Chapter Text
Foreword:
Good guys and bad guys. One side of the same coin or different entirely? Who or what determines if you are the hero or the villain? Can you be both, or is there only either or? Can someone who is believed to be evil, be the victim in the story or will that someone forever be doomed in their assigned role? And what role do you play? Hero, villain, or both?
One thing's for sure, everyone can swap roles for any amount of time, no matter on what side of the spectrum the are believed to belong in. Given the right motivation, even family would choose their happiness over yours. And they have.
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Chicago. The city of deep-dish pizza, hotdogs, high crime rates, jazz and as it seems also the current whereabouts of a doomed duo; Stefan and Klaus, accompanied by a recently undaggered Rebekah. A ripper, an original hybrid and an original vampire teaming up. Can this get any weirder?
Ever since you heard of the recent gruesome murders you had the sneaking suspicion that your little brother, Stefan, fell off the wagon again and hopped upon the ripper train once more. When you called one of your many compelled spies- or informants as you prefer to call them - and they confirmed that it is indeed Stefan that teamed up with Klaus, you were forced to drop everything to come to his rescue. Sister duties and all, since your older brother, Damon is preoccupied amusing Stefan girlfriend, another Petrova doppelganger back in your hometown. It seems your dear brothers have not learned their lesson yet..
Naturally, you traveled to Chicago in an instant, trying to convince your brother to stop this deal he made with the one person that took someone away that was very dear to your heart, just because he had the power to.
Stefan only agreed to this deal because Damon was dumb enough to be bitten by a werewolf. Otherwise, he would never even go near Klaus, but only because he is not aware of is past with him. Or at least he wasn't until yesterday. If Stefan would know what kind of past you had with Klaus, he would probably lock you in a cellar. However, right now he is preoccupied with trying to convince Klaus and Rebekah that he actually enjoys being with them.
You peek into the fancy clothing store where Stefan and Klaus are seated, champagne glass in hand whilst Rebekah tries on different clothes. From what you can gather from afar, she just recently has been undaggered and is in need of some more, let's say, appropriate clothing.
You glare at Klaus from across the street, craving nothing more than to set his head aflame because you wish he would have undaggered another sibling, a friend from your past instead Rebekah.
Stefan leaves the store and holds once the door swings shut behind observes the people in front of him hurrying from or to work. One face startles him the most, though. Yours.
You tilt your head to the right, gesturing to a safer place to talk. You lead him down a rather filthy alley and he follows close behind.
"What are you doing here, Y/N?" Stefan asks and looks at you with cold eyes and emotionless features while his arms are crossed in front of him. It seems as if his ripper persona fully took over again "Damon and Elena were here yesterday, and now you? What the hell do you want from me?" he spats.
"Nice to see you too, little brother, " You say in response gesturing back to the clothing store "You two look all buddy-buddy in there. Klaus your new bestie?"
"I would leave if I were you, Y/N. If he finds you here and realizes you're my sister, you're probably dead."
"Happy to know that you still care about my well-being, little brother," You reply "But I doubt he would hurt me."
"How would you know?" he questions.
You would love to know that, wouldn't you, Stef?
"Call it a gut feeling" you answer avoiding his question. "Anyway, tell me if I'm wrong...Rebekah's necklace that Klaus is looking for...That's the necklace that you gave to Elena, right?"
"How do you know all this?"
"I have my eyes and ears everywhere, remember? I know things about a lot of people." You remind him "Now, tell me, how the hell are you gonna keep your secret from them?"
"They don't know where the necklace is. I just have to keep them from figuring it out. I have it all under control." Stefan assures.
"Jesus Christ." You sigh, your fingers reaching for the root of your nose " Please, tell me you have a better plan than that."
He does not answer which pretty much indicates that he is hiding something. He does have a plan. "You do. Come on, Stef. You're not the diabolical type. Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work."
"Well, if my diabolical sister can't seem to figure it out, then I must be doing something right." he counters, cocking an eyebrow.
Diabolical sister, huh? Who's the diabolical one here, Stefan the Ripper?
"Uh-huh. I forgot.You're bad now." You remember." Don't get too smug, though. Klaus is smarter than you. That bastard is smarter than everyone."
"Happy to know you still care about my well-being," he repeats "but I can handle this on my own. You wasted your time coming here, Y/N. " Without another word, he turns around and walks away. But you will not let yourself be waved off like that.
