[TVD] You Hold Me in the Dark 5/?: Cut From the Same Cloth

[tmbreck]

Title: Chapter 5: Cut From the Same Cloth
Characters: Bonnie Bennett, Caroline Forbes, Elena Gilbert, Elizbeth Forbes, Kol Mikaelson, Maddox, Mindy, Rebekah Mikaelson, Sheila Bennett, Tyler Lockwood
Rating/Warning: FRT
Word Count: 3,305
A/N: Thank you so much to kirythestitchwitch for being my second set of eyes on this. Though I list a lot of characters, and some of them actually do get dialog, some of them just pass through.

Caroline was almost surprised when she wasn't further interrogated by the Mikaelsons after her revelation. But here it was, five days after she told them and four days after her talk with Klaus, and she had only really seen Kol and Rebekah. Not to say that she hadn't been busy. Both she and Bonnie were researching on how to use Silas' headstone to draw on Qetsiyah's magic. So far, it looked less like a spell and more like… willpower.

They had both concluded that they weren't going to find any real spell when Sheila came home. She had barely walked through the door, set down her briefcase, and glanced at the piles of books gathered on the coffee table before she was fixing them both with a serious look.

"I met some of the new staff at Whitmore today. One in particular I thought would interest you. They've brought on another professor of the Occult by the name of Atticus Shane." Here, she paused and nodded at the books in front of them, "I hope you found the spell you've been looking for."

Bonnie gave a defeated sigh and answered, "Actually, as far as we can tell, it's not so much a spell as it is a matter of… using your will to tap into the magic."

Glancing at the time on her phone, Caroline realized it was time to head home. Giving an admittedly fake, cheerful smile, she clapped her hands together.

"Well, while I'm gone this week, you two can concentrate on that whole witchy willpower thing."

When Sheila shot her a questioning look, Caroline gave out a huff that even she could admit was a bit over-dramatic.

"I need to head off to pack. Tomorrow, Rebekah and I are headed to Italy because, apparently, that's where she met, fell in love with, and then buried her hunter. I'll be on a private jet with her and probably a small handful of Mikaelson minions for roughly twelve hours."

Bonnie's eyebrows raised and she asked, incredulous, "Exactly how much is she paying for all that?"

Before Caroline could answer, Sheila beat her to it with a droll, "They're thousand-year-old vicious creatures. Do you really think they pay for anything?"

There was little to say after that, so they both hugged her and wished her good luck. The next morning, on the drive to the private airport where Rebekah had "convinced" the owner to let a private jet fly in and out of, Caroline had almost fooled herself into believing that spending so much time with Rebekah wouldn't be the absolute worst. As soon as she parked and got a good look at the jet, however, all that flew out the window.

It wasn't the fact that there were a handful of hybrids and Maddox on the jet – "Klaus believed you would appreciate the help." Klaus' witch said with a smarmy grin – that ruined the trip for her. Mindy was there and, having long since convinced her that she didn't blame her for the accidentally bite, they had become friends. No, it was the smug looks Rebekah shot her as she conversed fluently in Italian over the phone to make sure everything was prepared for their landing. It was also the way Rebekah played the part of the spoiled princess and ordered everyone around. Basically, it was the fact that she needed Rebekah here at all. Finally, when Rebekah had made a snide comment to Mindy out of the blue, Caroline reached her limit.

"Mindy, why don't you take the hybrids into the other room. Maddox, I'm willing to bet you brought everything you need for a privacy spell. Do it, then go join the hybrids."

Where her tone when talking to Mindy had been soft and friendly, it was hard and commanding when talking to Maddox. She had found he seemed to respond best to that. While the hybrids were clearing out and the entire time Maddox was performing his spell Rebekah continued to stare at her with a condescending expression and Caroline, apart from one quick glance to ensure the original was staying, kept her eyes on the magazine that had been sitting beside her. When they were finally alone, she locked eyes with the other blond.

