"Tyler? What are you doing here?" Claire asked as he and Caroline entered the house. He was holding his laptop and Caroline was holding an old looking book.
"We're doing research" Caroline explained closing the front door behind her.
"Are you two partners at school or something?" Claire asked cradling Madelyn in her arms. Tyler doesn't answer, his eyes glued on Madelyn.
"Not exactly" Caroline said Claire looked at her. The sisters had a twin moment and Claire realized that they were doing research on werewolves.
"I'll put Madelyn down and I can help." Claire offered.
"Can I help?" Tyler practically begged looking at Claire. Claire looked at him and could feel herself giving in. She knew he was having a terrible time accepting the fact that he had killed someone, triggered the curse and who knows what they were going to find in that book and on the laptop.
"Yeah, come on" Claire said smiling at him. The tension in his boy left. He gave his computer to Caroline and quickly followed after Claire.
"Do you want to hold her?" Claire asked. Tyler looked at her with wide eyes. Claire gives him a smile and a small nod.
"I don't want to hurt her" Tyler muttered looking at Madelyn.
"You won't" Claire reassures. "Just be gentle, she's fragile right now." She explained as she handed her over. Tyler tenses once again as Madelyn rests in his arms. "Relax" Claire said resting her hand on his shoulder. "It's not like she's going to bite." She teases. Tyler laughs nervously and forces himself to relax.
Madelyn coos as she looks at Tyler with new curiosity. Tyler backed up and sat in the rocking chair by Madelyn's crib. He sat on the edge, his eyes never leaving Madelyn once. Claire smiles as she watches them. She takes a seat on her bed.
"She's wonderful" Tyler whispers allowing Madelyn to wrap his tiny hand around his pointer finger. "She has one hell of a grip" He praises grinning like a schoolboy.
"I know, she grows stronger every day. Even now she has your temper. She's going to be a handful." Tyler chuckles.
"Little Spitfire" He names. "She'll have better control over it."
"It's hard to imagine anyone worse than you." Claire said. Tyler's smile dims slightly. "I didn't mean anything by it, Ty" Claire said feeling bad.
"You're right though... I've always had a bad temper." His smile disappears completely as he looks up at her. "There were times, more than once, that I didn't treat you right. Even when we were going strong." He said.
"You're not the only one with a temper, Tyler. Sometimes we just fueled each others fires and we exploded from time to time." Claire shrugs. "I never thought differently of you because of it. I never took your shit and you never took mine. Probably wasn't the safest relationship all the time but it worked for us." Claire said.
"Still, I shouldn't have let it get so far sometimes." Tyler admitted.
"Neither of us should have let it get as far as it did those times. But in the moment, when are tempers are that high, there isn't much else we can do." She told him.
"We could have calmed down." Tyler mumbled. Claire smirked and laughed a bit.
"Yeah, because we both react wonderfully when someone tells us to calm down." She said overly sarcastic. Tyler smirks and laughs a bit. "I was never a helpless victim, Tyler, and I never will be. I hurt you just as much as you hurt me... maybe not mentally but" She muttered the end.
"As much?" Tyler asks raising his eyebrows. "I have more than one scar from you." He shot and she smirked.
"Shouldn't have pissed me off" She shrugged. Tyler laughs shaking his head. "But admit it, the make up was nice." She said and he smirked smugly and nodded. He looked back at Madelyn as she yawned tiredly.
"I could hold her forever" Tyler admitted becoming more comfortable around her. Claire smiles as his arms wrap around Madelyn more snugly. Claire waited a few more minutes before speaking up, letting Tyler have his moment with his daughter but she knew it couldn't last forever.
"You should lay her down, let her get some rest." Claire whispered. "We need to get to our research." Tyler tenses as he remembers why he came here in the first place.
"Right" Tyler muttered standing up. He gently rests Madelyn in her crib. His fingers graze his daughters skin softly.
"Come on" Claire whispers grabbing his elbow. Tyler sighs and reluctantly leaves Madelyn. He follows Claire into the living room and sits on the couch, in between the twins.
"We found Mason's diary and a flash drive at the cellars on the Lockwood property." Caroline told Claire. Claire nodded slowly as Tyler puts the flash drive in the computer.
"It's September 15 - 2 hours from the first full moon since I triggered the curse." Mason speaks into the camera.
"He taped his first transformation." Tyler said pausing the video. Caroline looks through the diary.