A sudden movement in the corner of your eye brings your attention to the street corner to your left. There is a flash of blue hurrying around the corner, curly hair falling over petite shoulders while the sound of heels clicking on the dry concrete echo through the alley. The wind picks up and carries the scent of sweet flowers, blood, and betrayal over to you. Your mind, guided by the signature scent, springs to the very last person you would like to come face to face; Katherine Pierce.
You decide to follow the blue flash, what you presume to be Katherine, leaving Stefan be for the moment. But only for a moment, because you are sure he will need your help
Stefan | Chicago Warehouse
Stefan re-joined Klaus and Rebekah at a bar named Gloria's, yet as the witch found a way to catch a glimpse of Elena's necklace whereabouts he quickly distracted them with an offer of a snack and led them to a warehouse nearby.
Klaus is currently resting on a couch in said warehouse, enjoying drinking from a girl while Stefan is doing likewise seated in an armchair. Rebekah looks at them while sitting atop a crate, a dead girl at her feet. "My girl's dead. I'm bored."
Klaus retracts his fangs from his "meal" and looks over to Stefan who continues draining the girl in his arms. "You weren't kidding about being hungry."
"Yeah." Stefan replies, his nerves almost blank because Klaus is one step closer to finding out that Elena is still alive "It's been a long day."
"Try being related to her" Klaus counters, thinking Stefan is talking about Rebekah.
"You're being mean." Rebekah glares at her brother from across the room "And why are you being mean, Stefan? You used to love me."
"It's been ninety years, Rebekah. Give him a minute." Klaus reminder her.
"Why are you taking his side?"
"Because, my dear sister, I feel pity for any man who doesn't give you what you want."
"Will you stop making me out to be a brat?" Rebekah exclaims slamming her hands down on the cold create surface "I am not a brat!"
"A thousand years of life experience says otherwise," he remarks smirking.
"Well, you're no picnic, either." Stefan speaks up "I mean, I've only spent one summer with you and I feel like I want to blow my head off."
Rebekah burst into laughter echoing through the wide open warehouse space
"Fantastic!" she grins.
Stefan retracts his fangs and drops the now dead girl on the ground and rises from his seat.
"I need to go."
"Where's he going?" Rebekah asks and looks at Klaus in question.
"To write a name on a wall." Klaus explains, earning yet another confused look from his sister "It's a long story."
Y/N | Gloria's
Following Katherine turned out to be a dead end. Wherever she wanted to lead you, she must have changed her mind as soon as you reached the red, blinking neon sign of a bar you know all too well. Gloria's.
Chicago 1922
The dusty cigarette smoke hits you as soon as you open the wooden door and the music fills every inch of the red-walled bar.
"What can I do you for?" the dark-haired bartender asks once you made your way to the bar.
"Give me something top-shelf." you shrug and the bartender grabs a clean glass and he fills it."Oh, and I have a special request for your singer over there." You slide the paper with the signature raven print over the counter.
He furrows his eyebrows in doubt but flips the paper anyway. His eyes scan the paper in a quick manner and he then looks at Gloria and then back to you. He nods, rounds the bar and hops on stage whispers something in her ear, gesturing over to you. She cocks an eyebrow, excuses herself over the mic and makes his way to you.
"You want to talk. Let's talk." she says putting her hand out."Name's Gloria, but from the looks of that seal of yours, you already know that."
"I do" you reply, shaking her hand. "Y/N Salvatore."
"Salvatore, huh? Any relations to Stefan?"
"He's my little brother," you say, taking a sip of your drink.
"Oh? You just missed him then. He left with his friend, Kl-"
"Klaus. I know."
Gloria raises an eyebrow "You know an awful lot for an ordinary vampire."
"I guess I do. But I am not here to brag about my knowledge." you inform her, pointing to the crumpled up paper you gave to the bartender earlier "You know where I can get one of those?"
She slides the paper over and looks at it with squinted eyes.
"And what do you want with a diamond?" she traces her finger over the drawn lines on the wrinkly paper.
"Mine was stolen. Any ideas who might buy one of those?" you tell her, not mentioning the fact that the diamond was hidden away before you got your hands on it, so technically you stole the diamond as well.
"No." she shakes her head "But I know a few who might."
She grabs a paper and pen, and writes down a few names and addresses and slides it over the counter.
"What do you need it for?" she asks again and points to the paper "'Cause these runes here ain't just decoration."
You grab the paper and fold it together before Gloria deciphers them fully. She or anyone should not discover what you actually need it for. However, there would be a few people who would definitely want to see it used in the way you intend to use it in the future.
