"Klaus is back."

Caroline lifted her eyes from the files that she had been reading to see Stefan walking in her office with two mugs of coffee.

"The others are staying." He finished, placing a mug in front of her, "Apparently Aliza hates the woods."

Caroline nodded before taking a sip of the coffee.

Stefan took a seat in front of her, placing his mug on the table.

He asked, "Did you talk to Elena?"

"Oh yeah," She nodded, "They bought a new apartment."

He couldn't help but frown a little, realizing that Damon had not contacted him for months.

Caroline noticed and said, "Hey, it's okay."

"I don't know, Care." After sending Katherine back to hell, Damon was furious when Stefan had informed them that he would be staying in Mystic Falls and helping Caroline and Alaric to open the school.

Stefan found his brother's anger confusing, he thought Damon would be ecstatic after knowing that they will be helping so many people and creating a safe space for the supernatural kids, something he wished was present in his time.

But Damon and Elena were hell-bent on convincing everyone to leave the town. It later didn't sit well with Caroline and she called them out only for it to cause further disagreement amongst them.

Though they did at times keep in touch.

"You tried, Stefan. We all did." Caroline reasoned, "If they don't want to listen, that's on them." She was hoping that Damon would at least teach at the school but the way he had called her stupid had angered Caroline to the point where she couldn't hold back anymore.

Stefan just shook his head, not making any comment.

"What about you?" Stefan asked, leaning forward and placing his arms on the table.

"What about me?"

He raised his eyebrows and said, "So nothing happened between you and the big bad hybrid?"

She snickered at him, "Nothing happened between me and Klaus. And even if there was, you'd be the last person I would tell."

Ever since she had called him worse, a part of her was feeling guilty. But then today she saw the way Klaus was checking Aliza's bag, making sure that everything was working. Caroline realized that maybe Klaus just needs to get out his own way.

Stefan gasped, "I am your bestie, Caroline. I deserve to know."

"You're also my ex-husband," Caroline pointed out before taking a sip from her mug.

"That was years ago. Our marriage only lasted for a year and a half," He returned.

"Even though the sex was great," She added, laughing when Stefan scowled at her.

"You need help." He shook his head, "Maybe Klaus can help you." Stefan wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Stefan Salvatore you-"

"Help you in what?" Rebekah asked as she entered the room.

"Oh no Caroline is feeling stressed. Maybe Klaus can give her a massage- Ouch!" He rubbed his shoulder where Caroline punched him.

Rebekah twisted her face in disgust, "You know he's my brother, right?"

"You know we can talk about Enzo right?" Caroline suggested.

Both laughed when Rebekah gaped at them, caught off guard.

"Way to change the topic, Forbes." Stefan grinned at her, he continued, "Well there is always the babyface we can talk about."

"I don't know what is going on there," Caroline said, her voice serious, "Bonnie has been in a foul mood recently."

"Kol's an idiot," Rebekah said while shaking her head, "Pretty sure it's his fault."

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"Why are you being so nice to me?" Katherine squinted her eyes at the sandwich Aliza held out.

Aliza thought for a moment and said, "Because you can kill me any second you want?"

Katherine hummed and plucked the sandwich from her hand.

In all honesty, Aliza was not expecting to meet Katherine at all, let alone meet her in a tomb where she was supposed to find her sword. It took a while to convince Katherine that she wasn't going to hurt her or kill her and almost an hour to help her get out

But looking at the woman whose picture she had seen, Aliza felt bad when she carefully observed Katherine's appearance.

In Aliza's opinion, Katherine looked like a homeless woman who hadn't eaten for several days.

She sat on the other side, the sword, and Henrik could wait. Her feet were throbbing and her agitation regarding this thing had toned down.

"How long have you been here?" She asked, taking in the sight of the tomb. It seemed ancient enough, with its stone walls. A huge hole was present at the very top, through which the sunlight poured inside, making everything visible.

Katherine shrugged, "A couple of years, to be honest, I lost count."

"You've been here for so long that you lost count?" Aliza asked, her voice filled with disbelief.

"Okay, in my defense, I was trapped."

"By who?"

Katherine snickered, "By Damon Salvatore." She said his name as if she was personally disgusted by his existence.

"Douchemon? Stefan's brother?"

She knew she had no right to make assumptions about that guy but she couldn't help it. Stefan had told her about Damon being distant for some reason. But Rebekah had informed her about how much of a 'wanker' this dude was.