"There's nothing... September 16th, he... he wrote about everything the next day." Caroline tells him. She looks around him to look at Claire. Caroline gives her a nervous look and Claire knew that there wasn't anything good in the diary. "I chose the garage. I could deadbolt the door. It was far from the street so no one could hear. I bolted hooks to the floor or the carabiners." Caroline reads what Mason wrote.
"Like for mountain climbing?" Claire questioned frowning her eyebrows.
"Retractable cables." Tyler told them. They watch the video as Mason drinks a golden liquid. He spits the drink out and coughs. "What's he doing?"
"It's wolfsbane" Claire whispers in realization. She remembers the things Mason had told her, after she threatened to hurt him if he kept things from her.
"I diluted wolfsbane with water to weaken myself, but I could barely get it down without puking. It felt like I was drinking battery acid. Over an hour passed and nothing happened. It got so quiet I could hear my own blood pumping. That's when-" Caroline stopped as Mason screams on the video. Claire quickly turns it down not wanting to wake Madelyn. "-I kept thinking I'd black out and not feel it. But I did. I... I felt all of it." Caroline whispers feeling horrified.
"How long is it?" Claire asked slowly. Tyler fast forwards.
"We're three hours in" He whimpers. "Four hours" He whispers. "Five hours. How long does this last?" Tyler asked shakily. Eventually Tyler just pauses the video. Claire looks at him seeing the tears in his eyes and the shake in his hands. He suddenly jumps off the couch and paces in front of the girl. "I can't... I can't do that. Whatever that was, I can't go through that." He shakes his head in a panicking voice.
Claire's heart clenches for Tyler. She knew he didn't have a choice and her hatred towards Katherine grew, if it was possible. She couldn't believe Katherine forced this on Tyler to break some stupid curse.
"It's going to be ok, Tyler" Claire said standing up.
"How can you say that?" Tyler snapped. "You saw what I saw. Mason... going through unbearable pain for hours on end!" He snapped fear clouding his eyes. Claire's shoulders slouched not knowing what to say to make him calmer or to ease his mind.
"I don't know what to say" Claire whispers. "I can say a hundred things to you Tyler but it doesn't change reality. This... It's going to hurt like hell and I'm so sorry that you're the one that has to go through it but Tyler you're one of the strongest people I know. I can't imagine what kind of pain you'll be going through but I know you and I know you're too stubborn to give up. I know you'll fight through the pain and you'll come out of this, I know you will." Claire told him. Somewhere along her little speech, Tyler seems to relax a little bit.
The three of them stay in silence for a while before Madelyn cries. Claire and Tyler instantly look towards the room their daughter is in. Claire doesn't hesitate to go attend to her. Tyler wants to go but doesn't want to over step some boundary he doesn't know is there or not. Today was the first day he got to hold his daughter, he didn't want to even risk ruining the trust he was slowly building with Claire.
Claire didn't return to the living room after she left. She let Caroline help Tyler. She could hear them bonding and it made her nervous. She knew Tyler was trying to change but that doesn't mean she trusts him with her sister. She knew that Caroline was just trying to be a good friend and she prayed it would stay that way.
"How is it possible that you look even more beautiful than you did yesterday?" Claire spins around with Madelyn in her arms. It was night out, the lamp beside her better offering a dim light for her room. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree as she saw Elijah standing not far from her, having come in through the window.
"Elijah" She whispers pleasantly. He smiles at her and walks forward. His hands rise and rub her arms softly. His head dips down and he places a tender kis on her forehead. "I missed you" She mutters. His hands run up over her shoulders and to her neck cupping it and the side of her face gently.
"I thought about you all day" He whispers at her. She blushes and rests her head on his shoulder. He grins and rubs her back wanting to pull her against him but restraining himself since she was holding Madelyn. "I'm sorry for coming so late, I got held up." He muttered in her ear.
"It's alright, Elijah" She reassures him."You're here now."
"That I am, Elskan" He smiles at her. He then notices another scent in the room. It was a faint one but he knew it was a male. He held back a growl. "Who else has been in here?" He asked letting her go. She watches as he walks to the rocking chair Tyler had been sitting in. His fingers glide across the top of the wood.
"A friend" She answers him. Elijah clenches his jaw.
"And what was he doing here?" He questioned trying to keep his voice calm. Claire instantly picks up on his struggle to not snap at her.
