Chapter Text
Damon threw himself onto his bed. He was angry – No, scratch that. He was fuming. Elena and Stefan were trying to sabotage him and he was so close to just snapping. While he didn’t necessarily want to kill Elena, he was seriously thinking about it now. She looked just like Katherine and for some reason that was the last thing he needed. Having known one of them had been bad enough. He did kind of like the girl but there was this voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Tyra. Tyra who had told him about Doppelgängers and how he shouldn’t let Katherine stop him from living. She was right. He shouldn’t let her stop him but… He still loved her. Deep down, there was a part of him that had always loved Katherine and wanted to help free her from the tomb.
“Hello, Damon,” a voice spoke up from the corner of his room.
He jumped to his feet, cursing himself for not paying enough attention “Who are you?” he demanded. He shot forward but fell to his knees, clutching at his head before he even took two steps.
The witch stepped forward, dropping the spell “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you but I need you to listen to me.”
“Why?” he frowned, rubbing at his temples.
“I’m going to explain to you what’s going to happen and why I’m here,” the girl gestured, perching herself on the edge of his bed.
“And why is that?” he asked “How did you get in here anyway?”
The girl shrugged “I could have brought you somewhere safe but I think you’d be more comfortable in a familiar environment. Look, I’m telling you this because you have more of an idea about what’s going to happen than the others that I’ll bring in at the start.”
Damon raised his eyebrows at her “Whenever you want to start making sense… Be my guest.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she groaned “This is harder than I thought. Okay, you’re here to read these books.” She handed him a stack of books “You know about Tyra and the Doctor – you met them once, right?” When he nodded, she continued “I want you all to see a different side to the Originals before you find out about them. There are also a few things that I would like you to change when the time comes.”
Damon opened one of the books before frowning when he couldn’t turn past the first page “What’s this?”
“Ah.” The girl let out a laugh “Sorry. But I’d rather prefer it if no one were to peek. Too many things could go wrong.”
Damon hummed “And these books are all about Tyra?”
“And her journey with the Doctor, yes,” the witch nodded “I’m Sienna, by the way. I’m a friend of Tyra’s.”
“That explains why you’re doing this,” Damon nodded “And I to assume that Tyra’s siblings will be here as well?”
Sienna inclined her head “At the beginning, only one of them will be here. I was planning to start with you, your brother, the Doppelgänger and one of Tyra’s brothers. More people will be joining you the more you get through the story.”
Damon frowned “Will Tyra be there?”
Sienna shook her head “I don’t think so. Not yet in any case. I don’t want to do this to her right now but I need people to understand some things. I want people to understand that the Originals aren’t the monsters many believe them to be. And I need Tyra’s family to understand.”
“How would you know that though?” Damon questioned “I mean, you’ve only met Tyra. You don’t really know any of the others, do you?”
Sienna bit her lip “I’m a seer. That’s also how those books came to be. It’s – it’s complicated and a lot of it goes against the rules but this is something that I feel is necessary.”
“Are those books set in the future?” Damon questioned.
“Do you have to ask that?” Sienna asked “They are set all over. I believe the thing that has happened for you already is around the middle of book two. You’ll see though.”
“Will – Do any of the others know about the Doctor?” Damon asked, hesitating for a moment “I don’t know whether I want to be prepared but…”
Sienna ran a hand through her hair “Let’s go downstairs, alright? The others should be transported here soon. As for your question, yes. The Doctor is known by many even if they don’t quite know who he really is.”
“Fair enough,” Damon grinned and stopped short when he saw the scene in front of his eyes. Elena was hidden behind Stefan, while his brother was currently in a staring match with a suited man who had to be one of Tyra’s brothers “What’s going on here?”
Stefan glanced over at his brother “Damon. What are you doing here?”
Damon raised his eyebrow, rolling his eyes “I live here. Now, what I want to know is why you look like you’re about to attack… Whoever that is.”
“He wants Elena,” Stefan gestured, placing himself more firmly in front of the Doppelgänger.
Sienna cleared her throat “If I may. No one is going to take or get anyone.”
“And who are you to decide that?” Elijah asked, speaking for the first time since they had come into the room.
