Chapter Text
The sound of a car engine made Morgana look up. She set her book down and stood. Grendel hopped on her shoulder, and she met Hayley on the porch. An old truck parked in front of the house. The girls walked over as Mary exited the truck.
She smiled at Hayley. "Well, now aren't you a sight."
"You're sure no one followed you?" Hayley asked.
"I've been avoiding trouble since well before you were born. Now, where's that little girl?"
Mary moved to go to the house, but Hayley stopped her. "Did you find it?"
Mary hesitated and gave her a look. Morgana crossed her arms, and Grendel grumbled.
"Mary, please, after all this time we are this close to getting them back," Hayley went on. "We found a cure for Freya's poison, we got a witch to siphon Rebekah's hex."
"So you're really gonna do it?" Mary asked, almost incredulous. "Cure 'em and then wake 'em up? Did you ever stop to think Hope might be better off without them?"
"I made a promise."
"To who? To Elijah?"
"To my daughter. I promised her a home where she would feel safe and protected by the people that love her."
"She's a Mikaelson too, you know," Morgana added. "And as a result, she has inherited all of their enemies, on top of a power neither I nor Hayley quite understand."
"She needs someone to teach her to control it," Hayley agreed. "I can't do this on my own."
"You told me to wake the Mikaelsons you needed to find all seven werewolf packs," Mary said. "You found six. The last one, the Malraux, I thought they'd been killed off." She pulled out a piece of paper. "According to this, there might be one left."
Hayley reached for the paper, but Mary pulled away. "Hayley. You looked for five years. You found nothing. Suddenly I get word of a lead. What if someone else found it too? What if it's a trap?"
Fair point. Morgana and Hayley shared a glance, and Hayley took the note. Grendel jumped off Morgana's shoulder and ran ahead into the house. They followed.
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It was only a little while later that Morgana and Hayley were ready to go. Mary would be staying with Hope at the house.
"Do you have to go?" Hope asked.
"We do," Hayley replied. "But we'll be back very, very soon." She smiled. "And we won't be alone."
Hope smiled back. Lord help them, she was adorable.
"I'll call you every night before bed, okay?" Hayley continued. "In the meantime, you listen to Mary. Deal?"
"Deal."
Hayley kissed her pointer and middle fingers and held them out to her. Hope did the same, and they locked their fingers together before hugging. Hayley and Mary went up to the moving truck.
Morgana crouched down in front of Hope. "Would you like Grendel to stay with you?"
Hope shook her head. "No. He needs to be with you so he can protect you." She hugged Morgana. "Bye, Auntie Ana."
"Bye, Hopey."
Morgana joined Hayley in the truck.
"You know, for the first time in a while I've got a good feeling about this," she said. "I think this is it."
She rapped her knuckles against her head. Hayley chuckled and started the truck.
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Morgana crossed her arms, wishing she'd brought sunglasses. They'd tracked the Malraux wolf--Keelin--to a bar in Austin, Texas. Hayley had gone inside to talk to her, while Morgana and Grendel waited outside.
The back door opened. She pushed herself off the wall. Hayley and Keelin came out. Just as the door closed, Keelin elbowed Hayley in the face and took off. Morgana chased after her, calling on Air to get ahead. She landed next to Hayley, who was already waiting. Keelin turned the corner, saw them and stopped.
"Do not do that again," Hayley growled.
"I'm not going without a fight," Keelin replied.
"We're not here to fight you," Morgana sighed. "You're the last of your pack. That makes you special for reasons we don't have time to explain."
"I don't care about your problems," Keelin snapped.
"You should," Hayley replied. "Because there are others who know how important you are, and they will come for you."
"Look, I have a life, a career, relationships. Someone tries to take that, they're gonna have to kill me."
Grendel tensed, digging his claws into Morgana's shoulder. Hayley glanced at her; she heard it too.
Morgana turned back to Keelin. "Sorry, we don't have time for this."
She whispered a spell under her breath, and Keelin dropped unconscious. Hayley caught her, and they fled.
