromised, thanks to you sticking your nose around here."

"You're avoiding responsibility," he said. "I think it would be good for you."

"I don't get the point of this conversation."

For all the love she had for him, Elijah tended to let his inhibitions get the best of him. At least when it came to the hope he had for Nik turning over a new leaf. With Reese in the picture and Nik currently absent, those hopes were projected onto her.  When or how he had started including her in his purpose-of-my-life, redeem-the-monsters act was beyond her. The orphanage fire kickstarted it — but Reese would digress, as that was when Elijah was set on protecting her from the Viper Murderer so, in turn, she'd help him kill Nik.

Yeah, things had gotten messy while he was daggered . . .

"Save the redemption arc bullshit for your brother," she added.

"I'm hardly asking you to abandon your excruciatingly detailed, five-year revenge plan, Reese." He said it pointedly, emphasising each word.

"You're trying to make it sound crazy." Revenge was a strategic, calculated move on a chessboard when done right. "It's not. I didn't share it with you for you to make it sound crazy."

"It's unbelievably time-consuming." A pause. "The point of this conversation, Reese, is clarity."

"I'm not going to help you kill him," she said flatly. She swiped a finger on the cold glass. "I'm not going to become leader of the coven. I just . . ." she swallowed. "I just want to live a few years without having to worry about . . . everything."

"About Azalea?"

It hurt. "I did the best I could."

You play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. 

"The Crowleys have retreated to their humble abode in Mykonos." She turned to face him. His coffee cup was empty. It seemed he was trying to sympathise with her. "Predictable. Diane is the only witch left, I'm certain."

No doubt she was the one leading the hunt for Reese. "You've been keeping tabs on them?"

"It's vain to try and find you when you don't want to be found."

"Never stopped you before."

"I wished to avoid calling you a friendless loner, but . . ."

"I mean, I did join high school." 

She managed to finish her milkshake. 

"I will not ask you to pick a side." He got up; it was time to fulfil his side of the deal. "Though I do wish for you to join me tonight."

It was not much different from asking her to pick a side. She was already dangling between them like a bridge. How long would it be before things got worse?

But Reese was used to living life in halves. Having to constantly look over your shoulder; crafting different pasts for the different names you wear; compulsion spells; killing; deceiving — but also making friends and going to school and worrying about grades because you're a high school student and that's what you're supposed to be doing.

She might go as far as to say she chose it — being continuously on and off the run entailed that — but it sure was a hell of a lot easier without staying involved with the Mikaelsons.

Despite that, she was unable to stay away from them for too long. 

She smirked, eyes twinkling. "It's been some time since I've talked to Katerina, anyways."

Elijah sighed. "Do not provoke her."

"Sure."