"It's time you got something through your head. You need to stop Silas a whole lot more than we do. We don't really have a lot of people waiting on the other side wanting revenge." Caroline deliberately didn't think about the tomb full of dead vampires that would disagree. "Though, after whining and pouting your way through a thousand years, I'm sure you've collected a lot of dead enemies who would absolutely love the chance to rip you to shreds. That's including the man whose grave we're on our way to dig up."

Standing up, Caroline crossed over to the door. Pausing with her hand on the handle, she turned back to Rebekah who was still sitting in her seat, though now with a shocked expression.

"The spoiled brat routine might fly with your brothers who spend their time either coddling or ignoring you, but we're not your family and you haven't given us reason to be your friends. You're stuck down here in the mud and muck with us Princess, and it's time you start realizing it."

Caroline left a silent Rebekah sitting alone in the room while she went to join the hybrids and Maddox. The rest of the flight, while she learned how to play Spades, Rebekah stayed closed up in the other section of the jet. When they landed later that night she didn't seem angry, which Caroline was dreading, but somehow distracted. She kept to herself as they made their way to the hotel Caroline was sure Klaus had been the one to book for them. In fact, it wasn't until they reached the general area of the grave the next afternoon that she bothered talking directly to any of them.

"It's been almost nine hundred years, so I can't be exact, but he's buried somewhere around here. Klaus' pets can be good little puppies and dig around."

Apparently, Rebekah wasn't completely cured of her snotty attitude. It probably would have been too much to expect otherwise. Of course, Caroline wasn't big enough to completely let it go.

"One, rude. Two, I do my best to always work smarter not harder."

Caroline then turned to Maddox who was already waiting with a smirk on his face that she was convinced he thought was charming. When she raised her eyebrows at him, refusing to actually ask him to do something, he bowed his head toward her and then made a big production out of closing his eyes, chanting a few things, and then walking around. Caroline had to wonder how much of that was necessary, and how much of it was him trying to show off. Rebekah seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"It seems Klaus has some competition when it comes to his favorite pet witch's slavish devotion. Whatever will you do with him?"

Caroline didn't pretend she wasn't fully aware of Maddox's interest. It would only make her look like a liar or an idiot, and she didn't feel like giving Rebekah that kind of ammo today.

"Use him when I need him and ignore him when I don't. I've made sure he knows I'm not interested in any of the… extracurricular activities he wants me to join him in."

They watched as Maddox walked an ever-widening circle for what seemed hours until he finally found the area where Alexander's body was buried. When Caroline went to grab a shovel, Mindy beat her there.

"We've got this, Care. You go keep the princess distracted."

Mindy gave a little eye roll when she said the later, and Caroline let out a huff of laughter. Rebekah, for her part, pretended not to hear the exchange. They had been watching the hybrids take turns digging for the hunter with Maddox standing by doing… lord only knows what for about half an hour when Rebekah finally broke the silence.

"I was in love with him, you know. We had been vampires for a little over a century when I met him. There was a church here when I buried him, we were going to be married in it. But he found out what I was and betrayed my brothers and me. My brothers never fail to bring that up whenever I make the mistake of falling in love."

Rebekah turned to her with a bitter and challenging glare, though Caroline could clearly see the shine of tears in her eyes. "This is the part where you say they're right to laugh at me and that I'm pathetic."

As much as she didn't want to, Caroline could see more than a bit of herself in Rebekah right then; always wanting to find love, be accepted and always falling just shy of it. She decided to tell Rebekah what she was constantly trying to believe herself.

"Actually, I think you're pretty damn strong. You were betrayed and hurt, but you haven't let it close you off to love. You still put yourself out there, put your heart on the line. That's pretty damn brave and more than your brothers have managed. It's not really something to laugh at."

Whatever Rebekah would have said in response was cut off by the hybrids finding Alexander's body. After retrieving the sword, out of respect to Rebekah, Caroline asked them to fill the grave back in. Their emotionally revealing moment seemed to have been the extent of Rebekah's desire for conversation. On the trip back to the hotel, even the hybrids seemed subdued. Caroline could only hope that Rebekah didn't regret her sharing and decide to be more difficult one they got back home. Choosing not the dwell on that, Caroline made an early night of it.

