13. Bringing Out The Dead

"Who the hell gave you the right to enter my bedroom?" Brayden said, entering his bedroom and seeing Elena sitting on his bed.

"I need to talk to you Brayden" Elena said.

"Get the hell off of my bed" Brayden snapped.

Elena sighed, but nonetheless stood up and faced Brayden, "Did you kill the medical examiner?" she asked.

"Who?" Brayden asked.

"The medical examiner, Brayden" Elena repeated.

"Repeating the same words isn't going to make me remember who you're talking about" Brayden said, "And why the hell would I kill an medical examiner for?".

"Maybe because I don't know what you're capable of anymore" Elena replied.

"Anymore?" Brayden asked amused, "Don't pretend like you knew me before Elena, now get out of my room, hell get out of my house".

"Brayden--".

"I said, leave!" Brayden yelled, causing Elena to flinch in surprise, but knowing better to annoy Brayden anymore then he already was, Elena quietly left the room.

***

After showering, Brayden existed his bathroom and saw his twin standing infront of him holding up two shirts, one grey the other black.

"Okay, what is it with people barging into my room thinking it's their own?" Brayden complained.

"Get dressed, we're going out" Damon said, ignoring Brayden's complaining.

"Not in the mood" Brayden simply said.

"I didn't ask, Elijah and I have scheduled a very old-fashioned sit down with you, Stefan and Klaus, I say you and Stefan both go with black, makes you both look all villainy" Damon said.

"You're working with Elijah now?" An amused Brayden asked.

"Well, I figured since you made my already complicated love life so much more complicated, why not just keep adding to it" Damon said sarcastically.

"Klaus won't make a deal, Damon" Stefan said, entering Brayden's room.

"Oh look, here comes another one" Brayden mumbled frustrated, "I might make Fae put a boundary spell on my room so you guys can understand what personal space means".

"He doesn't have to, all we're doing is buying a little time to give our wicked witches a chance to pop the top off the coffin" Damon told Stefan, once again ignoring Brayden.

"That's a horrible plan" Brayden said, "Stalling Klaus isn't going to work".

"Well, if our baby brother hadn't gone postal on his hybrids maybe we'd have some options" Damon said.

Stefan looked at Brayden, "What were you think undaggering Elijah, by the way?".

"First of all, like I told you guys last night, it's high time Kaitlynn makes her choice" Brayden replied, making Damon roll his eyes, "And second of all, unlike you idiots, all my actions are thought out, Klaus betrayed Elijah, he broke his promise to him of reuniting him with his sleeping family, and now Elijah is in vengeance mode, hence why he teamed up with Damon, at this point Elijah would do anything to wake his family up, even go against Klaus".

"There's nothing smart about trusting Elijah, Brayden" Stefan warned, "He screwed us over the last time he promised to help us kill Klaus".

"Well, the way you've been acting, I trust him about as much as I trust you" Damon told Stefan.

"Hmm, well, I guess that goes both ways, doesn't it?" Stefan retorted.

"Honestly, you both are idiots, big, fat idiots" Brayden snapped, "What do you think going against each other is going to achieve? We are trying to take down a thousand year old hybrid people! We can't afford to go against each other, so get your shit together or god so help me a wooden stake is nearby for me to plunge it in each of your hearts!".

After Brayden snapped at his brothers, he left the room leaving his brothers to exchange amused looks, but at the same time they knew that Brayden was right, this wasn't the time to fall apart, this was the time to stay united.

***

"Niklaus, our guests have arrived" Elijah announced, opening the door and seeing the three Salvatore brothers, all in their iconic black shirt and pant paired up with a black leather jacket.

"Damon, Brayden, Stefan, Elijah tells me you seek an audience, very bold" Klaus said, as the brothers entered his house, "Let's discuss the terms of our agreement like civilized men, shall we?".

"It's better to indulge him" Elijah told the brothers.

"I didn't come here to eat, Klaus" Stefan said, "In fact, I didn't want to come here at all, but I was told I had to, because you would hear us out".

Klaus chuckled, "Well, we can sit and eat or I can reach down your throats and pull out your insides, the choice is yours".

Brayden rolled his eyes, "Your threats seem to get less and less scary" he said, walking forward and sitting down on the table, "Please tell me you have alcohol, I need alcohol if I'm going to go through this dinner without attacking you".

Klaus looked at Brayden in amusement, "I would like to see you try".

"Don't tempt him, Klaus" Damon warned, as Brayden glared at Klaus.

"No please Klaus, do tempt me, I might not be able to kill you but I will like to torture you" Brayden said.

Brayden and Klaus sat there glaring at each other, while Elijah, Stefan and Damon exchanged a look, all wondering if placing Klaus and Brayden under the same roof was a good idea.

