𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗒𝗇 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝖻𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁𝖾𝗌

━━━━━━━━━━

1997

From a young age, the hospital became a familiar place for the Gilbert siblings, for Evelyn especially. At first it was unforgettable for them, just a place they once visited but eventually it turned to regular visits. Minutes stood still, waiting felt like an eternity. A recurring nightmare they all experienced together.

Elena's gaze swivelled over the waiting room, stopping when she looked besides her. Miranda was cradling a sleeping Jeremy in her arms.

Evelyn had been admitted to the hospital after she was found by Elena laying unconscious on the ground, blood flowing from her nose.

She could clearly remember hearing own scream, seeing her twin sister in a state that terrified her. Afraid that she had lost Evelyn.

"Mommy?" Elena asked.

"Yes?" Miranda asked.

Elena immediately noticed the redness around her mothers eyes, dried tear stains against her cheeks and an exhausted look written all over her face. 

"Is Eve going to be okay?"

Miranda wished she could say yes confidently, but the tragic part to this was Evelyn would never be okay. She was gifted an extraordinary ability that would carry a lot of hardships, responsibilities and secrets.

And knowing if Evelyn would ever be okay was an uncertainty.

"She will be," Miranda answered hesitantly.

"I'm scared," Elena whispered, playing with her sleeve nervously. "I don't want her to be hurt and sad."

"Me too." Miranda held back in the choked sob threatening to release, and wrapped an arm around Elena as she held her children closer to her.

"Hey." Grayson walked in.

Miranda looked up at her husband, both tiring eyes meeting the others. "How is she?"

Grayson sighed, taking a seat next to his wife. "Suki said it was a seizure, but she's going to be fine. She's staying the night so they can monitor her," he quickly reassured Miranda.

"Can we see her daddy?" Elena asked.

"Yes," he said, holding his hand out for Elena as she took it, with Miranda carrying Jeremy in her arms who had just woken up.

Opening the door, Elena let go of her father's hand and she sat down on the chair, taking in the state Evelyn was in.

Tubes attached on her arms, her eyes closed, breathing even and the only sounds were the machines beeping.

Elena sniffled and held Evelyn's hand in hers, hating to see her like this.

Evelyn stirred in her sleep, slowly opening her eyes, and setting them on the figures surrounding her. She shut her eyes again, trying to remember what had exactly happened but pain jolted throughout her body again.

She felt a hand on her forehead, seeing Miranda caressing her hair with a teary smile. "Mommy. Head hurts," Evelyn managed to say.

"Shh. It's okay," her mother reassured her, pressing a kiss to her temple.

She felt another hand against the back of her head, allowing Grayson to lift it up and help her drink the glass of water.

Evelyn turned to look at Elena, giving her a tiring smile as she reached her hand out to wipe the tears from her sister's face. "Hi," Evelyn whispered and Elena smiled.

"EJ?" Jeremy was set down on the bed, shifting close to Evelyn as he rested his body down to hers, hugging her tightly.

Miranda and Grayson smiled, small tears releasing from their eyes, knowing no matter what happens, their children would always have each other.

If only the future had kept it's promise.

━━━━━━━━━━

Mystic Falls

   Music played quietly on the radio as Kenji caressed Loki's hair, the cat was perched on his lap as he let out soft mewl and nuzzled his head closer against Kenji's hand.

Kenji turned to look at Suki. "What?" She asked.

"You came home late last night. Who is he?" He asked his mother.

Suki laughed, shaking her head at him. "He's just a friend from work and offered to take me home."

"Just a friend?" Kenji raised a brow.

"Yes. Nothing else." She reached out to pinch his cheek and he wrinkled his nose, moving his head back.

"Mom, if you're worried about what I think then you don't need to worry but I will need to have a chat with this so called friend. See if he's worthy for you."

"There's nothing going on," Suki said.

"You seem pretty defensive over this," Kenji teased.

"You know since we're on this topic. Is there anyone special that you're hiding?" Suki turned the question to him.

Kenji let out a nervous laugh. "No."

Suki gave a quick glance to her son before she looked back at the road. "Sweetheart, it's okay if you are as long as they are not over 18. Oh and make sure to be safe–"

"Mom!" Kenji groaned, blocking his ears.

"What? I just want you to be careful," she shrugged. "You're growing up and boys tend to think about–"

"Oh my God," he muttered, feeling embarrassed. "Please stop."

"Okay. Fine," Suki laughed.

"I should've taken the bus," he said.

"Your dad called," she said after a moment.

"We are not having this conversation again as well," Kenji murmured as he looked down at the screen on his phone.

Suki sighed, "What happened between the two of you? What aren't you telling me?"

"We're here. I'll be home late and Jeremy will drop me off," Kenji hastily stepped out of the car whilst carrying Loki.

"Kenji–" Suki began.

"Bye mom. I love you." He walked away.

She let out a frustrated sigh. "I love you too."

Kenji opened the front door to the Salvatore boarding house. "Your favourite person is here!"

Damon groaned with a roll of his eyes, "Who invited the human to my house?"

Kenji gave him a look, scoffing. "Technically this isn't your house. The deed is still in EJ's and Elena's name so it's their house."

"I liked it better when you left," Damon muttered.