Sienna rubbed at her aching forehead “Why did I think this was a good idea again?” she asked Damon. He just laughed and patted her shoulder, sitting down on the couch “You’re no help.”
“Never claimed I would be,” Damon shrugged, shooting her a cheeky grin while he poured himself a glass of Bourbon.
“Great,” she sighed before she launched herself into the same explanation she had told Damon with significantly fewer details. In the end, she looked at Elijah “You’re going to play nice with them. I have spelt the room to make sure that any fights you may have won’t get too physical.”
Elijah narrowed his eyes “You said this was about Tyra? Why?”
“You’ll see,” Sienna told him before she nodded to them “If you need anything, feel free to call me. There is a number on the inside cover of the first book. Remember, there will be more people coming soon.” With those words, she was gone, leaving the group of four standing or sitting in awkward silence.
Elena bit her lip “Erm… How about we introduce ourselves? I mean… Just so that…”
Stefan grabbed her arm before she could step out from behind him “I don’t trust this, Elena. Stay behind me, would you?”
“Will you give it a rest, Stefan? If you wish, we could try and test the wards that the witch has placed on the house. I certainly wouldn’t mind,” Damon smirked, going to get up.
“No, no,” Stefan shook his head, sinking down onto one of the love seats that had appeared in the room. He glanced around in confusion, seeing a mess of couches, beanbags and chairs scattered around the room.
Elijah sat down on one of the armchairs, crossing one leg over the other “Shall we begin?”
Elena looked over at him, her expression holding a hint of curiosity paired with alarm “I – My name is Elena Gilbert.”
“Pleasure, Miss Gilbert,” Elijah nodded coldly “My name is Elijah Mikaelson.”
“Stefan Salvatore,” Stefan introduced himself “And my brother, Damon.”
Damon shook his head at them “Now that we all know each other, can I start?” He looked down at the cover and snorted “Universal Vampire… Wow, how utterly imaginative. Anyway, this chapter is called Rose.”
Tyra was sitting on a bannister at the north bank of the Thames right next to the RAF monument, thinking about her next moves. It had been over a century since she had last seen her siblings.
Elijah lowered his head. He missed his youngest sister and despite his behaviour towards her, he did love her “I’m sorry, Tyra,” he whispered.
“She doesn’t hate you, you know,” Damon said, looking over at the other man.
“Pardon?” Elijah frowned.
Damon rolled his eyes “I said that she doesn’t hate you. Tyra, I mean. I think she was more hurt than anything.”
Elijah studied the young vampire for a couple of minutes “You know her?”
“Yes.”
“Can we continue?” Stefan asked, sounding mildly annoyed. They weren’t even through the beginning and had already stopped “This is going to take long enough without anyone interrupting every couple of sentences.”
Damon snorted “Oh, of course. So sorry, Stefan,” he deadpanned.
After the last time she had gotten undaggered in 1901, Tyra ran. The promise Niklaus had made to her and Kol was as good as worthless. Every time she had gotten daggered had been because she didn't want to go on.
“What?” Elijah choked out.
Elena looked at the man curiously and for the first time since he appeared, she saw his face completely open, broadcasting what he felt. She had sat down next to Stefan and was leaning against his side lightly.
Tyra had always been a bit different than her siblings in the sense that she wasn't quite as easy to anger. Mostly because she couldn't care less about anyone or anything.
Damon shuddered “Never ever get her mad. She isn’t as easy to piss off but when you’re on her bad side, you better run.”
“She can’t be that bad,” Stefan frowned “Can she?”
“You shouldn’t be talking,” Damon told his brother “You actually managed to piss her off once. When you two met.”
Stefan tilted his head in confusion “When?”
“You were drunk out of your mind,” Damon explained “I’m not sure if it’s gonna come up but yeah. It wasn’t pretty to watch.”
“Huh,” Stefan mumbled to himself, trying to recall meeting someone called Tyra.
She tried switching off her humanity countless times but it had never worked. The deep, aching pain that radiated from her broken twin bond was the remainder of the connection she and Henrik had when he was still alive. It was always there, like an open wound in the background.
