Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[83]

While the building in front of which she now stood was familiar, Emma had never actually visited it before or been inside. She had no reason to. And yet, now she did. She knew who was in there. She knew what was in there. And yet, she faced it. And she walked up the steps, overhearing the ends of a conversation she was about to interrupt.

"We just killed your brother and you want me to believe you're helping? Knowing you its just another way to try killing us." Caroline's words were the first Emma could actually distinguish fully. And she knew who the blonde was talking to.

"Oh I've told you Caroline, I killed Tyler's mother, you killed my brother. We're even." Klaus' voice made Emma roll her eyes. Of all times, he chooses now to be fair and benevolent. It made another spark of anger flash through her mind.

"And we're just supposed to believe that?" The third member of their little party was Tyler Lockwood.

"I keep my promises. However..." Klaus spoke. And Emma walked up to the ruined door of the Gilbert house just in time to see the smirk spread over his face as he took a short pause. "I don't make them on the behalf of others." He added, eyes turning to the door where she stood.

"Good, I wouldn't want to break it." Emma's cold eyes took in the blonde and the hybrid, watching as the colour drained from their face. By now, word of Emma not being a simple human had spread through Mystic Falls, and more than ever before, she relished in it. But before she started to focus on what she might do to either one of them, Emma's eyes turned to Klaus with a glare. "So, you're helping them now?"

"Merely for Rebekah's sake, love. Once we're done you can do whatever you want with any of them." Klaus explained, seeming pleased with Emma's presence and the anger radiating off of her. "I promise, I won't stop you." That promise had Caroline and Tyler glaring his way, not that Klaus cared. He couldn't wait to see Emma tear them all apart.

"Good." She said.

She had delivered her threat to Elena, knowing that is how she was going to handle the older Gilbert. When it came to the others she still had to decide on her methods. But either way she had time. Because she wasn't about to be predictable and do it now. No... she'd wait. Let them relax thinking she forgot about them. And then she'd be back.

Right now, she wasn't here for revenge. She had other motives.

Watching Emma make her way into the house, and chuckling at the look which passed between Caroline and Tyler as they saw it too, Klaus waited a moment. He made sure Emma was going to let them proceed, and once her inquisitive eyes started to scan over all the things laid out on the table, he turned to Caroline again, returning to their previous topic. "Caroline, bring my sword over here."

With her eyes focused on the pictures of Jeremy's Hunter's mark, Emma did her best to focus, to ignore the pain of knowing how it was created. She ignored Klaus and Caroline as they used the sword to decode the map, knowing her way would be quicker and easier.

Stepping around the edges of the living room, Emma let her hand glide through the air subtly. She could feel the magic of the barrier keeping Klaus locked in, and she used it to her advantage. She didn't remove all of it, she didn't take everything, only a small amount. Enough to fuel the spell she used next.

The spell they created together. The spell he helped her come up with so she'd have an easier time with the grimoire he had given her. One that now sat waiting in her car. Another memory of him. Of their time together.

Shaking her head, clearing her mind, Emma opened her eyes and focused on the map again. She heard Klaus saying the words. But he was slower. And she could understand it all before he and Caroline reached the end on their own. She knew it first. And it made her unable to hold back a smirk. This was even better than she hoped.

Pulling her phone out, Emma opened her messages with the one person she was here for. For a moment, she scanned over the ones she hadn't checked yet. Asking her where she was. Telling her where to go and wait just a little if she was in need of a friend who wasn't a Mikaelson. Emma didn't respond to any of those, but simply typed out what she wanted to in the first place.

"There's only one dose. Get to it first."

That is who she was here for. Not for revenge, even though she wanted it. Not to free Klaus or help Rebekah get the Cure. Her anger with them over being so civil with the Scooby Gang after what they did made her unbothered about the idea of keeping them on their toes for a little longer when the Cure slipped away from them.

She was here for Katherine Pierce.

And for herself.

Before anyone had a chance to question what she was doing, Emma pushed the phone back into her pocket, eyes glancing up, only she wasn't careful about it. Her breath hitched as her eyes fell on the one thing she wanted to avoid looking at until she was ready.

She could feel a new set of tears starting to pool in her eyes, surprising even herself as she thought she had no more left to cry after how much she had already. But before they could fall, the sound of someone calling her name brought her back to reality. Turning back around, she met Klaus' sympathetic gaze, watching as he took a step forward before remembering he couldn't actually get to her.

"Hey, it's Caroline." The blonde's voice made Emma look away from the Hybrid and focus on the phone conversation instead. She hoped Klaus would do what she was expecting him to do. She knew he caught the same thing in the translation as she did. "We have the translation of the tattoo. We're emailing you pictures of the map and instructions right now."

"Got it. Thanks." Rebekah was the one on the other side of the call. Again, Emma pushed down her anger. She couldn't for the life of her understand how Rebekah could be there with them as if nothing happened.

"Actually, it was me." Klaus interjected.

"Nik, you helped?"

"He seems to be in an unusually forgiving mood." Emma couldn't hold back the jab, no matter how much she tried, her anger shining through for just a moment.

"You sound surprised, little sister." Klaus continued on with the conversation, but Rebekah took a spare moment to step away from it.

"Emma? You're there?" Rebekah's voice was both relieved and surprised, but Emma was currently in silent treatment mode when it came to the blonde. With the lack of a response, Rebekah too returned to her discussion with Klaus.

"Shouldn't I be, Nik? I mean, you don't want me to be human. You don't want any of us to be human. Why would you help us find the Cure?" She questioned his motives.

"Maybe I finally realized the longer I stand in the way of what you want, the longer you'll continue to hate me. Perhaps I want my sister to finally know happiness." Klaus said and even Emma found herself watching him curiously, trying to see whether he was actually telling the truth.

"Fool me once, shame on you; fool me a hundred times-" Rebekah started to voice her own doubts, but he interrupted her before she could finish.

"No more fooling. No more games. I hope you get to live," And while Rebekah couldn't see him, Emma could. She saw as, for a moment, he lost his composure, as his eyes shortly glanced at something behind her. She knew what it was. And she saw the pain in his face. That is how she knew he truly was being genuine. "and die, as you wish."

"So do I." Rebekah agreed, choosing to believe the words herself.

"There is one more thing, Rebekah." Klaus added, the emotions gone from his face and replaced with a spark of amusement. It was enough for Emma to know what was coming, and a pleased smile came over her own face. Just as she expected. Just as she wanted. "There is only one dose of the cure. You need to find it first and take it. It's the only way you'll-" Klaus spoke fast, leaving Tyler scrambling to end the call, but by the time he managed it, it was already too late.

And Emma couldn't hold back the small chuckle. She knew Klaus had caught it. And she knew he didn't tell them. She knew he was waiting for Rebekah to be the one to hear that part. Just as she expected he would. And now that he told her, Rebekah would be taking care of everyone else standing in her way to the Cure. Everyone she knew was there, at least. Leaving it ready and waiting for Katherine instead. Just as Emma planned.