Chapter 012 – A Dangerous Weapon When Need Be

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Chapter 012

A Dangerous Weapon When Need Be

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Saturday, June 05, 2010; just before 9 a.m.

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When we get to the warehouse, Elena takes something out of her pocket and extends her hand towards Ric, “Here Ric, I think you might need this.”

He frowns when he sees the ring John left to her when he died sitting in the palm of her hand, “That’s John’s ring.”

She nods and tells him, “He left it to me, and I want you to wear it.”

He shakes his head and tells her, “He gave that to you for you to pass down to baby Gilberts.”

She smiles and tells him, “I’m with Damon now so I’m probably not going to have any baby Gilberts.”  He still looks reluctant to accept the gift so she says, “How about this, you take it and wear it until there is a grown up baby Gilbert for me to give it to.”

She smiles and tells him, “Besides, think about it, you’re my family now just as much as Jenna, John, and Jer are and since we need a live guardian it’d be silly for you to go off fighting Vampires without it and get yourself killed.  And if I need to guilt trip you I totally will since I think we’ve all buried enough family members in recent times without adding you to the list.”

He chuckles and tells her, “Okay, okay, but I will give it back to you if you or Jer have a kid to pass it down to.”

She nods and says, “You have yourself a deal.”

He smiles and takes the ring before placing it on his finger.

When the ring is firmly in place and Ric is just slightly safer than he was before, we decide to split up.  I’ll go in the back door.  Bonnie will go in the open loading dock while Care and Jer will go in the front door.  Ric and Elena will wait outside the door I’m going in and also keep an eye on the loading dock which can be seen from their position.  Tyler will wait outside the door Care and Jer will enter.  The people outside are there to catch any stragglers who might try to escape or otherwise try to sound the alarm.

We set our watches and at exactly nine, I break through the back door and hear Care doing the same for the front door.  I quickly encounter two Humans and a Vampire.  Now that my spell has been broken, they’re nowhere near a match for me and I quickly move through the building heading for the front knocking Humans unconscious and ripping the hearts out of the Vampires.  I pull the heart out of the third Vampire I’ve encountered when I hear Caroline yell, “Jer watch out!”

Then I hear Jer cry out “Oh god Care.”

A minute later Tyler follows that up with a “Shit, Care.”

I start to worry when I don’t hear a reply from her, and it turns out that I’m right to worry.  As I reach them, Care is laying in Jer’s arms with a stake in her heart.  There are two staked Vampires and an unconscious Human nearby.  I squat beside them and reach out touching Jer’s arm before asking, “Jer, what happened?”

I say a quick prayer that the last words I heard her say mean she was protecting him and actually smile when Jer says, “That asshole tried to stake me and she pushed me out of the way, and he got lucky that she moved exactly how he needed her to.  Damon, tell me it counts.  She died protecting me; tell me it counts, please.”

I look into his tear-filled eyes and place my hand over his on her arm, “I’m hopeful that it counts, but we’ve got to pull the stake out okay, before Elena comes in.”  He nods and I quickly pull the stake out.

Then a moment later, Bonnie and Elena reach us and are both on their knees hovering over Care’s desiccated body bawling their eyes out.  Bonnie looks at me and asks, “Tell me it counts.”

I laugh abruptly despite it not really being funny, “She took a downward swing of a stake that would have killed Jer so unless she doesn’t really love him like a brother it should count.”

Elena tilts her head to the side and purses her lips as she asks through her tears, “What are you talking about?”

I sigh and pull her into my arms, she struggles to remain by Care’s side, but I cup her face in my hands and tell her, “Remember when you said I wasn’t telling you everything and I told you that you were right?”

She nods so I continue, “Caroline is Asya and she died protecting Jer from a blow that he’s certain would have killed him.  She obviously thought so too if she stepped between him and a swinging stake so she should wake up in a few minutes, okay?”

Her lips tremble as she asks, “But what if she doesn’t?”