Elijah reached up to run a hand through his neatly styled hair. He swallowed heavily, not sure how he could have not known about this. Was this how Tyra had felt all this time? It would explain most of her behaviour after they had turned. He really didn’t like what this implied. It would mean that they all – apart from Kol – ignored their sister who had needed their help more than they could have ever imagined.
The Original startled when a sort of wheezing groan filled the air. She watched with wide eyes as a blue telephone box from the sixties appeared out of nowhere. Tyra blinked in surprise. While she had seen a lot in her thousand years, teleportation – or whatever that was – was something out of a fiction book. Even for her, it was something new.
“Ooooh, I know what this is about,” Damon laughed “Oh, this is going to be great.”
Elena blinked rapidly “What was that?”
Damon smirked at her, happy that he was the one who actually knew what was going on. Of course, from what he knew things went crazy around the Doctor on a regular basis, so he couldn’t wait to see “You’ll see.”
“Wait… Just… Did that just say a thousand years?” Elena asked, her eyes wide “And what is an Original? It was mentioned before but… Why?”
Stefan exchanged a look with Damon who just shrugged “Ah, I actually have no idea?”
“Fine,” Elena sighed reluctantly before she turned to Elijah “You know, don’t you?”
Elijah shot her a look before turning back to Damon, waiting for him to continue.
A man stormed out of the box before Tyra could even think about giving into her curiosity. He looked around and sighed in annoyance "I lost the signal," he huffed "And I got so close…"
"We've moved," a blonde girl gasped, stumbling over to where the vampire was still sitting, clutching at the railing "Does it fly?"
"I doubt it," Tyra spoke up, jumping from her perch "How did it just appear? And what was that noise?"
The Doctor waved them off, barely even reacting to the presence of the second girl. She probably wouldn't be here much longer. Humans tended to run when they were scared, so he put her out of his mind "Disappears here and reappears there. You wouldn't understand."
“Doctor,” Elijah muttered, frowning to himself “It can’t be, can it?” He vaguely remembered the man he had met in the 20s with Agatha and the giant wasp.
"If we're somewhere else, what about the headless thing? It's still on the loose," Rose gasped worriedly.
"It melted with the head," the Doctor shrugged absentmindedly "Are you going to witter on all night?"
Tyra was watching the two argue with her eyebrows raised. Head? Melted? What were they on about?
“I’d rather like to know that myself,” Elijah mused.
Damon shot him an annoyed look “Well, if you stop interrupting, maybe you would find out.”
The questions were itching to get out but she resolved to staying quiet for the moment. She turned her head to look at the blonde next to her when the girl let out a choked sob "I'll have to tell his mother." When the Time Lord looked over at her in confusion, she continued, her tone now bordering on anger "Mickey. I'll have to tell his mother he's dead and you just went and forgot him again. You were right, you are an alien."
“Alien?” Stefan repeated in disbelief “Do they really expect me to believe that?”
Damon groaned “Just shut up and listen. We can talk more later. We’ll never get done if we continue like this.”
"Alien?" Tyra asked in surprise. Whether it was at the thought of aliens existing or the fact that her mouth ran away with her, she didn't know. Probably the first.
"You're still here," the Doctor noted in surprise.
Tyra shrugged with a grin "I want to know what your box is. You didn't seem inclined to answer, so I guess I'll have to stick around to find out."
The Doctor opened his mouth before snapping it closed. And here he thought Rose was determined. If the roles had been reversed, he didn't know whether he would have stayed "And you are?"
"Tyra," the Original introduced herself. There was no way she would tell the man her last name. Not until she knew more. Whatever that box was, Tyra was a little wary of it. Something niggled at the back of her mind. She felt like she had seen it before but that was impossible, right? Even if the man was supposedly an alien. Was there time travel where he was from? Or was he immortal like her?
The Doctor grinned "Nice to meet you, Tyra. I'm the Doctor."
“What kind of name is the Doctor?” Elena questioned. Her mind was reeling from everything she had found out so far. Aliens? Really? And she thought witches and vampires were absurd.
"If you're really an alien, how come you sound like you're from the North?" Rose questioned, looking over at the other girl "I'm Rose, by the way."
"Lots of planets have a north," the Doctor shrugged.
"What's a police public call box?"