"There's not need to lie. I know you cried for me, Dracula," Kenji replied back with a snarky smile.

"Get this furball away from me." Damon nudged Loki with his foot when the cat was rubbing his head against his leg.

"Stop kicking my cat," Kenji lifted Loki up. "You made him sad now."

"Teach your cat some manners."

"He just wants you to hold him."

"He should be grateful I haven't killed him," Damon glared back.

"Whatever." Kenji walked into the living room where he found Bonnie, Elena, Caroline and Jeremy scattered around the room.

"Hey," Jeremy gave Kenji a small smile. Loki jumped out of his arm and perched himself on Jeremy's lap.

"Hey. How's Jenna?" Kenji asked.

"She's feeling slightly better. Alaric took her out to get fresh air," Elena said.

Ever since the day they found out Evelyn made a deal with Klaus to spare Jenna's life. She had been feeling guilty and blaming herself for failing to take care of her nieces and nephew.

"Any news on EJ and Stefan?"

"No," Bonnie sighed, glancing down at the map where she was casting a locator spell again.

"Then try again," Damon demanded.

"No. She doesn't need to try again. What she needs is a break from doing magic spells," Kenji argued, taking the map off the table and rolling up so Bonnie didn't use it.

"But–" Bonnie protested.

"Loki needs his cuddles." Kenji picked the cat up and set him down on Bonnie's lap. "Rest."

"Why are you even speaking?" Damon asked.

"Because I was given a voice so I will use it," Kenji remarked sarcastically.

Damon muttered something under his breath, and walked away from the group. "Ignore him," Elena told Kenji. 

"I understand he's missing his only friend, but so are we. And getting Bonnie to constantly use her magic is tiring her," Kenji said.

"And EJ told us to not let her do any," Jeremy piped in.

"Here," Caroline handed Bonnie a glass of water.

"And here you go." Kenji placed the box of donuts in front of Bonnie. "You better eat them. You look exhausted and hungry. That goes for all of you too."

"Thank you," Bonnie smiled at Kenji.

"No need to thank me," he smiled back. "It's my job to take care of my friends."

He sat down next to Jeremy. "We'll find her, Jer," he said softly.

"I miss her so much," Jeremy whispered with a frown.

"Me too," he gave him a sympathetic smile.

"What if Klaus is hurting her? She's alone and afraid–" Jeremy stressed out his concerns.

"Hey, your sister has powers! My best bet is she's probably beating his ass again like the badass she is," Kenji nudged him to lighten up the tension.

"Sounds like our EJ," Jeremy let out a laugh.

"I made you laugh. Yay!" Kenji cheered.

"You did," Jeremy's eyes met his, genuinely smiling this time.

"Oh my God, Loki!" Caroline exclaimed, running to pick him up. "No!"

"What happened?" Kenji quickly stood up, running over to where Caroline was.

"He peed inside Damon's glass of bourbon," Caroline whispered to him.

Kenji's eyes widened. "Loki, we spoke about this," he scolded the cat who let out a whine.

"Damon's definitely going to kill us both. We're leaving," Kenji panicked. "Come on, Jer. Let's go."

"Oh okay." Jeremy took Kenji's bag as he followed his best friend who was running as fast as he could to get out of the house.

Damon returned back. "Did the annoying brat and the furball finally leave?"

He walked over to the table, taking the glass of bourbon in his hand. Caroline, Bonnie and Elena looked at him with wide eyes. "No!"

It was too late. Damon took a sip of it then spat it out, scrunching his face with disgust. "Why does this taste weird? It's a brand new bottle too."

The girls looked at him with their lips pressed in a thin line to hold back in their laughter and that was enough for Damon to figure it out.

"I'm going to kill both of them," he scowled, angrily.

━━━━━━━━━━

Back to wherever the trio are

Klaus and Evelyn still refused to apologise to one another since the day they had thrown petty insults at each other.

They were occasions when one of them would speak up, ready to apologise but instead backed down. They were too stubborn. Another reason which they both wouldn't admit.

And neither ever brought up the moment that left them to take cold showers that night.

Stefan was the happiest between them all. Waking up every day and noticing how Evelyn and Klaus had not once argued ever since the day that resulted in his neck getting snapped by Klaus.

And here he was, eating his breakfast with a wide smile on his face, but Evelyn and Klaus were eating in silence, refusing to look at the other.

Evelyn stared down at her plate, as Klaus' words continuously played in her mind.

"...screaming and begging me for more."

"Would you like more waffles?" Stefan asked her.

The way his hand trailed down to her neck.

"Eve?" Stefan tried to grab her attention.

"What?" Evelyn blinked and cleared her throat. She could feel Klaus' intense stare, and tried her best to ignore it.

"More waffles?" Stefan gestured to her plate.

"Please," Evelyn nodded. "Will you ask Nik to pass the orange juice?" She whispered to him.

"Could you pass the orange juice?" Stefan asked Klaus.

"Tell her to get it herself," Klaus said.

Stefan silently prayed they wouldn't start an argument when Evelyn had her jaws clenched, gripping on to her knife and fork.

"I'll get it," he said.

"Thank you, Stefan. It's not rocket science to listen to a simple instruction," Evelyn remarked with a sarcastic smile.