Rebekah, on the other hand, spent that night thinking. Eventually, she concluded that, since her family seemed determined to stay in Mystic Falls for the foreseeable future and Caroline was the least objectionable of its inhabitants save for the sheriff, it would make things a lot easier if they were on friendly terms. It would probably also make things easier if she was on speaking terms with the person who was coaching her on how to live in the current times. All of this made her determined to ensure that she and Caroline would be something close to friends. The next morning found her knocking loudly on Caroline's hotel door ready to put her plan into action.

Caroline looked curious though not unwelcoming when she answered. Rebekah took it as a good sign that she didn't even hesitate to accept the lunch invitation, though she did look slightly confused. Their day was relatively pleasant, as was their flight home the next day. Granted, Rebekah wasn't pleased that she was on a long flight with hybrids and Klaus' slimy pet again, but Caroline proved to be a less than terrible companion.

To be honest, as much as she pretended that spending time with Caroline was an arduous task, it was… pleasant having someone to talk to who seemed to get her. Granted, Caroline could be sarcastic and snotty, but she at least understood the importance of the everyday human things that Rebekah's brothers laughed at her for wanting to experience. In fact, Rebekah had considered her attempts at friendship with the girl a success since the weekend after their return was going very well. Right up until Sunday night; specifically, right up until Rebekah had seen Matt Donovan at the school while they were participating in "Senior Prank Night" and asked Caroline about him.

"That little brat had the absolute gall to tell me to 'steer clear' of him. As if she has any right to try and dictate to me who I can be interested in!"

Given Kol's unrestrained laughter, she could tell he took Caroline's side. Of course. She was just about ready to drive something sharp into his heart to cut his amusement short when he calmed enough to speak.

"Unfortunately for Caroline, perhaps you two are very much alike. Dear sister, it's possible she was trying to protect the quarterback. However, she could just as easily be trying to protect you."

Rebekah could only look at him in confusion as he stood up and walked over to her.

"Before she got sent back, in that other time, Caroline had dated him. From the way she described it, he was a perfectly boring and bland suitor. She also had to deal with his minor obsession with the current doppelgänger. Honestly, we get enough of that from Klaus and Elijah."

The last was accompanied by a light tap on her nose before he left the room. As was apparently becoming a worrisome habit of hers, she spent all that night thinking about Caroline. Even as she woke up the next morning, got ready, and headed off to the first day of school, she was still thinking of her. Deciding that enough was enough, she went off in search of the girl. She found her with the youngest Bennett witch and Tati's little clone. Walking up, she deliberately ignored the others in favor of focusing her attention on Caroline. It's not as if she had any need of them.

"After having a conversation with Kol last night, I've come to the conclusion that our argument was a simple misunderstanding. He pointed out that you were not only protecting the human, but also probably looking out for me. After all, I don't need yet another doppelgänger obsessed male in my life."

Caroline seemed to struggle for a moment before she replied, "Kol is… not entirely wrong. A fact of which we should probably make sure he never finds out."

Their shared amusement was interrupted by Elena. "Excuse me, who are you two talking about? Doppelgänger obsessed?"

Turning what she knew to be a condescending smile on the girl –she'd had centuries to perfect it after all— Rebekah said, "Sweetie, not every conversation needs your input."

She could feel her smile turn genuine as she turned back to face Caroline.

"Homecoming. What are your plans?"

Still looking like she was slightly amused, Caroline answered, "Since Bonnie and Elena are going with their boyfriends, I'm going it alone."

Looping her arm through Caroline's, she pulled the other girl along the hall with her, leaving the other two to stare after them in confusion.

"Since neither you and I have suitable companions, we should go together. That way I'll at least know I have someone good looking enough to be there with me by my side."