***

"I'll take the bottle, thanks" Brayden said, as one of Klaus's compelled minions went to pour him some wine, but Brayden ended up grabbing the whole bottle from her hand and taking a swig out of it, while Stefan and Damon looked at their brother in amusement.

"You lost your appetite?" Klaus asked Stefan, after seeing him not touch his food.

"Eat, I thought we agreed that we would leave the grumpy Stefan at home" Damon said, Stefan glared at his brother for a moment before finally picking his cutlery up.

"That's the spirit" Klaus said, "Isn't this nice? The five of us dining together, such a treat, is this what you had in mind when you pulled the dagger out of Elijah, Brayden?".

"Actually I knew you betrayed him, like you always do and I was hoping this time Elijah would take a stand against you, but clearly I was wrong" Brayden said, taking another swig out of the wine bottle.

"Well, Elijah and I have had our share of quarrels over the centuries, but we always make it through" Klaus said.

"Kind of like you and Rebekah, right?" Stefan asked, "Where is she, by the way? Last I checked she was still daggered because you were afraid to face her".

"If you're referring to the fact that Rebekah knows I killed our mother, I've already come clean to Elijah" Klaus informed.

"Hey, Stef, remember when you killed dad?" Damon reminded, "Might want to dial down the judgment till dessert".

"Oh come on, our old man deserved it, if Stefan didn't kill him, one of us would have, by one of us I mean me" Brayden defended Stefan.

"Plus, we're here to make a deal, Damon" Stefan added, "Doesn't mean we need to kiss his ass for seven courses".

"I'm just saying, we have a long evening ahead of us, pace yourself" Damon warned his two brothers, who seemed like they were hell bent on getting on Klaus's nerves.

***

"Damon, where is the lovely Kaitlynn tonight?" Elijah asked.

Brayden and Klaus both chuckled hearing Elijah, while a frown formed on Damon's face.

"Be any more obvious brother?" Klaus asked.

"She's somewhere contemplating who she wants to end up with, you or Damon" Brayden informed, making Damon glare at him, while Elijah simply nodded.

"Probably best just to keep Kaitlynn in the do-not-discuss pile" Damon warned.

"You're probably right" Klaus said.

"Talking about things we shouldn't discuss" Brayden said, leaning forward and glaring at Klaus, "Why did you gift Caroline a bracelet?".

Klaus smirked, "I don't see how that is any of your business, Brayden".

"You know how" Brayden snapped, remembering the rage he left when Liz called to inform that she gave Caroline her present but he wasn't the only one who left Caroline a late birthday present.

"Actually I don't" Klaus said, "Because last I checked, you and Caroline broke up, meaning she is currently single, for anyone to take".

"She isn't an object, Klaus" Brayden snapped, "She's a person, who you need to stay the hell away from".

"It's okay Brayden, I get it, I get the allure of the Forbes, I mean when I was human, I was once in the same spot as yours" Klaus informed, confusing the Salvatore brothers.

"What the hell are you on about?" Brayden asked.

"Charlotte Forbes" Klaus informed, "Contrary to popular belief, the Forbes bloodline has been in Mystic Falls much longer then any of you realise".

"Whose Charlotte Forbes?" Brayden asked, not liking where this was going.

"Well, Brayden before you and Caroline, and even before Elijah and Kaitlynn, it was me and Charlotte" Klaus revealed, a fond smile on his face remembering his former soulmate.

"Charlotte was Klaus's soulmate" Elijah revealed.

"Wait a minute, so you also had a soulmate?" Stefan asked, while Brayden sat in there in slight shock, "Who was a Forbes?".

"What happened to her?" Brayden asked.

Elijah looked at Klaus, who was now staring down at his food, "In order to place the hybrid curse on my brother, my mother needed the blood of a female soulmate".

"Your mother killed her?" Bayden asked shocked, Elijah simply nodded while Klaus looked lost in his memories.

"Your Caroline reminds me a lot of my Charlotte" Klaus admitted to Brayden after a moment of silence, "Both her appearance and her personality is a lot like my Charlotte".

"But she isn't her" Brayden reminded.

"I never said she was" Klaus said, a smirk on his face while he stared at a now agitated Brayden.

***

Brayden looked down at his phone when he got a text from Fae, a text that made Brayden want to hurl something at someone, more specially the hybrid who kept giving him a smug smile.

Nearly there but not quite there yet, need you to stall him a bit more.

"So why don't we move this evening along and discuss the terms of this proposal?" Elijah asked.

"That's very simple, Klaus gets his coffin back" Damon replied, "In exchange, he and the original extended family leave Mystic Falls forever, me, Brayden and Stefan live happily ever after with our girls, no grudges".

"You expect me to leave Kaitlynn behind?" Elijah asked Damon.