Klaus glared at her, standing up and walking over to her with the jug. "Would you also like me to pour it for you?" His tone was filled with bitterness.

"If you insist," Evelyn shrugged.

Stefan eyed them warily when Klaus poured the juice in a glass for Evelyn then sat back down in his seat.

He was dancing now.

"You look really happy, Stef. I missed seeing you smile," Evelyn said softly.

Stefan happily nodded. "It's a lovely day, don't you think?"

"It is. Let's go to the bakery across the hotel later. I heard they do the best pastries around here," she suggested.

Klaus scoffed under his breath when Evelyn and Stefan began their own conversation.

━━━━━━━━━━

Evelyn entered Stefan's room. "What's up?" He asked.

"I should apologise to him now." She laid down on his bed as he made space for her. "I was being very mean to him."

Stefan laughed and Evelyn furrowed her brows. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because you actually named a pig after him."

"That's because he refused to let me keep the piglet," Evelyn chastised. "But I should still apologise. I'll go to him now."

"And then you'll both continue to argue. It's an endless cycle for you two," Stefan sighed.

What surprised Stefan the most that not once did Klaus hurt Evelyn, even think about killing her since she seemed to be the only person who knew how to exactly push his button and get under his skin, yet Klaus tolerated Evelyn.

"Stefano." Evelyn poked his cheek and he glanced back at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he shook his head.

He listened to Evelyn speak but his mind kept wandering back to what Klaus' real intentions were with Evelyn.

━━━━━━━━━━

"Love, I don't care if you're angry with me. Get up. We're leaving." Klaus stood in front of Evelyn's bed.

Evelyn was rather too concentrated on the book she was reading. "I told you not to call me that anymore."

"Okay, beautiful," he said.

"Stop."

"Fine, crazy woman."

Evelyn sighed, giving up with him. "I don't feel like going."

Klaus scoffed with a dry laugh. "You don't have a choice."

She whined, pulling the cover over her head and pretended to cough. "I've caught the bug. I can't go."

"You can either walk out or I can throw you over my shoulder, and trust me you wouldn't want that," he warned her.

Evelyn sat up straight and narrowed her eyes at him. "You say that all the time."

"And I will do it this time." Klaus narrowed his eyes back at her.

"You wouldn't dare."

━━━━━━━━━━

"How dare you!" Evelyn shrieked as her fists hit Klaus' back. Her legs were dangling in the air when he carried her out their suite.

Klaus chuckled as he continued to walk down the empty hallway.

"You find this funny? You will pay for this!" She continued to threaten him. "Do you hear me?"

"Perfectly," Klaus humoured sarcastically.

"Help! I'm being kidnapped by this mad man! I repeat. Somebody help me!" Evelyn repeated.

Klaus glared back at the bell boy who stepped forward but the threatening look from the Hybrid was enough to make him cower away.

Evelyn wiggled her legs and nearly hit Klaus' nose with her knee, but he quickly kept a firm hold on the back of of her legs. "I warned you I would."

"And I keep warning you that I will sue you," she snapped. "My lawyer will hear about this. There will be a restraining order!"

"Go ahead."

"This is the worst view ever," she grumbled.

"What is?"

"Your ass. It's ugly, saggy and hairy."

"Don't lie to yourself. I know you love it."

"The only time i'll love it is when I shoot it with my crossbow," she said.

"I'm so scared," Klaus pretended. Evelyn could imagine the fake pout on his face and wanted nothing more than to wipe it off.

"I will give you a wedgie if you don't put me down in three seconds," she threatened him.

"You wouldn't," Klaus chuckled.

But Evelyn remained quiet and that made Klaus immediately set her down on the ground. "You actually would?" He asked.

"I'll still do it now," she scowled.

"Woah." Klaus held his hand out forward to stop her.

"Do it again and it'll definitely happen." She pointed a finger at him. "And it'll be painful for your small dick too."

"It's not small!"

An elderly couple stopped in their tracks, the woman gasping and the man covering her ears.

"It's the truth," Klaus scowled and followed where Evelyn had left.

━━━━━━━━━━

"I want you to be my girlfriend." Evelyn choked on her lemonade when hearing the words Klaus threw at her.

"You want me to be your what?"

"Be my girlfriend," he demanded.

"No!" Evelyn shook her head. "It's never happening."

"I need your help with something." Klaus urgently pleaded. "Please."

"Even I said please when I wanted the pig but you said no," she mumbled with a frown.

"I'll buy you anything other than the pig and any other animal," he offered.

"Why can't Stefan and I be a couple instead?" She asked. "Or you and Stefan."

Klaus let out a frustrated sigh. "Because he's doing something else for me now."

"Then let's wait for him until he's done with the job you've given him to do."

He took a deep breath. "He's going to take a while and I need to get this done now," he sternly said.

Evelyn thought for a moment before she spoke up. "Fine."

"Really?" She nodded. "I thought it would take more longer to convince you," he mumbled.

He eyed her and she eyed him back. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked.

"You're up to something," Klaus stated.

"You get paranoid a lot." Evelyn sighed.

"So do you," he pointed out.

"Touché," she said. "So I could have anything I want then?"