"He was putting Madelyn down for her nap." She explained. "We didn't do anything, Elijah." She growled angry he would think she would go behind his back. "I know you don't know me well, but I don't go behind peoples backs, not like this." She snapped. "We're soulmates, I wouldn't dream of going behind your back."
Claire looks away from him and sets Madelyn down. Her daughter was always good at picking up her mothers emotions. Right now, Claire wasn't in the best mood and didn't want Madelyn to wake up because of it.
Arms wrapped around Claire's waist and a head buries in her neck. Claire can feel her annoyance washing away as his arms tighten. A hand lifts and moves her hair away from her neck allowing him to brush his lips against her neck. She shivers and leans further against him.
"I trust you, Elskan" He whispers against her skin. "I'm sorry" He kisses her skin more firmly. Claire raises her hand and slithers her fingers through his hair, messaging his head lightly. He sighs at her touch.
"I know we haven't talked about us or the bond or anything." Claire started. They hadn't really talked about the soulmate bond or where they stood with each other. They've been simply enjoying their company, enjoying the small talks they had with each other, and don't forget about the cuddles. "But you're my soulmate. I don't want anyone else... other than my other soulmates."
"Other soulmates?" Elijah questioned lifting his head. Claire frowns her eyebrows and turns in his grip to look at her.
"You don't know?" Claire whispers. He shakes his head slowly. "Elijah, your brothers are my soulmates. All of them. Klaus, Kol, Finn... and Henrik."
"Henrik's been dead a very long time, Elskan" Elijah informs her gently. Claire smiles feeling the familiar pang in her heart.
"I'm working on that" She whispered. He frowns his eyebrows. "I see him... from time to time." She said. "He's on the Other Side."
"You would have to be supernatural to be on the Other Side." Elijah states trying to understand.
"He tapped into his magic shortly before he died... He's been on the Other Side this entire time. Watching over you and your brothers and sister." Claire tells him softly. Elijah sits on her bed as he thinks about his brother. "He's grown now. When I was born, our souls combined. He grew on the Other Side."
"How do you know this?" Elijah asks intrigued.
"I'm a Siphoner" She tells him hesitantly. Elijah simply nods waiting for her to continue. She smiles enjoying the fact that he reacted as if the news was natural, normal. "When I siphon magic, I can see him. I can touch him as if he were sitting right beside me. Hear him, everything." Claire said.
"Amazing" He breaths. "Would I be able to see him?" He asks.
"I don't know" She answered honestly. "I can try but I don't... I don't want to hurt you." She said knowing the siphoning hurts the person she's siphoning from. Elijah moves closer to her and tucks some hair behind her ear.
"You won't" He promises. "The soulmate bond works in a way to minimize the ability to hurt each other. As an example, if I or one of my brothers, were to feed on you, it would be pleasurable not painful. Certain traits that would scare someone wouldn't have the same negative affect on you."
"Traits as in when you kill someone or do vampirey things?" Claire asked smiling. Elijah instantly smiles in return and releases a small laugh.
"Yes, precisely" He tells her. "You siphoning from me won't hurt nor weaken me. I promise" He reassures her. Claire smiles and nods still feeling hesitant.
Elijah holds out his hand and gives her a small nod. She sighs and grabs it. He takes her hand and gives it a soft kiss on the knuckles. The kiss effectively calms her down and she begins to Siphon from him. Claire waits for any signs of pain or discomfort but Elijah just continues to smile at her.
"It doesn't hurt... It's a.. pleasant feeling" He says taking a moment to find the right adjective.
"You're lucky I believe you." Claire teases smiling at him. Elijah smiles in return and kisses her forehead.
"Well, well, well, making moves on my girl are you Elijah?" Henrik jests. Elijah's head snaps towards Henrik. He's older, like Claire had said, but he knew it was Henrik. Elijah stands and goes towards his brother but Henrik holds his hand out pausing Elijah's movements. "You let go of her hand and you won't be able to see me." He warns.
"Look at you, all grown up." Elijah commented pulling Claire towards Henrik gently. The brothers embrace in a tight hug. Henrik holds onto Elijah with all his might.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you." Henrik whispers to him.
"I'm here now" Elijah reassures him. "I just can't believe you're in front of me." He said pulling away from him.
"You can thank that little beauty right there." Henrik said giving Claire all the credit she deserves. Elijah smiles down at her in complete adortion. Elijah kisses the top of her head giving her hand a squeeze. "Hello, Angel." He greets moving closer to her.