"Kaitlynn is a big girl, she can make her own choice" Damon replied, "She can decide whether she wants to stay here with me, or leave town with you".

Elijah nodded in agreement, then turned to Klaus, "The deal sounds fair, brother" he said.

"I don't think you understand, Elena's doppelganger blood ensures that I will always have more hybrids to fight those that oppose me" Klaus said, leaning forward, "I will never leave her behind".

"Fine, then take her with you" Brayden said.

"Brayden" Stefan warned.

"What?" Brayden asked, "Are you seriously telling me any of you are going to miss her? Let Klaus take her, with her gone a majority of our problems are gone as well", Brayden turned to Klaus, "So Klaus, you can take Elena, but only as long as you stay away from Caroline, Kaitlynn and Fae, especially Caroline".

Klaus smirked at Brayden, he grabbed his glass of wine and stood up, "Stay I do stay away from Caroline, Brayden" he said, "Leave her under your protection, what then? How long before she dies because of you? Because of the many enemies you've made along the way? You see Brayden, you truly believe that you're the one that can protect her, and that is simply a delusion, the worst thing for Caroline Forbes is you, Brayden Salvatore".

Brayden glared at Klaus, "You really think you have a chance with her?" he asked.

Klaus shrugged, "Maybe".

Brayden chuckled, "You don't know her Klaus, first of all, the fact that you think Caroline Forbes needs someone's protection, clearly shows that you don't how strong she really is", Brayden stood up, "Healing and sharing one moment with her, won't erase the thousand moments I spent with her, you can give her all the diamond bracelets in the world, but at the end of the day, I'm the one whose going to get her heart, her respect, her loyalty, not you, now excuse me, I need some air".

Before anyone could stop him, Brayden had left the room and Damon followed to make sure he didn't do anything stupid in his anger.

"Let me deal with this" Elijah said, following the two brothers out.

***

After calming a very angry Brayden down, Damon, Elijah and Brayden went back into the room where Klaus was now targeting Stefan.

"What do you say, Klaus?" Damon asked, "Time for you to put something on the table, we've made our offer, now you counter".

"And don't waste our time with a shitty one" Brayden warned.

"Okay" Klaus said, taking a seat, "I offer Elena' future happiness", immediately Brayden rolled his eyes, "You see, what she needs right now is to be rid of you lot, I mean we all know it's just a matter of time when Brayden ends up killing her".

"Correct" Brayden said, making Damon elbow him in the stomach to keep quiet.

"Elena will marry, live a long and futile life, and pop out a perfect family" Klaus continued.

"And continue the Petrova bloodline" Stefan realised, "Every few hundred years, you'll have a new doppelganger to drain and never run out of hybrids, right Klaus?".

"Consider it a small return on my investment in her well-being" Klaus replied, "See, after you hand me back the coffin, I'll ensure her safety for the rest of her natural life, you know it's what's best for her".

"Are you honestly that stupid?" Brayden asked, "Me and Damon don't care about Elena, and the only reason Stefan cares about her is because he feels guilty for breaking her heart, you really think we, or more specially me, is going to return your coffin to you because you ensured Elena freaking Gilbert's safety, the worst doppelganger out there, even worse the Katherine Pierce, and that's saying something!".

Klaus glared at Brayden, realising Brayden won't make a deal with him until one of the people he actually cares about is in danger, someone like his younger brother.

Before the brothers could do anything, Klaus had speeded over to Stefan, grabbed his hand and broke it, then kicked the back of his knee and stuck Stefan's hand into the fire, Damon and Brayden tried to rush to their brother's aid but Elijah held them by their necks and pinned them to the wall.

"What are you doing?" a confused Damon asked.

"Stop it!" Brayden yelled to Klaus, Elijah still stopping him and Damon from helping his Stefan.

"Now bring me my coffin before I burn him alive" Klaus threatened.

"We'll get it" Damon said, glaring at Klaus.

"Go with them, brother" Klaus told Elijah, as Brayden and Damon walked out, "You keep them honest, and when you return, I will make good on my promise to you and I will hand over our family".

***

"Elijah" a confused Klaus said, seeing Elijah reenter the room with the twins, the coffin no where to be seen, "Why haven't you left?".

"Well, where are your manners, brothers? We forgot dessert" Elijah replied, he then removed a cloth from the tray one of the compelled girls was holding, revealing two silver daggers.

"What have you done?" Klaus asked shocked.

"What have you done?" Elijah retorted, "See, I've learned not to trust your vulgar promises, Klaus, we're doing this on my terms now".

Just as Elijah said that, Kol Mikaelson emerged from the shadows and stood between Damon and Elijah, "Kol--" Klaus started.