I scowl at the thought and try to relax all of my muscles that tensed at her words as I tell her, “Then I’m going to torture fucking Klaus before I tear his damn heart out, but until she doesn’t wake I’m going to remain hopeful okay.  She told me it took me about 10 or 15 minutes before I started to come to.  So from the moment I pulled the stake out we should know in about 15 minutes, 30 at most.  I need you to try to stay calm until we know something is wrong can you do that for me?”

She nods so I kiss her softly on the lips and then turn to Bonnie, “I need you and Ty to stay here and watch over everyone while we wait for Care to wake up.”

They nod, but Elena asks, “Where are you going?”

I cup her cheek and tell her, “Ric and I are going to sweep through the building again and double check that we’re alone.  I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.”

She nods, so I kiss her again, then stand, and Ric and I set about thoroughly checking the building for anyone we might have missed the first time through before determining that we got all six Vampires and all four Humans.  The Vamps are dead and the Humans are now fast asleep, mostly thanks to Bonnie who used her mojo to keep them unconscious after we knocked them out.

We go out to the car and grab the cooler and carry it in since Care’s going to need blood too probably.

As Ric and I walk up to the group hovering over Care she gasps and her eyes fly open.  Jer tries to help her calm her breathing but it took me a couple of minutes to fight off the drowning feeling too so I’m not surprised that it takes her a few minutes to slow her breathing down.

Care finally looks around and then reaches up to touch Jer’s cheek, “You’re okay?”

He laughs and tells her, “Thanks to you since that asshole was Human, and my ring would have done jack shit to protect me.”

She breathes a sigh of relief and then her eyes find mine and she whispers, “Drago, I remember.”

I kneel down and touch her face, “I’ve missed you, Asya.”

She throws herself into my arms and cries for a minute then her tense body relaxes slightly and she pulls back, “Have you found Balthazaar yet?”

I smile, “No we were a little preoccupied with our sister dying.”

She laughs with a wide smile on her glowing face, “Sorry for the false alarm.”

Elena and Bonnie can’t seem to wait any longer and throw themselves at her so I get out of the way and then look at Ric who’s smiling widely now that Care is okay and Asya once again.

I turn to Tyler and ask, “Can you keep a look out for them while they hug and Ric and I will go look for the coffins?”

Tyler nods and smiles at the fact that I’m trusting him with their safety, “Sure man.”

I do trust him implicitly with the lives of those I care about so I nod and tell him, “Thank you, Brother.”

He smiles big as Ric and I walk towards the shipping crates and begin opening them.  After the sixth one, we hit pay dirt.  Five coffins.  Then I pull up short, there were only four siblings last night.  So who is in the fifth coffin?

I run back and tell Bonnie, “Sorry to interrupt but we have five coffins instead of four.  Do you have any idea how to figure out who’s in the fifth one without putting us in danger?”

Bonnie nods and stands after kissing Care on the cheek and telling her, “I’m happy you’re okay.”

She follows me to the shipping crate and then proceeds to touch each coffin before opening it as she says, “This is Elijah.  This one is Finn.  And this one is Rebekah.  This one is Kol.  And this one is…  Whoa… sealed with massive Magick but it’s someone named Esther.”  She pauses and tilts her head as if to adjust her reception then her eyes widen and she tells Ric and me, “Shit I think it’s their mother, and she’s hell bent on destroying the Vampire race.”

I frown but ask, “How do you know that?”

Her face pinches as her eyes lose focus then her eyes refocus, and she raises them to mine and tells me, “After I did the spell to get your memories I got all of your family’s current and past memories.  Then when we met up with these guys last night all three of us got all of their memories as well as each other’s and they got all of ours including our memories and interpretations of your family’s memories.  Now when I just touched the coffin I got all of hers though I don’t think she got any of mine because there seems to be a ward preventing anything from going in.  Although, I think only a Witch could receive anything coming out and even then only her memories.  We can’t release her.  We need to convince them that she’s too dangerous.”