Tyra was the one who answered "It's a phone box from the 50s and 60s."
"It's a disguise," the Doctor added, throwing the dark-haired girl a curious look before shaking his head. She was probably just interested in History or something. Nothing special.
Damon coughed “He’s going to be eating his words sooner rather than later.”
“What do you know?” Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes on the younger vampire.
“Not yet,” Damon told him “I’m not going to spoiler anything.”
"Okay," Rose blinked "And this – this living plastic. What's it got against us?"
The Doctor shook his head "Nothing. It loves you. You've got such a good planet. Lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air, perfect. Just what the Nestene Consciousness needs. Its food stock was destroyed in the war, all its protein plants rotted, so Earth, dinner."
"Any way of stopping it?" Rose questioned.
"Anti-plastic," the Doctor grinned, waggling his eyebrows as he pulled out a tube of blue liquid.
Rose tilted her head, gaping at the man in a mixture of shock and revulsion "Anti-plastic."
“What she said,” Elena said faintly.
"Anti-plastic," the Doctor agreed "But first I've got to find it. How can you hide something that big in a city this small?" He frowned and turned to Tyra "And… You're still here."
Tyra shrugged "I'm interested. This is far more interesting than wallowing in self-pity or my thoughts… or both."
"Hold on," Rose exclaimed "Hide what?"
"The transmitter," the Doctor pointed out "The consciousness is controlling every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boost the signal."
Rose nodded in understanding "What's it look like?"
"Like a transmitter." Was the unhelpful reply she got "Round and massive, slap bang in the middle of London. A huge circular metal structure like a dish, like a wheel… Radial. Close to where we're standing." The man finished his explanation, turning his back to the London Eye. In front of him, the two girls exchanged glances and shrugged "Must be completely invisible."
Damon barked out a laugh “This is typical. That man is blind to everything that’s right in front of him.”
Stefan looked at his brother “You talk as if you’ve met him.”
“I did,” Damon shrugged “It’s been quite a long time but I know the Doctor.”
“I believe I have met him as well,” Elijah added “Although, I do not believe that the Doctor is Northern…”
Damon hummed “He isn’t. At least, I don’t think he is.”
Tyra snorted "Yeah, completely," she agreed sarcastically "Doctor, think. We're in London. What's huge and circular in the middle of London?"
"What?" he frowned.
"Oh God," she groaned, shaking her head in exasperation. Hopefully, he wasn't always as oblivious as this. This could get old really fast "Just turn around, would you?"
The Doctor did as asked but whirled around yet again "What?"
Damon groaned, hitting the book against his forehead “This seems even worse than what I know of him.”
He turned again when he saw that both Rose and Tyra were staring at something "What is it?" One more turn was all it took for him to catch on "Oh. Fantastic." He grabbed the girls' hands, pulling them with him over to the Westminster Bridge "Think of it, plastic all over the world, every artificial thing waiting to come alive. The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires, the cables…"
"The breast implants," Rose added jokingly.
“That is a disturbing thought,” Elena shuddered, involuntarily crossing her arms across her chest.
Damon leered at her “Afraid?”
Tyra shuddered at the mental image "Really? Did you really have to give me that image? That is kind of disturbing."
Elijah blinked, looking from the book to the Doppelgänger. Did Tyra just agree with a Doppelgänger? Or the other way around? He shook his head and leaned back against the chair again. This was slightly more draining than he thought and he was sure this wasn’t even half of it.
The Doctor looked like he was ready to agree but instead of commenting, he just hummed "Still, we've found the transmitter. The Consciousness must be somewhere underneath."
Rose leaned over the edge of the bridge "What about down there?" She pointed to a large manhole entrance at the bottom of some steps.
"Looks good to me," the Doctor shrugged and ran down with the two girls right behind him.
Tyra grinned internally. This was getting more interesting by the minute. She was really glad that she didn't just walk away from the man.
Damon let out a laugh “She would.”
They climbed down a short ladder into a brick-built area with lots of chains. From there, they went through a door and further down a flight of steps into a large chamber. Tyra wrinkled her nose at the stench of plastic, fear and something she couldn't quite place.
