No Good Deed | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [3]

8 | Never Going Back

As the three Originals walk up to the small apartment, Klaus smirks back at his siblings. "Come now. Why the long faces?"

Neither Elijah nor Lexi look particularly happy to be standing next to him. Lexi stands further back, her expression—while bored—displays hints of fear, waiting for Klaus' incoming rage; Elijah just stares passively at his brother. "Just show us our siblings," Elijah says. "and we'll be on our way."

"Even you, Lexi?" Klaus asks as he unlocks the door. "You'll leave too?"

Lexi pauses, pursing her lips as she considers her next words. "I have other responsibilities I must get back to," she replies. "but I might stay for a while. Reminisce about our childhood. Perhaps kill Damon Salvatore now that Elena is gone and our deal is void."

The smirk on Klaus' face grows tenfold at her answer. When he opens the door to the apartment, two scents smack Lexi in the face; she moves in slowly after her brothers, carefully watching the two vampires before them.

"Klaus, you're back," Katherine says. "Look who decided to come for a visit." She tugs on Stefan Salvatore's sleeve triumphantly.

Klaus tilts his head as he looks the vampire up and down. "You just keep popping up, don't you?" He asks as Lexi closes the door behind them.

"I need your help," Stefan says, failing to keep his voice straight. "For my brother."

"Well, whatever it is, he's going to have to wait a tick," Klaus says as he moves to another part of the apartment, out of view. "You see, I have an obligation to my brother that requires my immediate attention."

Elijah glares as Klaus disappears behind a corner. "You understand how important family is, or you wouldn't be here," he says. "My brother gave me his word that he would reunite me with my own."

Lexi does not have enough time to shout as Klaus appears behind Elijah. "And so I shall," he says before thrusting a silver dagger through Elijah's heart.

Lexi lurches forward, her body pushing Klaus out of the way as she reaches for the dagger. Within a second, he has her pinned to the wall with his arm pushing against her throat. "What are you going to do?" She snaps. "You broke your word."

"He tried to kill me," Klaus replies with anger simmering below the surface. "You'd do well to remember your betrayal before you jump to save him. I have something else for you."

When he lets her drop to the ground, she crosses her arms. "I'm never going back to Brazil, am I?"

"Why on earth would you want to go back?" Klaus asks. "When your family is right here?"

Lexi rolls her eyes and pulls out her phone. Catching her brother's questioning look, she says, "At least let me settle some things before you whisk me away to god knows where."

"Fine," he groans, throwing his hands up. "You always were the responsible one."

"No, that was Finn," Lexi replies with a false smile. "He's in a box."

Klaus just turns his attention to Stefan.

As Lexi fiddles with her phone, her fingers hover over a number. With a shake of her head, she begins to type; her eyes sag as she finishes the message, sending it off quickly.

"What was she doing?" Kira asks, trying to get a good look at Lexi's face.

"Making sure Cora is alright," Derek replies. "She's not gonna get another chance to go back, so she's making sure Cora is taken care of."

"One big, gapping issue with that," Stiles says as he turns to his pack. "Cora doesn't know Lexi."

"She knows Maria," Lydia replies.

"Sure, but Cora also didn't know Lexi when we knew her," Stiles says as he clenches his jaw. "Right?"

"Maybe she did," Peter says with a sigh. "We won't know until we see it."

"Quick question," Malia says, raising her hand. "Who's Cora again?"

Lydia clamps her hand on Malia's shoulder and purses her lips. "Do you pay attention at all?" The strawberry-blonde asks.

"Nope."

Suddenly, Lexi looks up from her silent phone at her smirking brother beside a very nervous Stefan. When she approaches, arm outstretched, she does not react when Klaus sinks his fangs into her wrist; she only winces and glares. "Seriously, brother?" Lexi asks. "Why the—" His blood in her mouth is answer enough as the bite heals from her skin, "Why the bloody theatrics?" Lexi exclaims once the bite is healed. "You could have just told him the cure to wolf bites."

"What fun is that?" Klaus asks before he glances back at Stefan. "You want your cure. There it is."

With a sigh, Stefan's gaze turns to the floor. "Your blood is the cure."

"Gotta love mother nature," Klaus replies. "Now, let's talk, you and I." It takes him a moment to fill a small glass bottle with his blood. "There it is. You want to save your brother?" Stefan just nods. "How 'bout a decade-long bender? And I have big plans for you when we leave this town."

Lexi takes a seat beside Katherine; surprisingly, neither woman is too averse to the other's company. Both are stuck in their positions, unable to escape Klaus' wrath. Both had betrayed him in a way that shook him to his very core. Both had stood in the way of his desires, and both would be punished for it.

"How are you, Katerina?" Lexi asks softly, trying to block out Stefan's refusal. She may not like him, but the honor he shows in begging becomes him. He was the good one.

The doppelgänger narrows her eyes. "Why do you want to know?" She asks. "You hate me."

"Not as much as I hate myself," Lexi replies. "but you know that."

Katherine shrugs. "I know I'm not getting out of here alive."

"Yes, you are," Lexi scoffs, quietly enough that, as Klaus talks, he cannot hear her. "Why do you think he's never caught you?"

Katherine glances back at Klaus. "I thought I outran him."

"Half of the time, yes," Lexi replies as she leans her head against the wall. "The other half? We let you go."

"Why?"

"He likes the chase."

Klaus' voice brings both women back to the present. He tosses Stefan a blood bag, saying, "Again."

Lexi slowly stands, her eyes wide as she steps next to her brother. "I do not think this is a good idea," she says softly. "He's—"

"A ripper," Klaus replies with a sparkle in his eye. "I know."

Stefan finishes the blood bag; Klaus tosses him the next. Unable to do anything, Lexi watches helplessly as Stefan finishes every bag thrown his way, his eyes glowing with increasing bloodlust. Until, suddenly, he stops. "No more," he pants. "Not until you give me the cure."

"Not until we make a deal," Klaus replies. "It's your choice, Stefan. You can either remain here living your life in Mystic Falls, or you can embrace what you truly are, leave town with us, and save your brother's life." Crouching beside him, Klaus offers a final blood bag.

With a second of hesitation, Stefan takes it, ripping his fangs into the material.

"That's the spirit," Klaus says with a winning smirk. As he stands, the cure in his hands, he motions Katherine over to him. "Sweetheart, take this over to Damon and come right back."

Katherine's eyes widen. "You want me to leave?"

Stefan shouts, but Lexi shushes him. "Wait," she says softly. "Have a little faith." By the time Lexi looks up again, Katherine is gone. "You know she'll never take it to him," Lexi says with her arms crossed.

"Would you like to ensure she does?"

"I think I already did."

Hot take: Stefan's not my fav either. But, I admire the lengths he goes to in order to save Damon. 

Hope you enjoyed!

-L