"Do you enjoy scaring the fuck out of us?" was the very first question thrown at Maeve a second after she opened her eyes. Maeve sat up on the couch inside her office; slowly her mind and body returned from its recent getaway.

She kept breathing in and out while her head reeled back to the compound of the Mikaelson home where she was for the last several minutes. Finally she glanced upward, tilting her head back. Elijah, Ezekiel and Florence stood hovering by her, each pair of eyes profiling her intimidatingly.

"I'm fine." that was all she said. "Is Hayley okay? And my niece?"

"I'm fine? Is Hayley okay?" repeated Elijah mockingly. "That's all you are going to say to us? Maeve do you ever realise the gravity of any situation? Your shoulder was bleeding five minutes ago. I had to feed you my blood to heal the injury because your soul wasn't here to help your body heal itself. Not just that but then, your body glowed a bright red while you were unconscious and you ended up in a place where the dead go. Do you have any regard for your life?" Elijah's voice raised a few octaves. He demanded a response from Maeve. His undead heart had stopped beating as soon as Hayley came to, inside the Abbatoir.

Maeve's eyes met his, softening her glare as well as his, "I'm sorry but I'm fine."

"Who did this to you?" asked Ezekiel. He interrupted a brewing argument that would only stray the topic further away.

"Mom, dad and pops." said Maeve. She stood up on her feet, and faced her brother. "They wanted to um...say goodbyes."

"During that you fought Mikael?" asked Ezekiel unable to connect dots between the stories.

"They tried contacting me, yes, but I got transported somehow to the compound. Just in time as the dead vermin was going to attack Hayley."

"I understand that but Maeve...your body was glowing red. How do you explain that?" Maeve studied Elijah. She attempted to decipher the cold expression but for the first time, she was lost.

She couldn't tell if he was mad at her, worried for her or both. "Is Maverick here?" she asked instead.

"Why?"

"Zeke, just yes or no."

"Yeah, he's outside talking to a Vlatka for answers."

"Ask him to come inside. I need to speak with him."

Elijah intervened immediately, "not before you speak to us."

"Elijah...please," begged Maeve. "He is the only one who can make sense of everything." she licked her bottom lip, "you should go home."

"No." said Elijah adamantly.

"Wait for me with Nik, Kol and Hayley. I am not going to keep repeating myself!"

Elijah pressed his lips together into a thin line. He opened them again to argue but Ezekiel placed his hand on his shoulder silently signalling to not further the conversation into an argument.

Reluctantly everyone left the office and within seconds Maverick strolled on, curiosity written all over his face. "You asked for me?"

"Yeah, close the door." Maverick did as told and faced Maeve. She looked at him still stumped at a lot of things. She waved her hand and muttered "silentium" Maverick looked at her with a shock. He blinked his eyes a few times and looked back at the door. 

"Did...di---did you just...uh, did you just cast a spell?" he asked barely getting words out. Maeve nodded her head.

"The other side is collapsing, the serene witches, all of those including mom gave me their powers."

"Holy shit! That is awesome!" said Maverick expressing his excitement. "but um...why didn't you tell them?"

"Because there is a reason I got these powers and I don't want them to find out the reason why." Maeve settled in an arm chair nearby and gestured for Maverick to do the same. "Danger is coming their way and its only I who can save them."

"What do you want me to do?" asked Maverick.

"I have a plan. A plan nobody is onboard with, especially pops and dad but I have to do this."

"What do you have in mind?"

Maeve paused for a moment before beginning again, "it starts with me abdicating the throne."

"So she is fine?" Kol reconfirmed, glancing at his brother.

Elijah hummed and nodded his head before he took another sip of his bourbon. "That woman is one day going to be the death of me." said Elijah quietly. 

"Come on now my dear, that is a little melodramatic." Maeve commented in her usual soft tone. She walked into the study room of the house with a warm smile. On her face there was not a single trace of stress or any reminiscent of the events that unfolded that very morning. She had changed into a more comfortable outfit; baggy jeans and an oversize hoodie. She had thrown on a pair of white trainers and had her hair tied in a bun. 

"You are one to talk." Elijah bit back rudely. "You first stroll into danger, despite knowing well the fact that it will be dangerous and also not knowing what is going to happen."