"That is a nice name. I like you already."

"What happened?"

"Just the same crap. He trapped me and then went to his Elena. You must know who she is, the mother of tears, the most boring vampire in existence," Katherine snorted, "The others think I'm dead."

Aliza narrowed her eyes at Katherine, who stared back while eating the sandwich. She wanted to know the truth, wanted to know who this Katherine was.

"Tell me what happened. From the start how you turned into a vampire to why Damon would hate you so much that he trapped you."

Something about the girl's eyes made Katherine feel a sense of calmness. There was not a hint of judgment, they were just filled with warmth and openness that made her chest ache.

Before she could think it through, she said, "I met Elijah and Klaus in 1492. England. They were nice to me, especially Elijah. God, he was amazing, or at least I thought he was."

She sighed, "Later I found out that they wanted to sacrifice me, so I ran away and turned myself into a vampire. I knew if I stayed Klaus would eventually find me so I went to Bulgaria, to my parents only to see my family all dead."

Aliza flinched.

"Klaus killed your family?"

"Klaus slaughtered my family."

Aliza took a deep breath. This was more intense than she thought. She didn't know what she was expecting but it certainly wasn't something this gruesome. Murdering people? She knew being a vampire meant having bloodthirst. Despite that, she couldn't help but hate Klaus for what he did.

She began wondering about the others, even Vincent. She had asked her parents if they ever hurt anyone, they swore on her that the reason why they left their coven was that they did not wish to use their witchcraft for ill means. But Vincent avoided her question. Aliza wondered if Vincent ever took anyone's life if he had blood on his hands.

The thought made her sick, that the entire Mikaelson family made her sick. Aliza felt a shiver run down her spine when she remembered her fight with Kol. Without thinking, wrapped her arms around herself, she started to feel cold.

Aliza couldn't wait to find that stupid sword and get away from that bloody family.

"And Damon?" She asked.

Katherine shrugged, "That's on me I suppose. I met him and Stefan, both were amazing in bed. Stefan was better actually." Her voice smug.

"Jesus Christ I don't want to know that." Aliza groaned.

"Okay, okay, you're a minor. My bad. I turned them both into vampires. So I was in this tomb for years. I escaped somehow and Damon was in love with me so he was mad that I didn't tell him. Then it was just a game of cat and mouse. I wanted to take revenge so I decided to make an entrance at Stefan and Caroline's wedding."

Aliza raised her eyebrows, "Wha-what? Stefan and Caroline are not together?"

"I knew it!" Katherine's face lit up with a smile. She threw her head back and laughed, "I knew they both wouldn't last. I mean they both look like brother and sister, don't you think?"

"The story Katherine," Aliza reminded.

"Oh yeah, so Damon was going to kill me but Stefan decided to sacrifice himself to send me back to hell, but it didn't work out and Damon didn't want to lose his brother so he made some sort of deal with a witch."

"What deal?"

"As long as I am alive, his precious Elena is alive. He trapped me because he didn't want to take any risks. He did supply me with blood bags every year," She gestured at the freezer box at the corner.

Aliza had no wish to know how Douchemon pulled it off.

"You did everything to..."

"To survive. I did horrible things just to survive." Katherine said, "Hey, can I have another sandwich?"

Aliza nodded and dug her bag, pulling out another sandwich and handing it to Katherine.

"Have you killed people?" Aliza asked as she watched Katherine nibble on her food.

Katherine nodded her head, "Look, sunshine, I'll be honest with you since you've been very nice to me so far and your dad makes awesome sandwiches. I am a horrible person who did horrible things to escape from an even more horrible person."

She continued, "Trust me, if Klaus catches me, he will torture me for centuries, and I mean literally centuries."

"Did you want to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Kill people? Hurt them?"

Katherine shrugged, "As long as Klaus doesn't come anywhere near me, sure."

"That's not the answer to my question. Did you want to be a horrible person?"

Katherine glanced at Aliza, the warmth in her eyes was not lost. No one had ever asked her this. No one cared enough to ask her what she truly wanted. Hell, she never got the time to figure out what she wanted herself. She always had to run, always had to watch her back, she couldn't make friends or settle in one place because of Klaus.

She had to do awful things to survive because she was aware that if Klaus got his hands on her, the pain that he would inflict would be much worse than the guilt she felt when she took a life.