"Long time, brother" Kol interrupted, walking over to Klaus, who immediately stepped back, he tried to speed over to the daggers but someone reached them before him.

"Finn" Klaus realised, seeing his older brother infront of him, "Don't--ahh!", Klaus yelled in pain as Finn plunged a dagger into his hand, he tried to speed out of the room, only to have his way blocked by his sister, "Rebekah".

Rebekah stabbed Klaus in the stomach, "This is for our mother".

"You're free to go" Elijah told the brothers, "This is family business".

"Gladly" Brayden whispered.

Hearing a familiar voice, Kol turned and was shocked to see his former lover standing infront of him, he was too busy taking his anger out on his brother that he completely missed Brayden.

"Brayden" Kol said.

Brayden looked at Kol, "Hey Kol".

Kol tried to take a step towards the middle Salvatore, but Elijah stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder, "Not now brother, we have more pressing matters to deal with".

"Come on, let's go" Damon told Brayden, "This reunion will have to wait".

After giving Kol one last glance, Brayden speeded out of the Mikaelson mansion, realising how much more complicated Damon and Elijah had made things for him by waking Kol up.

***

"You were right about Elijah" Stefan told Brayden, as the three brothers walked in the woods, "Undaggering him was a smart move".

"I'm not sure our brother would agree with you on that" Brayden said.

"You know why I didn't want Elijah undaggered Bray, it's the same reason you didn't want Kol undaggered" Damon said, "Them two being here just makes our lives that much more complicated".

Stefan looked at Brayden, "Do you still have feelings for him?" he asked.

"Don't ask me stupid questions, Stefan" Brayden snapped.

"It's a simple question Brayden, just answer it" Damon said, "Do you want to be with Kol or Caroline?".

"For you it might be simple, but for me it isn't, nothing about all of this is simple, Damon" Brayden snapped.

"It really is, you're just making it complicated" Damon said, "There is only one person who you truly love Brayden, even you know that, I admit you and Kol have unresolved history together, but I guarantee you that once that history gets resolved, you will make your way back to Caroline, like you always do".

"I'm not the only one who has history with an original Damon" Brayden reminded.

Damon sighed, "Trust me, I know" he said, "Damn these originals, making our love lives so much more complicated then they need to be".

"I suppose I should be thankful I don't have to deal with them" Stefan said.

"Very" Brayden said, "You should go make things right with Fae before a blast from either of your pasts comes and shakes up your entire relationship".

"While I make things right with Fae, what are you two going to do?" Stefan asked curiously.

"Fight for the girl I truly wanted to be with since 1864" Damon replied.

"Good on you, brother" Brayden said, patting Damon's shoulder and walking ahead.

"Hey, you never answered my question!" Stefan called out to Brayden, as he and Damon started following him.

"Oh come on Stef, you know what he's going to do" Damon said, "He's going to run away from his feelings, you know the usual Brayden Salvatore things".

"Go to hell" Brayden said, just as his phone start ringing.

"Already there brother" Damon said, as Brayden answered his phone.

"Liz?" A confused Brayden greeted.

"Brayden, can you come over?" Liz cried.

"Woah Liz, why are you crying?" Brayden asked, alerting his brothers, "Is everything okay?".

"It's Caroline's dad, he's dead" Liz replied, shocking the three brothers.

"I'm on my way" Brayden simply said.

***

While his brothers went to check on the progress the Bennett's made on the sealed coffin, Brayden rushed to the Forbes house and rapidly knocked on the front door.

"Hey" Liz greeted, opening the door for the middle Salvatore.

"Where is she?" Brayden asked.

"In her room" Liz replied.

Without wasting anytime, Brayden quickly ran towards Caroline's room, entering it he saw Caroline sitting by her father's dead body, holding on to his hand and sobbing.

Brayden stepped closer to Caroline and put a hand on her shoulder, seeing Brayden caused Caroline to sob harder.

"He's gone, Brayden" Caroline sobbed, standing up and hugging Brayden, "My dad's gone".

"Shh" Brayden whispered, his one hand on Caroline's waist and the other running through her hair, trying to calm her down.

"He left me" Caroline cried, holding on to Brayden like her life depended on it.

"It's okay Caroline, cry it out" Brayden whispered, "I've got you".

Brayden tightened his hold on Caroline and let her cry it out, he looked towards the door to see Liz standing there with tears in her eyes, Brayden gave her a small nod, letting her know he was with Caroline, and he wasn't leaving till he made sure she was okay.

***

Presenting 3x13 of The Vampire Diaries . . .

How was the chapter?

Thoughts on Elena accusing Brayden of killing the medical examiner?

Thoughts on Klaus having a soulmate when he was human?

Thoughts on Brayden and Klaus's argument regard Caroline?

Thoughts on Kol officially being undaggered?