Breathing ∞ Kol Mikaelson [1]

[44]

"I do not condone this. Not one bit." Marissa, as expected, was entirely displeased with the presence of yet another vampire inside of her home. But it was too late for her to do anything about it.

"Neither do I, but for different reasons." Emma added on, covering up the need to cough as her voice cracked near the end. Her mother disapproved of the presence of vampires in her home already, if she thought Emma's lungs were acting up due to the stress she'd be kicking them out within the blink of an eye. Emma, on the other hand, disapproved of bringing yet another Mikaelson to Mystic Falls to offer himself up to Alaric on a silver platter.

"Mrs Park, I give you my word, we'll ensure no harm comes to you or your daughter. We simply need a safe place to develop a plan, surrounded by someone we know we can trust." Elijah spoke to her mother in a reassuring tone, hoping to ease the woman's ramblings so they could get to work.

He then turned to Emma too, speaking in the same tone, trying to ease her worries as well. "Alaric can't get to us in here, he hasn't been invited in." He reminded her of the reason they were at her house in the first place. Just the thought of it made Emma seriously consider the idea of locking them up in it until the sun rose in the morning.

"Fine. But once you're done, neither of you are welcome here any longer." Marissa said in a firm tone, not leaving any chance for either of the three to say something else as she rushed out of the room in an attempt to distance herself from the vampires as much as possible.

With her mother leaving them to their business, Elijah, Emma and Kol all sat together around the dining table. Elijah pulled out his phone, working quickly to dial Rebekah's number and make her a part of the discussion despite her absence from the town.

"Whatever you need from me Elijah, if it requires coming back to Mystic Falls, the answer is no." Rebekah didn't even bother with the pleasantries of a hello as she answered the call.

"Well, at least we know where you stand, sister." Elijah's voice remained calm and composed. He certainly understood his sister's hesitancy to even consider returning to the town in which they were being hunted.

"But maybe you can help us come up with a plan to make sure everyone gets what they want," Emma made her presence known to Rebekah, words momentarily interrupted as the cough she'd been holding in finally forced itself out. She felt Kol's hand nestle on her back, softly robbing it in an attempt to make it pass. And when it did, Emma added on. "Or some kind of compromise."

"I doubt there will be any compromise as long as Alaric has that bloody stake." Rebekah resisted the urge to question whether Emma was alright and simply remained focused on the topic.

"So we get the stake away from him." Kol acted as the master of pointing out the obvious among the group.

"I suspect that might be easier said than done." Elijah pointed out, maintaining his patience with his younger brother. Because even though what Kol said was obvious, it was another bit of the plan they would have to develop, hopefully as soon as possible.

"Well the other option is to keep running for our lives for decades while Elena lives happy and in peace." The bitterness in Rebekah's voice was unmistakable as she spoke that last part.

"We can't run, not until we have Niklaus' body." That was the part Elijah was determined on accomplishing too. He wouldn't leave his brother defenceless with the Salvatores.

"They know they're descended from him, they won't kill him." Kol spoke, his eyes jumping towards Emma for a second as he felt her leave his side as another soft cough came from her lips while she moved further into the kitchen to prepare herself some tea in hopes of calming her lungs. All the stress of the day wasn't having a very pleasant effect.