"Besides an animal," he said.

"Fine. We can play fetch then," she suggested.

"I told you that will never happen."

"How about I take you on a walk to the park? I could even buy you a leash!" Evelyn exclaimed with excitement.

"What is wrong with you woman?" Klaus rubbed at his temple.

"Oh come on! We can go to the park in the evening then," she offered.

"No."

"You said I can have anything I want though. If you're so embarrassed with yourself where's that self love you had and keep boasting about?" Evelyn threw back.

"It's not happening, now let's go," he said with an eye roll.

"I'll make sure it does. I won't give up," she gave him a determined look.

She jumped off the hood of the car and glanced around the isolated area. "Who are we visiting then?"

"A friend of Ray's," he explained the plan.

Evelyn tuned out his conversation, playing a game on her phone.

"Were you even listening to me?" He asked.

"Yes. Totally," she quickly looked at him.

"What did I say then?"

"You explained the plan," she said. "It's really good by the way."

"So you agree that I should kill every person in this neighbourhood for fun then?"

"What?!"

━━━━━━━━━━

They made their way towards a couple of houses that were situated and scattered near the woods. It was very quiet.

Evelyn felt Klaus' arm hook around her waist, pulling her to his side and she looked at him with a raised brow. "We have to look believable," he reminded her.

"Then you should smile more because it looks like you've been trapped in a miserable relationship," she said.

"I am smiling," he said.

"This is smiling," Evelyn lifted the corner of his lips with her fingers.

"Come on," Klaus directed Evelyn towards the house.

She noticed his eyes on her. "What now?"

Klaus brushed the loose strand of hair out of her face. Evelyn silently gazed at him, her heartbeat quickening at his light touches. "Behave," he whispered.

She quickly shook off the feeling. "No promises," she mischievously smiled.

"I mean it."

"As you wish, sir," she mocked with a salute.

"Good girl," he murmured, giving her hip a squeeze.

Evelyn gulped, feeling a little flutter in her stomach. Why did she like it when he said that?

Their moment was interrupted when the door opened and were met by an elderly woman. Klaus and Evelyn were confused. "Hello."

"Hi," Evelyn greeted back politely.

"We're looking for Bert?" Klaus asked.

"Bert?!" Evelyn blurted as she held in her laughter. Klaus sighed, hoping she didn't blow up their cover.

"His name is Bert?" She whispered to him, and he nodded.

"He lives across the street and won't be home for another few hours. Are you family?" She asked.

"Old friends," Klaus said.

Evelyn nodded. "Yes. This is my boyfriend," she enunciated. "Kevin."

Eve: 3
Nik: 1

Klaus shut his eyes for a moment. Why am I even surprised. Of course she would say that.

Before Evelyn could introduce herself, Klaus beat her to it. "This is my girlfriend." He looked down at Evelyn.

"Edith." The smile on Evelyn's face disappeared.

Eve: 3
Nik: 2

"Yeah." Evelyn discreetly stood on Klaus' foot and he pressed his lips together, holding back the groan. "I'm Edith."

"Well, how about you stay inside my house until Bert is back." The woman, named Sarah, offered them. "It is quite cold."

"Actually–" Klaus spoke up.

"That is so nice of you. Thank you," Evelyn smiled, dragging Klaus with her.

They followed her and Evelyn turned to Klaus. "Edith?" She clenched her jaw.

"Payback," he smirked.

"You–"

"Is everything okay?" Sarah asked.

Evelyn and Klaus looked back as he wrapped his arms back around her, and she leaned into him, both nodding with a fake smile. "Yes."

━━━━━━━━━━

They settled down in the living room, taking a glance around when Evelyn slapped Klaus' hand away. "Stop touching her things," she scolded.

"Okay, Edith," he taunted.

"So funny," she whispered with a humourless laugh.

Klaus pulled Evelyn closer back to him when Sarah sat in front of them, pouring them a cup of tea. "So you mentioned you're old friends?"

"Yes, my girlfriend and I were around the neighbourhood and I thought why not pay him a visit. It's been a long time," Klaus nodded.

Evelyn intertwined her hands with Klaus and he rubbed the back of it. Sarah looked at their hands then back at them. "That's a lovely ring."

Evelyn glanced down at the ring on her finger. "Thank you."

"It's just a temporary one," Klaus said, taking Evelyn's hand back in his. "I intend to keep my promise for our special day."

She nervously laughed, looking at him with a glare. What the fuck?

"How long have you two been together?" Sarah asked.

"Quiet some time," Evelyn answered. "I still remember the first time we met so clearly. Like it just happened yesterday." Her eyes met Klaus' and he silently pleaded her to not speak anymore.

"High school sweethearts?"

"Something like that," Evelyn nodded and squirmed in her seat when Klaus warned her with a light pinch on her hip, more like tickling her and she kept in the laughter that was threatening to slip.

"He was in my history class." Evelyn grabbed a hold Klaus' hand, hiding it behind her back and refused to let go when he tried to pry it off her grip.

"He wrote a note, asking me to the school dance and gave me a white rose with it. Isn't that right, baby?" Evelyn looked at him.

Klaus pressed his lips tightly together and nodded.