I nod slowly and frown before telling her, “Okay, first things first, let’s undagger the ones we’re supposed to and give them some blood.”

She nods so I lean over Balthazaar, pull his dagger out, and then do the same to the other two and then we wait.  We wait long enough for the rest of our family to join us and I smile as Elena walks to me before she wraps her arms around me and I wrap mine around her.  A minute or two later Balthazaar is the first one gasping for air.  His color slowly returns to normal and then he sits up and looks around “Brother, thank you.”

I smile and tell him, “You’re welcome, but really you should be thanking the newest members of our family.  Most of the work to locate all of you and rescue you was done by Bonnie, Jer, Ric, and Tyler, who among other things used his mom’s connections as Mayor of Mystic Falls to get the information on the deed and a set of floor plans to this warehouse expedited.”

He nods and turns to look each of them in the eye as he tells them, “Then thank you to each of you.  I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize for betraying all of your trust.  I promised to kill Klaus for you and I broke my word.  I deeply regret that and not because he returned the favor by daggering me.”

We all nod and Elena speaks up from within the circle of my arms, “It’s not ideal Elijah, but we understand about rescuing family since that’s why we betrayed you the first time.  He used the one thing that would cause you to break your word, the love of your family.  I consider us even and I’m hopeful that you’ll all come to see us as family from now on, and it won’t be an issue again.  Although, if you do betray us again I’ll not only let Drago kill you I’ll encourage it.”

He laughs and tells her, “Duly noted, Elena.”

I hold my hand out with one of the three daggers in it and tell him, “Brother, I trust this will be safest with you and I plan to give each of your brothers one.  I figure it’ll even the playing field and make them feel safer to have each of you have one instead of one person controlling all of them.”

He nods and says, “Thank you, I’m sure they’ll agree with your opinion just as I do.”

Just then, Finn begins gasping for air, and Balthazaar is up and out of his coffin and whispering comforting words to his brother.  Finally, when Finn seems to be calm again he looks around and then locks eyes on Jer which makes me tense my muscles until he says, “You really saved us.”

It’s more a shocked statement than a question but Jer nods and says, “We said we would.  We meant every word we told you guys last night…  Every.  Word.”

Amazingly, Finn wipes a tear away and nods reminding me of the significance of every word being meant, and then I smile in Jer’s direction as Bonnie explains to everyone else that Finn was the one who wanted to die, and Jer convinced him not only to try for redemption but also that he deserves it.  I pat Jer on the back just as Kol comes back to life.

Balthazaar calms him down pretty quickly as Care hands out blood while apologizing, “Here have some blood, hopefully we have enough.  I had a problem with a stake in the heart a bit ago, so I had to drink some of what we planned to give you, but we have more back at the apartment, so if you need more let us know when we get there, and we’ll hook you up.”

I laugh when it’s clear Kol and Finn have no idea what ‘hook you up’ means so I tell them, “‘Hook you up’ is slang for ‘we’ll make sure you get what you need’.”

They smile and nod as they drink three blood bags each while I introduce everyone who hasn’t met yet.  When they finish their bloods, it’s Balthazaar who asks, “Who is in the fifth coffin?”

Bonnie answers, “Esther, but before any of you get excited about reuniting with your mom, you need to know that she’s decided if she ever gets free she’s going to kill all of you and the entire Vampire race descended from your family.”

Her face pinches as she tells them, “It won’t affect Drago, Balthazaar, and Asya now that they’ve returned to their original forms.  It would kill Finn and Kol, as well as Rebekah and anyone any of you turned and whomever they’ve turned all the way down the line to the youngest including Katherine and Stefan if they’re descended from an Original.”

Kol looks angry and says, “She wouldn’t, she—”

Finn interrupts, “She would Brother.  She’s been whispering to me all these years trying to get me to agree to be her sacrifice to kill us all.  Bonnie’s not lying about what it would do either.”