"The Nestene Consciousness," the Doctor whispered, gesturing to the mound of plastic goo in the vat "That's it, inside the vat. A living plastic creature."
“Am I the only one who is weirded out by this?” Stefan asked, an expression of disgust on his face. Mound of plastic goo? That sounds gross.
Elena shook her head “Not at all.”
Tyra wrinkled her forehead "You said that before but how can plastic be alive? Isn't it just… I don't know… material?"
"Compound," the Doctor pointed out "Plastic is made from synthetic organic compounds."
"That's just weird," she complained quietly before Rose spoke up again.
"Well, then," Rose murmured, thoroughly weirded out by the goo. It looked disgusting and the smell was just as bad "Tip in your anti-plastic and let's go.”
The Doctor stared at her "I'm not here to kill it. I've got to give it a chance." He jogged down to a catwalk that overlooked the seething vat "I seek an audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract according to convention fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation."
The Consciousness inside the vat flexed, looking almost like that one time Kol tried to make pudding.
Elijah grimaced “I could have gone forever without hearing that again and it would have been too soon.”
“Who is Kol?” Elena asked curiously.
“Ah…” Elijah’s expression closed off “I’m sure you’ll find out sooner or later.”
Stefan narrowed his eyes on the man “Why not just tell us?”
“Because it is none of your business?” Elijah pointed out calmly.
Tyra let out a snort of amusement as the memory resurfaced. Just before they had gotten daggered in the 1800s, Kol tried to cook something and only a maid's quick action stopped him from blowing up the house. Neither Niklaus nor Elijah had been too happy with him but their faces made it worth having to clean up afterwards.
She was and would always be a prankster. Maybe it had been a bad idea for her and Kol to spend as much time together but Elijah couldn’t stop thinking that Tyra hadn’t had them… So why would she come to them instead of Kol? They did that to themselves and they were too blind to notice until it was too late.
"Thank you," the Doctor continued "If I might have permission to approach?"
Rose gasped and ran over to the side where a boy was watching everything with wide, fearful eyes "Oh God. Mickey, it's me. It's okay," she soothed "It's alright."
"That thing down there," Mickey gasped "The liquid. Rose, it can talk."
"You're stinking," Rose laughed, totally unconcerned now that she knew that Mickey was alive "Doctor, they kept him alive."
The Doctor glanced over his shoulder "Yeah, that was always a possibility. Keep him alive to maintain the copy."
"You knew that and you never said?" Rose demanded.
"Can we keep the domestics outside?" the Doctor groaned, continuing his way closer to the Consciousness "Am I addressing the Consciousness? Thank you. If I might observe, you infiltrated this civilization by means of warp shunt technology. So, may I suggest, with the greatest respect that you shunt off?" Tyra let out an amused huff, trying to figure out what it – the Nestene had said to the man. So far she was coming up blank but then a sort of face formed in the vat, a groaning noise coming from it "Oh, don't give me that," the Doctor bit out "It's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights… I am talking. This planet is just starting. The stupid little people have only learned how to walk but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please, just go."
"Doctor," Rose called out in alarm as two shop window dummies grabbed the Doctor from behind.
"That was just insurance," he protested as one of the dummies took the vial of anti-plastic from him "I wasn't going to use it. I was not attacking you. I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy. I swear, I'm not…" He paused with a puzzled look "What do you mean?" A door slid back to reveal the Tardis, causing the Doctor to pale "No. Oh, no. Honestly no. Yes, that's my ship." He paused for a moment "That's not true. I should know, I was there. I fought in the war. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't save your world. I couldn't save any of them."
Rose looked over "What's it doing?"
"It's the Tardis," the Doctor explained "The Nestene has identified its superior technology. It's terrified. It's going to the final phase. It's starting the invasion. Get out Rose, Tyra… Just leg it now."
Tyra looked on as the vat kept roaring. Over the noise it was making, she could hear Rose calling her mother of all people. What could she do? She snuck closer, gracefully jumping over the railing to land behind the Doctor and the two dummies holding him. One kick and the left dummy was falling into the vat, barely releasing the Doctor in time. At the same time as the other fell, the vial of anti-plastic tipped over, spilling onto the Nestene Consciousness.