Eve: 4
Nik: 2

"Yeah. Took me a lot of courage to ask her actually," he faked a laugh.

"How romantic," Sarah cooed.

"So romantic," Evelyn murmured with her eyes meeting Klaus'. Creepy fossil

"But I said no," she said.

"She's joking," Klaus quickly said.

"I'm not."

He tugged her closer to him, pressing his lips to the side of her head and whispered lowly in her ear, making her shiver slightly. "I told you to behave."

"You should know by now that I don't listen to anyone, especially you," she muttered so he could only hear her.

"Drink your tea." She urged him and he took it off her with a scowl on his face.

Evelyn continued to make up a story on how their love story began and Klaus had no choice but to forcefully agree to everything she said.

"And you see from that day I knew he was the one. He's my soulmate."

Klaus choked on his tea, spitting it out with wide eyes.

"I told you not to drink too fast," Evelyn rubbed his back whilst handing him a napkin. "He loves his tea a bit too much," she told Sarah.

Evelyn watched as Sarah left to get Klaus a glass of water and returned her attention back to him. "What was that about?"

"The tea is horrible," Klaus made up an excuse.

Evelyn took a sip herself. "It taste fine to me."

"I don't like it."

"You didn't have to spit it out like that," she whispered.

"Then she should know how to make tea correctly," he whispered back.

"What the hell is up with you?"

"Nothing."

Sarah returned back with a glass of water and Klaus' eyes drifted towards the window then back to Evelyn. "He's here."

"But I was just about to have this cake. It's chocolate fudge too," Evelyn pouted.

"Quickly," Klaus sighed.

"What are you doing?" Evelyn whispered to him when she saw him follow Sarah. "She's a kind woman and made us food. Don't hurt her."

"I'm going to compel her to forget us," he reassured her.

"Oh okay." She nodded.

She then made her way outside the front porch, her eyes meeting the man they were going to meet and politely waved at him. He awkwardly waved back.

Klaus stepped out and stood besides Evelyn. "Why are you waving at him?"

"Because I want to," she shrugged. "I thought Bert was going to be an old man. He looks so young."

"Do you find him attractive?" His jaw clenched.

"Totally. We'd make a great couple. In fact i'm going to run away with him and have all of his babies," Evelyn casually said.

Klaus rolled his eyes at her snarky remark and made his way over to the man. "It's Bert, right mate?"

"Yeah." He gave him a slow and cautious response.

Klaus flashed his hybrid eyes and smirked.

━━━━━━━━━━

"I went from being kidnapped to a kidnapper." Evelyn murmured when she ran after Klaus who dragged Bert inside his own house and locked the door.

"Nik, go easy on him," Evelyn winced when Klaus shoved the man against a wall. "You made him cry now!"

"That doesn't sound like he's crying," Klaus aggressively pushed him back again. "Now that's more like it."

"I can't believe we're kidnapping him in his own house," Evelyn anxiously spoke.

"What was I supposed to do, love? Take him back to our hotel suite and feed him a 3 course meal." Klaus faced her as he kept a harsh grip around the man's neck.

"And I very well can't compel him when he's been drinking vervain." Klaus had found vervain in the water bottle he drank which now meant more work for him to find out where Ray was.

"Look what you did to him. He's bleeding from his lip," Evelyn shrieked when Klaus' fist met his face.

"It's nothing compared to what I have planned," Klaus scowled. "Stop caring about him."

"You could've just asked him about Ray first," Evelyn argued back.

"Fine. I'll ask him. Where's Ray?" Klaus asked as he kept throwing him in every direction of his house causing him to break things around them.

"I didn't say to hit him too," Evelyn scolded.

"I don't know!" Bert shouted as he tried to move away from Klaus. "Who are you?" His eyes flickered to Evelyn then Klaus.

"We're FBI Agents," Evelyn blurted out. "Ray is a wanted man. We need to know where he is. That's all."

"His eyes were glowing before." He pointed to Klaus.

"He has special contacts on. They change colour every now and then," Evelyn explained and Klaus pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know who Ray is."

Klaus having enough, held him by his throat and lifted him up, throwing him harshly on a chair. "Eve, pass me the tape."

"Do we have to?" She asked. "He looks so scared."

Klaus gave her a stern look and brought his hand out forward. "Tape. Now."

"This is just FBI protocol. We need to investigate you." Evelyn looked down at their kidnapped victim.

"By tying me up to a chair?!" He cried out.

Evelyn reluctantly hand it to Klaus and bit on her lower lip, standing in a corner and watching as Klaus taped his legs to the chair.

"Yup. I'm officially a criminal," Evelyn spoke up.

"You're hurting him too much now." She stood besides Klaus.

"I don't think it's too much." Klaus murmured and tugged very harshly as he wrapped the tape around his leg. "That's better."

"Stop! I'll do it." She took the tape off him. "Hi Bert," she whispered with a soft smile to the whimpering man. "You have a lovely name."

"It's not," Klaus ridiculed.

"It's okay," Evelyn reassured Bert.

"Not really," Klaus said.

That made him more frightened when Klaus looked at him with a murderous look.

"Ignore him," Evelyn nervously laughed. "He's just being a silly puppy because I didn't give him his favourite treat."