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"For what it's worth, I truly am sorry about this," Morgana said as she tightened the bonds on Keelin's wrists.
She went back over to Hayley and continued setting up.
"We're not your enemies," Hayley said. "If we'd left you where you were you'd be dead already."
"Let me guess," Keelin replied. "We're on the run from vampires. You have the same stink they do."
"I'm special. I'm a hybrid. Half-vampire, half-werewolf." She turned around to face Keelin. "And considering that I saved your ass, you should show me some respect."
Keelin glanced at Morgana. "And what are you?"
"Elemental witch," Morgana replied.
"How do I know you two weren't the ones who led them to me?"
"We weren't. Look," Morgana added. "They know who you are and they want you dead. The only way to survive is to do exactly as we tell you."
"It's not like I have a choice."
Hayley pulled out the venom extractor, and Keelin shifted. "Hey, look, I don't know what kind of pervy stuff you're into, but I am not that kind of girl."
"This is a device to extract your venom," Hayley explained. "And before you ask, yes, it will hurt."
"Why are you doing this to me?" Keelin asked.
"We're trying to save our family." Hayley gestured to the coffins. Freya's was open. "Keelin, the people in there are dying. The only thing keeping them alive is a sleep spell, and the only one that can cure them is her. She's a witch, and she left us instructions on how to wake her up early. The only thing we're missing is your venom. Once she gets on her feet, we can give her the ingredients we got. And, with any luck, no one has to die."
"So if I give you what you want, will you let me go?"
"You have my word."
"And mine as well," Morgana added.
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Hayley handed the vial of Keelin's venom to Morgana. Morgana set it down on the table.
"You got my venom," Keelin said. "When do I get to go?"
"As soon as we know it works," Morgana replied.
"And when will that be?"
"You'll know when you see it," Hayley promised.
"You have to wake up Sleeping Beauty, right? How do you do that?"
Hayley picked up the syringe and went over to Freya. "You know, you ask a lot of questions."
She plunged the syringe into Freya's heart. Morgana quickly went over to see if it was working. Freya's eyes shot open, and she sat up gasping. Hayley and Morgana hugged her and helped her out of the coffin.
"Are you okay?" Morgana asked.
"Did you get the ingredients?" Freya replied.
Hayley nodded.
"Good. I need to begin. If I can't turn all that into a cure, Elijah and Kol are going to die."
"How much longer do we have?" Hayley asked.
"Maybe an hour, assuming we have that long."
Morgana gathered everything and set it out for Freya. "Is this everything?"
"Venom from the seven packs, along with Klaus' blood, infused by my magic and amplified by the dark objects," Freya replied. "It's going to take all of my strength and more than a little luck, but it should be enough to fashion a cure to save my brothers."
"Should, what do you mean should?" Hayley asked.
Before Freya could answer, Grendel growled.
"Someone's here," Morgana announced.
"Let me go, please," Keelin called. "If it's vampires they're gonna kill me."
"They must have been tracking her," Freya said. "Hayley, I need more time."
Hayley nodded and went to take care of them. Morgana and Freya sat across from each other in the seven-point star and started the spell.
"La candidat au somme la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus."
Keelin muttered something, and Morgana cracked an eye open. A vampire was reaching for her. Freya waved her hand, and he grunted in pain before collapsing, blood leaking from his eyes and nose. Morgana smirked and focused back on the spell.
"You just waved your hand and his brain melted?" Keelin asked incredulously.
"Well, that's what happens when people annoy me," Freya replied.
"La candidat au somme la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus. La candidat au somme la toxique cantus."
They stopped. Freya stood and picked up the bowl. Morgana stood as well, and they went over to Elijah's coffin. Morgana opened it, and Freya raised his arm. The bite was still nasty. She rubbed the cure on to the bite. Morgana said a prayer.
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Morgana smiled to herself and took a deep breath. Elijah, Kol and Rebekah were awake and cured. It had worked. It hadn't all been for nothing.
Now all they had to do was get to New Orleans and get Klaus. Then they'd leave again, and everyone and everything would finally be alright.