napalm skies <<>> kol mikaelson

21

"echoes of my love boom across the sky."

21 | UNLIKELY ALLIES

August, 2010
{Mystic Falls}

"I'm surprised you showed."

Damon grimaced, stepping into the light of the dim lantern to reveal the rusted shovel in his hands, as well as the dead-not-dead face of Mystic Falls' very own Mason Lockwood.

The werewolf had hinted at some kind of weapon to kill Klaus, and considering that Damon didn't have any other leads on how to kill the bastard—as well as release his sister from her imprisonment with him—he was forced to see the goddamn conspiracy through. However, their brief and unstable alliance meant little to nothing to Damon, not while the werewolf's blue eyes followed his every move, still crouched next to the lit lantern.

"Hit a snag in my only other Klaus lead, so..." Damon explained as justification, and Mason hummed, standing up fully. "I'd say I'm highly motivated."

"Mikael?" Mason prodded, and Damon blinked, staying silent. "Yeah, that didn't turn out so great, did it?"

"How do you know so much?" Damon asked, genuinely curious in spite of himself.

Mason huffed a little, walking past the vampire and further into the underground tunnels. "There's not much to do on the Other Side but sit around and watch other people screw things up," he said bluntly, setting the lantern down once he reached a brick wall.

Damon's interest grew, and despite knowing they needed to find whatever the hell Mason brought him down here for, he felt the question gnawing at him, tempting him to speak it into existence.

Mason seemed to sense what he was thinking, because he grinned without looking toward Damon. "You wanna ask me something?" he suggested, and Damon bristled.

Deciding to rip the bandaid off, he shrugged lightheartedly, stepping a bit closer to the wolf in order to see whether his face changed after the next words. "Just wondering if you heard any gossip on your side about a certain Kol Mikaelson?"

Mason looked at Damon incredulously. "Seriously?" he asked, and Damon bobbed his head from side to side. Huffing out an exasperated laugh, Mason shifted between his feet. "Yeah, dude, I mean, it's a Mikaelson. There's always whispers about them."

"About Kol?"

Mason shook his head. "Mainly about the hybrid," he said, shaking his head lightly as he grabbed his pickaxe that was leaning against the wall. "That witch that gave Vicki Donovan a foothold? She's always whispering something or another about him." His eyes shot to Damon before the vampire could ask. "Nothing 'bout the others, though." Damon pursed his lips, and again, Mason seemed to read the expression on his face. How the hell did he get so good at that anyway? "This about your sister? That Charlotte girl?"

"Say another word, and I'll kill you again," Damon muttered between clenched teeth, turning from the wolf before he'd finished saying the words.

Mason held up his hands, but Damon had an unfortunate feeling that this wouldn't be the end of the topic.

He was right.

<<>>

August, 2010
{Portland}

Charlotte twirled her wedding ring around her finger, looking at the newly turned hybrid pack that Klaus offered to introduce her to.

She hadn't necessarily wanted to go and meet them, but it wasn't like she had much else to do. Other than sitting in the hotel room watching reruns on the old TV, wondering when she'd be able to drain her next meal. At least now she was outside, getting some fresh air in the very same trees she'd been blindly staring at only yesterday. Klaus hadn't said a word about their conversation since then, and she hadn't bothered to bring it up, knowing it would only cause conflict that she didn't feel like diffusing.