Kol’s shoulders are slumped and his head is hanging in his heartbreak and really, who can blame him, but he quickly snaps out of it and says, “Then we must destroy her.”

Bonnie shakes her head as she says, “It’s not so easy.  If we open the coffin, she’ll get out.  She was one of the most powerful Witches born in the last 3,000 years.  She had to be very powerful to be to be able to perform the altered Pervonachalnyue spell she used to turn you all into Vampires, so we need to keep her in the coffin and hide it where no one can ever find it.”

I frown and ask, “Where is that?”

She shrugs as she pinches her lips and draws her brows together, “I have no idea, the cave maybe for the time being at least, but I think that should only be a short term location since any Witch who happens upon the entrance to the cave would be able to enter it.  Although the spells my ancestors placed would keep those who mean harm out but still if we can come up with a better location that would be best.”

Just then Jer says, “What about under water.  Elijah thought his family was lost at sea and that that meant they were lost forever so what if we drop her to the bottom of the deepest ocean and leave her there.”

Balthazaar laughs and says, “It’s lucky for us we’re all on the same side now because your mind, Jeremy, is a dangerous weapon when need be.”

I laugh and tell him quite honestly, “You have no idea, Brother.  Give it a minute and the rest of them will improve upon his already brilliant idea.”

Bonnie laughs and turns to tell me, “Not that you need a bigger ego by being right, Brother, but we could Magickally reinforce the coffin to keep it from breaking when it lands or decaying in the water and maybe add an additional Magickal lock on top of the ones already there.”

Elena chooses that moment to throw her opinion out there, “Bon, what if Jer and Ty search the internet for the deepest part of all of the oceans.  Then you could maybe do a spell like you did in the cavern… just Magickally move her to the deepest part and then we know it’ll be centuries before Human technology will be advanced enough to possibly find her and be a problem.”

Just to make sure our newest family members are clear that we’re a team Ty throws out, “If Bonnie moves her Magickally she could maybe even embed her under the ocean floor in the rock to help keep her hidden longer.”

Then Care speaks up, “And Bon, what about maybe a warning system like if anyone finds her a spell will be released that alerts you or a descendant of the forthcoming danger.”

Kol bursts out laughing so we all stop brainstorming and turn to stare at him, “S-sorry, it’s just you weren’t kidding.  I was worried Klaus would kill us all even with Drago and Balthazaar on our side, but I’m beginning to realize that although you’re both the strongest physically you are by no means the only weapons at our disposal.”

I nod and tell him, “We’re very lucky that they love us and aren’t trying to kill us, or we’d stand no chance of surviving.”

Kol’s eyes widen ever so slightly as he nods and then Jeremy’s eyes turn grim and he says, “That’s not wrong.”

We laugh a moment then Ric adds, “Hey I’m going to go get the truck we rented so we can load Rebekah onto it, and are we going to have to take Esther with us too for now?”

Bonnie nods, “‘Fraid so Ric, we can’t risk Klaus coming back and releasing her.”

He nods back and runs out to back the truck up to the loading dock.

As we wait for him, Bonnie turns to Kol and says, “Kol I have a favor to ask.”

He raises his brow but nods so she continues, “Would you be willing to have Drago try to compel you to raise your hands?”

My eyes widen and my jaw drops just as Kol’s do so I’m not surprised when she bursts out laughing a moment later and says, “Oh God, your faces, that was classic.  Anyway I’m asking because if it turns out a Pervonachalnyue can compel an Original then tonight when Jer and I go visit Rebekah we can ask her if she’d be willing to let Drago compel her not to help or try to contact Klaus.  If she says yes then we can undagger her tomorrow morning and then I won’t feel so awful about leaving her daggered, which I can’t tell you just how wrong it feels leaving her like that.”

The Originals’ eyes all widen and they smile at the caring our family is showing towards them and theirs but Kol nods and says, “Drago, you may try if you wish.”