"Bloody hell," Klaus muttered under his breath.

"W– what?"

"Oh." She covered a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh, but he won't kill you. All we want is for you to tell the truth. Don't worry."

"Worry," Klaus spoke up. "A lot."

"Stop it!" Evelyn snapped and he shrugged.

"I'm just going to tape your wrist. So please stay still." Evelyn gently taped his wrist.

Klaus tapped on his foot impatiently. "Love, I don't have all day."

"I don't care." She took her time and looked back at Bert who seemed like he wanted to pee himself. "I think he needs to go to the bathroom. We should let him go."

Klaus rubbed at his temple. "That's not how kidnapping works, love."

"I thought you were FBI agents?!" They ignored Bert.

"Oh. But what if he pees in his pants?" Evelyn asked Klaus.

"Then he does it in his pants," Klaus simply stated.

"When Rose kidnapped me, she gave me chocolate. Can I give him food at least?"

"What?! She fed you?!"

Evelyn nodded, "She was so nice to me. I miss Rose. Rest in Peace, you beautiful soul," she whispered with a pout.

"I bought you food too," Klaus frowned. "And it was the whole menu." 

"He kidnapped you?" Bert spoke up. "And now you're kidnapping with him?" His eyes flickered between Evelyn and Klaus who were having their own conversation.

"Who told you to speak," Klaus scowled, hitting the back of his head with Evelyn's bag that he took from her.

"Don't hit him with my bag." Evelyn snatched her bag off Klaus, clutching it close to her chest. "My sprays are inside there."

"I'm taping his mouth," he said.

"Come on, we don't need to do that as well." She stood in front of Bert.

"If you don't move. I will tie you up too," Klaus warned her.

"Fine," Evelyn sighed. Klaus shoved a cloth in his mouth and she gave Bert an apologetic look.

He then ripped a piece of tape and slapped it against Bert's mouth. "You didn't have to slap it on him!"

Klaus only smirked, feeling satisfied.

"I'm so sorry," Evelyn moved to gently caress Bert's taped mouth and wipe his tears with a tissue.

Klaus removed her hand away from Bert's face. "You don't apologise to him," he said with an irritated tone.

"Can't we just give him a snack at least while we wait for Stefan?"

"No. We're not giving him anything until we find out where Ray is," he said.

"A blanket? He's shivering," she said.

"That's not what kidnappers do," Klaus sighed.

"Well, Rose–"

"Enough about her. She's dead. End of."

━━━━━━━━━━

"This is Bert?" Stefan pointed to him. "I thought he would be old."

"That's what I said," Evelyn said. "Great minds think alike. High five." Stefan gave her a high five.

"Let's get back to what we're here for," Klaus interrupted them. "I can't compel him for a few more hours until the vervain is out of his system."

"I'll take the tape off him. You'll just yank it off." Evelyn moved Klaus to aside. "I am going to take this off and you will not scream. I won't hurt you."

"I will," Klaus piped in.

"He won't." Evelyn looked over her shoulder, sending Klaus a glare. "You won't."

She peeled off the tape slowly and Bert spat out the cloth that was shoved in his mouth on the floor.

"He's going to scream," Stefan warned. "Put the tape back on him."

"I agree," Klaus nodded.

"Please don't," Evelyn pleaded. "We're actually nice people once you get to know us."

"Besides him." Stefan pointed to Klaus and he rolled his eyes.

"Who are you?" Bert asked.

"This is Edith." Klaus pointed to Evelyn.

"What the hell?" Evelyn looked at Klaus.

"We don't tell him our real names," he whispered to her. "Another rule in kidnapping."

"Fine, that's Kevin and Steve." Evelyn gestured to Klaus and Stefan.

"It's nice to meet you." She offered her hand to him. "Oh wait I can't shake your hand. They're tied up," she laughed nervously.

"Okay," Stefan drawled out, moving Evelyn away from him.

"Where's Ray?" Klaus asked.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"My patience is thinning here. I'm going to kill him," Klaus muttered as he paced around the room.

"Please just tell us where he is and we'll leave you alone," Evelyn said.

"Or how about I just kill him instead?" Klaus offered a different solution.

"Who's in charge?" Bert asked.

"I am." Evelyn and Klaus spoke at the same time. "No. I am." They repeated to each other.

Evelyn and Klaus turned to Stefan, expecting an answer from him. "Uh–"

"I'm the boss," Evelyn said.

"No," Klaus said.

"Shh." Evelyn poked a finger on his chest. "Don't even bother arguing with me."

"Yeah, I most definitely agree on that," Stefan nodded.

"If he doesn't tell us this time, i'm killing him. Perhaps I'll start with ripping out his tongue," Klaus glared at him who was whimpering out of fear.

Evelyn covered Bert's ear as she stood behind him. "Can't you be patient for a little longer, Nik. You keep making him cry."

"Then i'll end him now." Klaus took a step forward. "It'll be quick and easy too."

Evelyn pushed Klaus back from killing him, the two beginning to yell at each other, and Stefan rolled his eyes. "It was going so well," he muttered under his breath.

"There is something I know!" Bert blurted out and they all looked down at him. "I'll tell you only because she's nice." He glanced over to Evelyn.