"Look, Gloria, I appreciate you helping me, but you're better off not knowing. Trust me"
"Honey," she huffs " I'm only helping you because I owe her a favor," she says referring to the raven sigil "You got what you came for, so you should leave."
"So much for mid-western hospitality." you sigh and finish your drink before you get up making your way to the door without paying a dime.
"Oh, right." you stop, remembering something you forgot to hand Gloria "Do me a favor and throw one of these in Klaus' bourbon, would you?" you ask handing her a small, shiny diamond.
She furrows her eyebrows and looks at you in question"What's that for?"
"It serves as a reminder, that's all you need to know, but trust me, he will know what it means." you wink at her before you make your way towards to door once again.
Oh, Klaus will definitely know what it means.. And he won't be amused.
Chicago present time
That particular night was the first and last time you visited Gloria's. Until now anyway.
You use your vampire-hearing to check if Stefan has company, but as your ears only fill with groans of pain, you hurry inside.
"Don't do this. Don't do this", Stefan groans, paralyzed on a table while Gloria's hands rest on his pecks, the skin sizzling on contact.
"She's the doppelganger. She's supposed to be dead, and that's why Klaus can't make hybrids, isn't it?" Gloria laughs.
It seems Gloria took matters into her own hands to find out what Stefan knows. However, you cannot have that, no can you?
"Well, this is creepy." You say, your arms crossed. You zip forwards and shove a stake you always keep with you through her neck and she falls on the floor.
You stand above her while the blood gushes out of her neck, slowly but surely covering the wooden floor "Consider that payback for the trap you led me into 90 years ago." you smirk as Gloria takes her last choked breath.
You shrug and walk over to Stefan, freeing him from his shackles.
"Maybe you do need my help, after all, little brother," You say, smirking at Stefan " Oh, by the way, I figured your diabolical plan out."
"Oh. Do tell."
"Well, you must know that Klaus is too paranoid to ever fully trust you. But Rebekah, she loves you like it was yesterday. She's the easier target. But you can't just pretend to care because Klaus will know better," You explain "so, you do the opposite. You bond with him; make her feel left out. That will only make her want you more. The only question is why, Stefan? I mean, I get it, you want to keep Klaus away from Mystic Falls, but...What else do you expect to get from it?
"You know what's funny? You keep talking to me like I actually trust you enough to tell you anything." Stefan scoffs.
"You used to"
"Yeah used to. Not anymore."
He is not wrong. There were things In your past he only learned about recently - if you count 70 years as recently- and he has been mistrusting ever since. You can't blame him, but it does come as a surprise that he is still as angry as the moment the truth uncovered itself.
"Oh, come on, Stefan, we're beyond that. I saved you from Hilda the high voodoo priestess, didn't I? Doesn't that count for anything?"
He breathes out and runs his hand over his mouth thinking.
Okay fine. I knew them, back in the twenties" he admits."They were running from someone. Someone who scared them."
"I know." you say and Stefan narrows his eyes in suspicion "Uhm, I heard stories about him, you know?"
"Don't you want to know why an Original vampire who can't be killed is afraid of a Vampire Hunter?"
You know very well why they are afraid of that particular hunter, but there is no way you can tell him how you know it. There is only one thing to do, distracting him with the one person he would like to eliminate. Klaus
"If you're planning on making a move against Klaus...I want in"
"That's good. It's good to want things, Y/N." he taunts.
"Stef..."
"Y/N. I'm in this alone. Just go back wherever you came from" he replies and gathers Gloria's lifeless body and throws over his shoulder "I don't need your help."
Damon | Boarding House
A knock distracts Damon from his casual afternoon drink. He opens the door and Elena stands in front of him.
"I'll accept written apologies only." he says.
She smiles wickedly, and Damon realizes it is not Elena in front of him, it is Katherine.
"Are you two lovebirds fighting already?'" she asks, referring to the disagreement Elena and Damon had after they left Chicago.
"Katherine. Wonderful. What do you want?"
"I'm just a girl looking for a partner in crime. Feel like hitting the road? Getting the hell out of dodge?"
"Why not? Walls are starting to close in on me around here. Where are we going?"
"Away from here. That's all I'm going to give you for right now. But believe me, it's good." she says, wiggling Elena's necklace around. She stole it from Bonnie, pretending to be Katherine. "Oh, and your sister paid a visit to Stefan today."
"Another reason to leave before she shows up here." he groans "I'll drive"
Y/N | Chicago Warehouse
Naturally, you followed Stefan to his next location, not convinced that he has things handled as well as he says he does.