"What else was I supposed to do? Leave Hayley at that fuckers mercy?" snapped back Maeve.

"No, You should have drawn yourself back with Hayley. You helped her get out, meaning you knew exactly what to do to get out of there. But you stayed. You stayed and fought him. He could have killed you. Your rings would have been useless there. It was just a shoulder injury now, it could have been your heart. When will you realise that?" Elijah argued vehemently. He let off the steam and anger that burnt bright behind the cold look of his eyes. 

Maeve hung her head low. She had been careless, she knew that. But she was not going to let Elijah know that she knew she was wrong. "Please like that old coward could ever take me. It took him pumping me with silver and witch hazel to get me half in his control. I was just fine." Elijah turned away from her and sighed. He could not help but worry for her. She was a strong woman, but he also knew how fragile her heart was, how soulful she was and how easily she hurt herself. 

"What happened there?" asked Klaus driving the attention away. Maeve turned to her best friend. 

"This happened." she said before she began to concentrate on Elijah. She rubbed her fingers together and muttered a few words incoherently. Suddenly with a pop sound several glitter sparkles began to shower down on Elijah from above his head and fell on his shoulders. Elijah looked up in confusion before he turned around. He had a look of confusion and shock on his face before he turned to look at Maeve who was grinning ear to ear.

"Did you just..." began Kol, "is your magic..." he was at a loss of words.

"All the serene witches before me gave me their spell because they were proud of me for selflessly giving up my magic to protect those around me." Klaus and Kol looked at each other, before turning back to her. 

"I can't believe this!"

"You better do it, Nikky because your ally Serene Witch is back in business." said Maeve attempting to appear nonchalant but did end up looking childishly excited. "I can help you with whatever you want."

"Wonderful. There is a lot I want from you, don't have to rely on Genevieve anymore." said Klaus with a gush of relief in his voice. 

"Please, not her. I am better, stronger and so much prettier. What do you think Elijah?" she asked him. Elijah rolled his eyes and instead of responding he exited the room. 

"He was pretty mad at you." Hayley decided to speak up. "especially when you basically kicked him out." Maeve nodded her head and left the room as well. She knew she would find Elijah in his bedroom, out on the balcony watching over the bourbon street and drunken tourists being scammed by locals.

As suspected she did find Elijah exactly where she knew she would. She approached him and went in to hug him from behind but Elijah was quick. He speedily turned around and grabbed her left hand in his. She gasped startled by his sudden action. "I am sorry about what I did, Elijah, its just...I was confused." Maeve told him sorrowfully. Elijah deep into her eyes, an action he had come to do when he wanted to ground himself. He didn't waste more time and wrapped his free hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a deep kiss. Maeve moaned and kissed him back with more passion. She pressed her body against his, feeling his body heat. She slid her fingers through his hair and the kiss deepened. Elijah arms wrapped even tighter around her.

Maeve gave herself up to him. She surrendered all control over herself to Elijah. Rather forcefully he shoved her backward without breaking the kiss. Her hands clutched his arms as the two fell on his bed. Elijah pulled away and stared into her eyes, which were cloudy with passion. 

"Don't ever pull a stunt like that again." she stayed silent. She didn't want to agree nor disagree with him. There was one more thing she planned that would hurt him more than he was hurting at the moment. She knew she should tell him everything. She knew it was the right thing to do. But she loved him. She loved him far too deeply, far too much to do that to him. 

Instead of verbally telling him anything, she pulled him into a hug. Elijah gladly wrapped his arms around her and shifted to a side on the bed. The two of them laid on the bed in each others arms. Maeve had her head resting on his shoulder and eyes closed, but her mind was slowly drifting off to a small corner of her apartment in the upper side of the city of New Orleans. The corner where Maverick was---as she laid there with Elijah---setting up everything she needed to make sure that the plan she had would work.

"Promise me you will protect them."

"I will protect every single Mikaelson; born, unborn and related."

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Hey guys! I know its been a long time since I updated but I had my exams and I was just so exhausted after that, so I took a few days for myself, hope it was alright.

Well the update is here. I sincerely hope you liked it. You are not ready for the next updates and plot twists, let me tell you that ;)

Anyways, Take care everyone!

Raven :)