Rebekah took Caroline's laugh and agreement as a sign that they had managed to overcome the first hurdle in their friendship. Of course, Caroline still turned argumentative at the slightest provocation –Rebekah was simply trying to be helpful when she said Caroline's outfit looked like it belonged on a child—but she seemed willing to forget small things quickly enough. She also took the time to explain things like the "night of illumination" without the snotty eye-roll the doppelgänger aimed at her when she asked why everyone was talking about turning off all the lights the next night.

Thanks in part to their new friendship, it wasn't all that hard to convince Caroline to go with her to a party she had heard some of the football players talking about. Of course, she had to deal with both Bonnie and Elena tagging along. She chose to ignore the strange look that Caroline got at the mention of Tyler Lockwood's name, though she did spend more time that she cared to admit wondering if Caroline had also dated Tyler and if she was simply playing into the football player and cheerleader stereotype. Then, of course she started to wonder if he was another relationship that no longer was thanks to the time travelling. Honestly, she would ask Kol since he seemed to have demanded every detail of the girl's life, but she didn't want to see the smug expression on his face again.

That Friday evening, she and Caroline stood in a clearing the woods with a decent sized crowd, enjoying a party thrown by someone whose name she never bothered to pick up on. There, of course, had been numerous drunken high school boys, and a few college boys, who hit on them both as they stood close to the bonfire. While the actual attempts at seduction were less than pleasant, she did enjoy the game Caroline made of find new and creative ways of turning them down. It was infinitely more entertaining than watching Elena and Stefan or Bonnie and Jeremy make eyes at each other. There were also drunken arguments that could possibly be viewed as entertainment. That was to be expected, or at least Rebekah assumed it was since Caroline seemed to pay them no attention. At least, not at first. And then one argument seemed to draw her eye.

Rebekah caught the moment of panic on her face right before the scream came from just on the other side of the fire. They both rushed over –Rebekah doing so only because Caroline had—but it was too late. One of the college boys that they had talked to earlier, one of the only enjoyable conversations she remembered, lay dead at Tyler's feet, a knife lodged in his heart. Rebekah quickly caught a flash of yellow in his eyes and suddenly she remembered. The Lockwoods had the werewolf gene.

The party seemed frozen in shock. Absolutely no one moved until Caroline took charge. In short order, most of the underage party-goers were dispersed and everyone else stuck around while Caroline called her mother. Quickly enough the ambulance arrived to take away the body and the police were questioning witnesses. Stefan and Elena joined them after their interview, followed shortly by Bonnie and Jeremy. She listened half-heartedly as Tyler told Caroline's mother about the boy attacking him, yelling something about him sleeping with his girlfriend, and the next thing he knew the guy was dead.

As everyone was cleared away, Elizabeth walked over to where they were standing and, looking at Caroline, said, "You look like you think something more is going on here than an accident."

Caroline cast a quick glance around the near-empty clearing before gesturing toward the tree-line. Rebekah was sure they looked suspicious all crowding over by the trees, but no one seemed to be paying attention. When they finally stopped, Caroline looked at her and asked, "Keith, the kid who died, do you remember what he talked to us about?"

To be honest, Rebekah hadn't bothered to remember anything he said as soon as he was away from them. When she told Caroline as much, the younger girl simply nodded her head and turned to her mother.

"A bit after we got here, Keith started talking to us. But he wasn't trying to hit on us because he said he was very much in love with his boyfriend back home."

Caroline put a lot of emphasis on the word "boyfriend" and her mother seemed to get her point about the same time Rebekah did.

"So, you think he was compelled to attack Tyler?"

Caroline looked like she wasn't convinced of that, and said, "He could have been compelled. Then again, Sheila told us Professor Shane just started at Whitmore and he's got some freaky hypno-skills. Maybe he wanted a werewolf he could get to before they became a hybrid and fell under the sire bond."

And just like that, Rebekah was reminded that they weren't sticking around Mystic Falls because of nostalgia. She just really hoped this didn't interfere with her Homecoming plans.