"Thanks," the Doctor breathed, pulling Tyra over to the two humans and the box "Now we should leave." He pushed Rose and Mickey into the Tardis and closed the door behind the four of them.
The same noise Tyra heard earlier, sounded again but this time all around her as the interior kept shaking. She barely stopped a gasp from escaping her at the sight in front of her. It was smaller on the outside than on the inside.
“It must be amazing,” Damon whispered “I haven’t seen it but Tyra told me about it. Maybe someday.”
How this room managed to fit into the small phone box was a riddle to her. It was something new, something refreshing and she didn’t find a lot of that anymore.
The shaking stopped as soon as it began and Mickey stumbled out of the door with Rose and Tyra just behind him "Nestene Consciousness." The Doctor clicked his fingers "Easy."
"In what world was that easy?" Tyra questioned, raising her eyebrow at the man leaning against the doorway of the Tardis "You were trapped."
"You're right," he nodded "Thank you. Right then, I'll be off, unless – er – I don't know, you could come with me. Both of you." He gestured over his shoulder "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know. It goes anywhere in the universe free of charge."
Tyra hummed. So it was a spaceship. No time machine? "Is it always like that?" she asked "And I mean the running."
"Yeah," the Doctor shrugged. Rose licked her lips reluctantly "Yeah, I can't," she mumbled, looking down at her boyfriend "I've got to go and find my mum and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so…"
The Doctor nodded in disappointment "Okay. What about you then?"
"You met me about an hour ago and you want me to come with you?"
"You kept your head," he pointed out "That's good enough to warrant at least one trip."
Tyra let out a breath, her mind jumping over itself. This was the perfect way to keep out of her siblings' way. She was aware that she had stayed here in London for too long already and if she wasn't careful Niklaus or Elijah would find her.
Elijah clenched his hands. It hurt to hear that and while he thought he could handle it, it was hard. He stood up and paced over to the far wall, bracing his back against it.
The Doppelgänger was looking at him before he shot her a glare, making the girl turn back to the book with a small blush.
That was something she wanted to avoid. Returning to wherever they stayed with a dagger in her chest wasn't an experience she wanted to have again. Not now. Not when she still had so much to do "Alright then. I'm in."
The Doctor held his hand out for the girl to take and pulled her into the Tardis, immediately pulling some levers "You didn't say it…"
"Say what?"
"You know," he gestured "It's bigger on the inside."
Tyra smirked a little at his disappointment "I saw this box appear out of thin air, I'm really not surprised."
The Doctor froze "I forgot something. Hold on." He worked on the console and ran to the door, throwing it open. Tyra could just catch a glimpse of the surroundings around him. He was back in London where he left Rose "By the way, did I mention it also travels in time?"
"No," Tyra whispered to herself "No, you didn't." But it made so much more sense. So this really was the box she had seen back when… She furrowed her forehead. When had she seen it again? Something had happened but Tyra couldn't remember what exactly lead to her seeing the box. Maybe there was more than one, though. She would find out later. About what the Doctor knew and how it was possible that he could travel in time.
“Okay, this was the first chapter,” Damon murmured, closing the book.
Elijah let out a breath and turned to the three other people in the room “I believe you had questions?”
Elena nodded “What’s an Original?”
“Original Vampire. They – We are the first vampires,” he explained, hesitating for a moment “Tyra is my younger sister.”
“How many Originals are out there?” Stefan asked, narrowing his eyes “And what makes you different? I’m assuming there is a reason you aren’t just ‘vampires’?”
Elijah inclined his head “You’d be correct. There are seven of us. About our attributes… We can’t be killed easily. That’s about everything you need to know at the moment.”
Stefan clenched his hands, unwilling to drop the subject. He wanted to know how to deal with Originals. There had to be a way, right? With Elijah’s reaction to Elena, there was something they needed or wanted her for, he was sure of that. And when the time came, he would help Elena “Fine,” he huffed and turned to his brother “How do you know Tyra? And the Doctor?”
“A story for another time, brother,” Damon smirked before flipping the book in his hands “Who wants to read next?”
“I can do it,” Elena shrugged, reaching out to take the book from Damon’s hands “Okay. The End of the World.”