I catch his eyes and compel him without saying a word to raise his hands and place them on top of his head until I tell him to lower them.

Everyone’s eyes narrow and frowns form on their faces when I don’t say anything but I figure if I don’t say it out loud and change it slightly then I’ll know for sure if it worked or not.  Thankfully, he immediately places his hands on top of his head and he and I both smile before I tell him, “Thank you, you may lower your hands.”

Bonnie smiles and bounces on the balls of her feet as she says, “Yay, so if no one has any good reasons against it, tonight Jer and I will offer to have Drago compel Rebekah and then she’ll be free too.”

Everyone nods to show they can’t think of any reason not to offer the alternative to Rebekah so a minute later I say, “Good we’ll plan on that.”

I take a moment to give Kol and Finn each one of the daggers used to kill them and tell them, “Here, these belong to each of you.  As I told Balthazaar it’s only fair that each of you have one so that no one Original has the market cornered on the means to neutralizing each of you.”

Their eyes widen very much so I tell them, “I know you’re both used to Klaus holding his superior strength and speed as well as his inability to be daggered over your heads, but that’s not how this family works.  It would be wrong for us to keep those and try to control you by threatening to use them.”

I pause then add, “Make no mistake, though, if either of you betray our family then I am perfectly capable of tearing out your hearts so know that I’m not giving up all of my options.  However, the only reason I would even consider harming either of you is if you become a threat to our family or those we consider ours.  So do what you want with those daggers but your new family won’t be needing them or the threat they pose to you.”

They both nod and say, “Thank you.”

Bonnie adds, “Just fair warning Drago and the rest of us will consider it a betrayal against this whole family if you use that dagger against one of your siblings so just be forewarned that behaving like Klaus will get you killed.”

I nod and they nod back and then tuck their daggers into their clothes for the time being.

Bonnie then asks, “Are they indestructible?  If not, then maybe we could all destroy them and then none of you have to worry about them being used against you.  It’ll also keep you from having to expend energy maintaining the safety of the dagger you’re in possession of because while we wouldn’t use them against you I’m sure there are others who would jump at the chance.”

Balthazaar speaks up, “To my knowledge they can be melted down and I don’t know if you all know this but we were once Witches so I know of a spell that might be able to destroy the melted down metal.  If you’re willing Bonnie, you could do the same spell you did to move everything from your ancestor’s cave to find any of our family’s old Grimoires that may have survived.  I personally hid my books using spells similar to those your ancestors used to preserve theirs so they should still be safe and intact and I’m sure my siblings did the same.”

They nod and Kol adds, “I hid mine too and then through the years I studied other forms of Magick despite not being able to use any of it, so I have additional books hidden as well and copies of the books of the Witches I’ve befriended over the years.”

Bonnie nods as Finn says, “I managed to save our mother’s books from our father so I know where mine and our mother’s books were hidden and I’m pretty sure Rebekah did the same too.”

Bonnie smiles and says, “Okay then, so when we get back to Mystic Falls I’ll see about moving your rightful things to the boarding house for you.  Though I have a feeling we’re going to wait a few weeks before we do that spell, though I’m not sure why I think that, but I promise not to forget and we’ll definitely take care of it before September.”

They smile wide smiles and nod before thanking her.  Just then Ric steps out of the cab of the truck and he says, “We should probably get a move on and get out of here sooner rather than later since we don’t know if anyone else is expected to come to the warehouse today.”

We all nod at that and a few minutes later, we have the two remaining coffins loaded onto the truck and after putting the desiccated bodies of the six Vampires we killed inside Klaus’ crate we close the crates we opened, and we head back to the condo.

When we get there, we roll the coffins onto the private service elevator that goes straight to the pantry in my condo’s kitchen.  Then we head upstairs where after stowing the coffins in the upstairs living room for now and showing our newest members around we begin researching oceans and relocator spells.

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