"He said i'm nice," Evelyn awed. "Thank you so much." He blushed.

Klaus gritted his teeth, taking a deep breath.

"There's this guy. He's not called Ray and he lives just at the bottom but he barely stays here. Super sketchy."

"What's his name?" Klaus asked and he told them his name.

"We won't be long," Klaus told Evelyn. "And don't listen to what he says. I don't care if he needs to go to the bathroom or he's hungry. He does not leave your sight."

"In other words, don't do anything too Eve like," Stefan chimed in. "You're too nice which is good, don't be offended."

"I can't help it!" Evelyn threw her hands in the air. "Poor guy has been crying all day. I feel bad for him."

"Don't speak to him then," Klaus said.

"Okay. Got it. No speaking," Evelyn nodded. "What else do kidnappers do?"

━━━━━━━━━━

Evelyn sat down on the chair opposite Bert as she glanced around the room whilst fidgeting with her fingers.

Don't speak, Eve. Show him your mean face. You're a kidnapper remember. She repeated the words over and over again.

Not even 5 minutes passed by and she spoke up. "I give up! Are you hungry?"

"I thought I wasn't allowed to eat," he frowned.

"It's still your house."

"Your boyfriend is going to kill me if I eat," Bert said.

"He's not my boyfriend."

"So are you married to him?"

"Ew no. I will never be his wife," she scrunched her nose. "The thought makes me want to throw up."

"Forget about him. I'll cook for you." She stood up from her seat and pushed his chair into the kitchen.

"How about I make you a sandwich," Evelyn chirped as she rummaged through his kitchen. "Nice house by the way and sorry for the damage Ni– Kevin caused. He'll pay for it."

"How are you a kidnapper?" He asked, confusion laced in his tone. "You're too kind."

Evelyn smiled, but quickly held on to the counter when she felt a little dizzy. She hissed, bringing a hand to the side of her temple and rubbed it.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Evelyn turned around.

"I never said anything."

That was weird.

━━━━━━━━━━

"I told you not to feed him!" Evelyn was met with a furious Klaus storming into the room.

"And she's actually feeding him," Stefan said as he watched Evelyn wipe the tied up Bert's mouth with a napkin then made him drink a glass of water.

"Why don't you ever listen to one thing I tell you to do?" Klaus complained.

"We were hungry so I made sandwiches. Want one?" She offered them to Klaus and Stefan. "It's PB&J."

"Then you should've ate yourself. Not with him and why is he crying now? I haven't even tortured him yet." Klaus noticed the redness around Bert's eyes.

"We were just having a chat and then he told me his girlfriend cheated on him. All of his exes actually. That's so sad," Evelyn said.

Klaus snorted at that, "I'm not even surprised they did. His name is Bert."

"You just made him cry again." Stefan buried his face in his hands. "Shut him up."

"It's okay," Evelyn softly spoke. "They don't deserve you. I would totally date you."

"Really?" Bert sniffled.

"No," Klaus scoffed.

"Of course I would." Evelyn ignored Klaus' remarks. "You're a handsome guy and I enjoy talking to you."

"Okay, stop wiping his tears. He's fine now." Klaus moved Evelyn away from him.

"What are we going to do now?" Stefan asked.

"I kill him," Klaus casually said.

"No!" Evelyn cried out. "He told you where Ray is."

"We didn't find Ray. So I guess I can kill him for giving me false information," Klaus snapped.

"He didn't even know that was Ray," Evelyn scowled. "He's innocent and you've already tortured him enough. You even broke almost everything in his house."

Klaus glanced around the mess he created. "Oh yeah," he murmured. "I should've done more."

"Nik!" Evelyn gasped. "He's also been cheated and used multiple times. That's not fair on him. Let him live."

"It's not my fault his parents called him Bert and his love life is tragic," Klaus taunted.

"Can you both decide what it's going to be?" Stefan asked as he leaned against the wall with his arm crossed over his chest. "Because he's still crying and i'm getting tired of hearing it."

Neither Klaus or Evelyn heard him.

"You know what? I'll be waiting in the car because you two arguing is worse than his cries." Stefan left.

"Nik." Klaus noticed the small pout forming on Evelyn's lips.

"No. Not that face." Klaus looked away.

"What face?" Evelyn feigned innocence.

"You know what i'm talking about." He refused to look at those gorgeous eyes that made him lose his will power.

"Please, Nik."

"He lives," Klaus muttered and Evelyn tried not to smile too much. "I'm compelling him. The vervain should be out of his system by now."

Evelyn turned to Bert with a wide smile on her face. "You get to live!" She cheered and he looked relieved.

"Unfortunately," Klaus added.

"Oh, Nik. I have a great idea. Let's keep Bert. We can be a squad instead."

"Never happening. He's lucky he's alive."

━━━━━━━━━━

"He's in a mood," Stefan said. "Again."

"Hey, at least it's not my fault this time," Evelyn said. "But can you blame him? He's been searching for this wolf for like forever now. Of course he's going to get stressed out and tired of this."

Stefan let out a sigh, looking back at the TV where they were watching Star Wars.

A chuckle escaped his lips when he heard Evelyn's stomach grumble and she gave him a sheepish smile. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," she replied back.