She had no idea why she was spilling her emotions but the girl had been kind enough to sit down and listen. Katherine was amused because no one had ever taken the time to ask her about her wishes. It felt nice to see someone care, even though it was just out of curiosity.

Katherine just wanted a family, someone she could care for, someone who would care for her. It was all taken away, all her dreams and wishes crushed because of some twisted fate.

She snorted, "It doesn't matter what I want, sunshine. I can never have those things."

Aliza thought for a moment and said, "If you get a second chance? What will you do with it?"

Katherine thought for a moment and said, "I'll visit Bulgaria. It's been a long time since I last visited my home town."

"Will you kill again?"

Katherine was tired. She was tired of running, tired of watching her back, tired of killing people, tired of pretending to be someone who has no emotions, no guilt, no remorse. Besides she knew she was never going to achieve her freedom so telling the truth wouldn't hurt.

Without hesitating for a second, she said, "No. I don't think I will."

Enzo had informed Aliza how Elena was Damon's redemption. And that Damon had been a violent guy, taking his anger out by killing people. But if Damon could get a second chance despite the horrible things he had done then why was Katherine any different? Even Klaus was living with his family and Elijah seemed well.

Katherine didn't have much of a choice because of Niklaus. So if she was willing to change, to start over then why not?

"What if I tell you I can give you that second chance?"

Katherine stared at her with confused eyes.

Aliza couldn't believe she was going to do this.

"I'm the lion warrior."

"No, you're not."

"I am."

Katherine stared at her in disbelief, "Lion warrior is a myth, a legend. It's not real."

Aliza glanced around, then she remembered that she had the map in her bag. She pulled it out, spreading it on the floor.

"Why do you think I'm here?" She pointed at the map.

Katherine was speechless. Ever since she had been in the company of Aliza, she did not for once feel like biting her. She had been thirsty but now her bloodthirst seemed to disappear. Aliza's blood wasn't calling out to her, it wasn't alluring in the slightest. But she didn't smell like a werewolf or a vampire. It was much stronger than that.

"Let's say that you are the lion warrior or whatever," Katherine narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean you can give me a second chance?"

Aliza took a deep breath and exhaled through her mouth.

She said, "My blood. It's supposed to be very powerful. It works under my command."

"You will give me your blood? Just like that?" Katherine scoffed. Sure the girl had been kind and nice to her but she wasn't going to fall that easily for something that sounded so too good to be true.

"No, of course not," Aliza shook her head, "You will have to promise me something first."

"Promise you what?"

"I will command my blood to keep you safe from Klaus or anyone who wishes to hurt you but you have to give me your word."

Katherine raised her eyebrows, waiting for Aliza to continue.

"You will not kill again. If you want to start over, you will start over properly. No turn arounds, no excuses, no other chances. Take it or leave it."

"Why are you doing this?" asked Katherine, her voice soft.

Aliza shrugged, "Because I feel like it's the right thing." She shrugged. "Besides I always wanted to say 'you owe me one.'" She added, making Katherine laugh.

"How do you know about me?" Katherine asked in confusion a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Elijah has your picture in his diary. I read about you." She answered.

"He let you read his diary?"

Aliza pursed her lips together and said, "He doesn't know. But I kinda found the diary in their storeroom."

Katherine shook her head, "You were in their house?"

"Oh yeah, um, the Mikaelsons helped me to, you know, practice my abilities and stuff. They also accompanied me here."

"They are here? In Mystic Falls?"

"All of them, except Freya."

"Huh," Katherine finally said. She knew there was something about the girl that made her important for Klaus. For centuries she had been ahead of him, trying to escape the man. Katherine was aware of his motives, she was aware that the girl either meant something to him or it's because he wanted to use her for his benefits.

Aliza grew uncomfortable by the silence and said, "You can write Elijah a letter."

Katherine blinked a few times, "What?"

"You can write him a letter," She insisted, "You know, a badass goodbye. Call Klaus a dick, maybe?"

"You have a pen and paper?"

Aliza smiled.

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Okay, so for those of you who are confused. Instead of Stefan killing Enzo and then being cured by Bonnie, everyone kicked Cade's ass and one of his bitches ruled hell.

Just assume that happened. Stefan is still a vampire and so are Damon and Elena. I threw the cure in Venus and it got destroyed by the sulphuric acid clouds.

My Kitty Kat is alive and kicking. I gave you my word on Kalijah and that is going to happen.

Not properly edited though.

Don't forget to vote and comment.