You watch Stefan walking into the warehouse where Klaus and Rebekah are hanging out and you follow him inside, hiding in a corner with your back keeping your distance. He stops in front of the coffins and runs his hand over the cold wooden surface when suddenly the blonde Original walks in.
"You're back. Finally. Nik went to check on the witch..." She informs him but stops once she sees the look on his face as his eyes scan the coffins before him "Dreary, isn't it? The family cargo."
"Hmm. Why don't you undagger them?" Stefan asks.
"Because he would hunt me down and kill me. He's a vindictive little bastard, my brother." Rebekah reminds him.
That must be the understatement of the century, no, a decade.
"But you still care about him. Why?" Stefan looks over into her blue eyes.
"Well, I hated him for a long time. It was exhausting." She informs him as she hopped onto a coffin and Stefan takes a seat next to her.
"You know, when I met you two, you were both on the run." Stefan eyes her, a coy look on his face.
"Also exhausting." She looks at her manicured nails.
"Who were you running from?"
Don't go there now, Stefan. Bad timing.
"What do you mean?" Rebekah looks over at him, her pretty blue orbs widening.
"Last night I saw you, there was a man looking for you. You both seemed afraid. I just.. I wouldn't think Klaus would be afraid of anybody." Stefan shrugs.
"No one in this world is truly fearless, Stefan. Not even Niklaus."
"Who was that man?" Stefan asked again.
"I can't. Please." Rebekah replies, fear covering her usual confident voice. She hops down."If Nik knew we were talking about this, he would-"
"No, no, no. I'm sorry." He hops down too "Just forget I asked. Ok?"
"He told me about the girl you loved. The one that died."
Another touchy subject. What is going on today?
"It's true." Stefan nodded.
"You know, I think he secretly admires that about you... You'd sacrifice anything for your family... Don't tell him I told you that."
He giggles "Your secret... Is safe with me." He smiles as she leaned up and pressed her lips against his.
Not the plan you suggested, but you have to give him credit for giving his all.
"Do you think you'll ever love anyone like you loved that girl?" Rebekah asked exposing her true feelings.
"One day, maybe." He smiled at her.
"I can always tell when you're lying, Stefan." She replied her voice low.
"What?" Stefan looked at the Original surprised "I'm not-"
"Don't bother." she cuts him off "Your kiss already gave you away." She replied firmly as Klaus walked into the room.
"Gloria's gone. She's cleared out. We need to find a new witch immediately." The sentenced died when he felt the tension in the room "What's going on?"
"Something's wrong, Nik. He was asking about Mikael. He's not with us. I can sense it." She whispers to her older brother.
"She's wrong. Klaus-"
Before Stefan could defend himself Klaus zips towards him and snaps his neck. As soon as Stefan's body hits the ground, you turn around getting the hell out of there. You try to open the doors as silently as possible, however as soon as you managed to open it just halfway you feel a strong hand around your neck.
"You're not leaving so soon, now are you Y/N?" Klaus whispers into your ear and snaps your neck, turning everything black in an instant.
Y/N | Truck
Your senses slowly snap back into focus, the tingling pain of a broken neck running down your backside. You rub your neck in pain and push yourself up. You feel a presence to your left, which is Klaus sitting atop a crate smirking in triumph. You hear Stefan groaning himself
"You mother-"you stop and stare at smudgy white hgv walls "trucker. You kidnapped us in a white van?Jesus, can you get any more cliché?
Klaus does not even chuckle at your debatably funny joke. How rude.
"Just give me a chance to explain myself, okay?" Stefan pleads once he got fully aware of the current situation.
"No need. I'm not mad, I'm just curious." Klaus shrugs " Rebekah seems to think you're holding onto something. A piece of your old life. The thing is, she's got flawless instincts, borderline supernatural. So I thought I would check it out. See for myself what it is you've been hiding."
"He's not hiding anything. I, on the other hand, have something you desperately want to get your hands on, remember? How about you give me what I want and I return it to you." you negotiate.
"Wait." Stefan intervenes "You know each other?"
"I will deal with you later, Y/N, for now.." Klaus answers, ignoring Stefan question. He gets up and opens the truck door with one swift motion.
"Welcome back to Mystic Falls."
"Oh god." you throw your head back and stare at the ceiling "Just kill me right here. I don't want to set foot in this godforsaken town ever again."
"That can be arranged." he says, his voice low before everything turns black once more...