"What do you want?"

"Chinese. That always fills me up."

"Stay away from him, okay? He doesn't want us near him," Stefan said.

"Okay," Evelyn nodded.

Once he left, she stood up and made herself busy in the kitchen, looking through the cupboard, and smiling when she set her eyes on what she just needed.

━━━━━━━━━━

Evelyn carefully walked as she held the tray in her hands, whispering to herself to not trip over her own foot.

When she made it to Klaus' room, she knocked on the door. "Housekeeping," she quietly giggled to herself when she put on an accent.

The door opened and Evelyn was met with a angry Klaus, his expression turning soft when she smiled at him. "Hi," she said.

"Um– I made you tea." She lifted her hands up, showing him the tray. "I just thought it will help you feel relaxed. But I don't know how much sugar and milk you prefer so I just left it for you to put it yourself and there's a plate of biscuits and cakes too."

Evelyn pointed to everything she prepared for him until she found Klaus intensely staring at her, and gulped.

"I've annoyed you more. Let's pretend this never happened," she murmured, turning around to walk away.

She felt Klaus' hand brush past against hers as he took the tray from her hands and set it down on the dresser in his room. "Thank you," he spoke softly.

"Oh, uh, yeah, cool," she nervously laughed. "It's nothing much."

But it was to Klaus.

Evelyn looked over his shoulder, the sight of a canvas peering from the corner of his room. "What are you painting?"

"Nothing." Klaus moved to block her view from seeing the canvas more.

"Are you painting one of your french girls?" Evelyn teased.

Klaus chuckled, shaking his head. It was only her.

"Are you jealous?" He decided to tease her this time.

"No," she scoffed.

She looked back at Klaus, and he was staring at her again. It felt different. He looked at her with admiration.

Removing her gaze from his, she spoke up. "Alright. I'll leave you to whatever you're painting."

"Actually, there's something i've been meaning to tell you," she said and that made Klaus stop and turn around to her.

"So do I," he said.

"Okay. You go ahead." She motioned for him to speak first.

"No. You," he insisted.

"Nik, speak."

"Ladies first."

"How about we both say what we want to say on the count of three," Evelyn suggested.

"Okay."

"3... 2... 1..."

"I'm sorry." They both said.

Evelyn's eye's widened, tilting her head and Klaus furrowed his brows. Both finding it shocking that they finally apologised to one another.

"I thought you were stubborn to apologise to me," Evelyn stated.

"I could say the same for you," Klaus said.

"But i'm not."

"Yes you are."

"So are you."

Klaus shook his head. "I can assure you–"

"We're going to end up arguing again," Evelyn said.

"True," he nodded. "I'm stubborn," he admitted.

"So am I," she agreed.

"Just a bit more than me." Klaus added.

"I'm the lesser between us."

Klaus looked at Evelyn with a raised eyebrow when she shook her head with a small giggle, before she looked back up at him, meeting his eyes. He couldn't help the honest smile that graced his features, watching her face light up.

She was ready to walk away before she spoke once more. "Nik?"

"Yes, love."

"You should smile more. It's beautiful," she spoke in a soft tone.

So he did that because when Evelyn smiled, so did Klaus.

━━━━━━━━━━

Stefan stood up from his seat making his way over to Evelyn. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

"Sweet dreams, Stef," Evelyn said.

She continued eating her dinner when Klaus walked over to her. "Would you like to eat anything else?"

"I'm good."

He nodded, ready to walk away when he heard the sound of her cutlery hitting the table and a sharp hiss from her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Evelyn let out a low laugh. "Just been having one of those horrible migraines again for the past couple of days. I'll sleep it off."

Evelyn rose up from her chair but as she took a few steps forward she froze in her spot when she felt a warm fluid running down her nose and touched it when she saw blood.

Black blood

"What the hell?" She whispered.

"What's wrong?" Klaus spoke from behind her.

"I– I don't know." She touched her nose again but this time nothing was there. Feeling faint, she stumbled back. 

"Easy there, love." Klaus gathered her in his arms and turned her to him.

Evelyn looked around, she felt confused. "Nik," she whispered shakily.

"Hey, look at me." He placed his hands on the side of her face as he looked into her eyes. They were filled with fright. "Eve?"

He was taken aback when her eyes turned to a bright purple and her hand gripped tightly onto Klaus' wrist. He hissed in pain when they illuminated, burning his skin.

"Eve, love," Klaus ignored his pain, which Evelyn was putting him through, and concentrated on her instead.

She looked at him with no expression but there were tears falling down her face.

Her mind was filled with blurred images which she couldn't decipher.

A body laying in the middle of the woods with a slit neck and blood seeping out their chest.

The screams and cries of someone echoing.

A shadowy figure.

Evelyn gasped, briefly looking at Klaus then her eyes fluttered shut as darkness took over her. And the last thing she heard were multiple voices who seemed to be chanting a spell.

This was just the beginning of their downfall.

I hate majority of this chapter so much but I missed Kenji.

Debating if I should have Bert make an appearance every now and then. Should I and any faceclaim ideas? ( Don't even ask why I named him that. It just sounded funny in my head )

I'll hopefully update next week
and love you!