"Hello" She whispers looking at him. "How much time do we have?" She asks fearing the answer. He smiles and caresses her face.
"As long as you hold Elijah's hand, siphoning from him, I'll be here. I'll be here a little bit afterwards but you'll tire eventually." Henrik whispers to her. She pouts. He runs his thumbs over her lip. "Fret not, Angel... This won't be forever." He reassures.
"Is there a way to bring you back?" Elijah questions. Henrik looks at him and nods.
"Yes, Angel here has been working very hard on that spell, haven't you love?" He asks grinning at her.
"You'll be in the land of the living before you know it" Claire reassures. He smirks.
"Clever little Angel" He whispers kissing her forehead again.
"How have you grown?" Elijah wonders.
"Another thing I have to thank our beautiful mate. You see, Elijah, when she was born she saved my... essence. I was fading but when she came, our souls linked together making her our soulmate. She gave the the ability to keep from fading and to grow on the Other Side." Henrik explains. "She truly is magnificent."
"Indeed she is" Elijah agrees instantly. Claire blushes deeply causing the both of them to chuckle. A cry gains their attention. Claire's motherly instinct flair and she drags Elijah to the crib.
"Sh, it's alright, Madelyn" Claire whispers softly. Henrik walks up to the other side of the crib and smiles down at Madelyn.
"I wish she would have gotten your blond hair" Henrik whispered. "And not his brown color" He growled. Henrik hated seeing any resemblance of Tyler in Madelyn but he loved how her features favored Claire.
"And who did she get the brown hair from?" Elijah questions 'innocently'. Claire went to wave the question off but Henrik answers.
"Tyler Lockwood" Henrik growled not liking the werewolf in the slightest. "The friend that was here earlier." Henrik said having heard the conversation between Claire and Elijah earlier.
"Interesting" Elijah said.
"You're not doing a damn thing to him" Claire snapped pointing her finger at Elijah sternly. "He knocked me up when we were together, before I met you. He has enough on his plate right now to worry about being threatened by you."
"You're leaving out a few key details there, Angel" Henrik said. Claire gave him a warning look. Elijah raises his eyebrow at his younger brother. "Tell him about how Tyler abandoned you when you were pregnant. Tell Elijah what Tyler said when you told him you were pregnant with his children."
"That's enough, Henrik" Claire snipped but he continued.
"Or how about you tell him what happened when you two would get into arguments when you were together?"
"Henrik!" Claire shouted at him. "Enough!"
"How about my favorite, the fact that he's a fresh werewolf that's about to experience his first full moon" Henrik growled.
"Henrik, enough already!" Claire begged.
"I'm sorry Angel but he needed to know" Henrik told her. "I have been forced to watch you on the Other Side. Been forced to watch you cry yourself to sleep, ice your bruises, everything and I couldn't do a damn thing. I couldn't protect you, I couldn't comfort you. I can't do anything! I'm useless over here but now you have Elijah and I know you, Angel. I know that after everything that has happened you will still protect Tyler, you'll still look after him and put him before you. That's not acceptable. I need someone to put you first, someone to protect you and look after your best interests. I want that person to be me more than you know but I can't but Elijah can." Henrik explains to her. "You're an amazing person, an amazing mother to a beautiful and wonderful daughter. You wear your heart on your sleeve, you have a mind that is so open that China can see it and you forgive way too easily. You have to understand that Tyler is dangerous, I thought you would have known that by now but you don't. And now, Tyler is more dangerous than he's ever been and I need someone to look after you because I know you won't do it properly."
"I can look-"
"I never said you couldn't look after yourself, I said you won't do it properly." Henrik tells her. He walks over to her and cups her cheeks. "I love you so much, I just want you protected. Elijah needs to know what happened between you and Tyler."
"Well now he does thanks you" Claire mutters.
"Don't be cross with me, Angel. Please" He begged. Claire sighs heavily. "Don't make me go back to the Other Side knowing you're mad at me."
"That's not fair. I have every right to be mad at you" Claire snipped. Henrik pouted. Claire rolls her eyes.
"I know you have every right, I'm asking you not to be. You know he deserves to know and I could have said it in a gentler tone but I know you. You wouldn't have told him everything and if he's going to protect not only you but Madelyn as well, he needs to know" Henrik said. Claire sighs and nods making him grin and kiss her forehead. "Thank you Angel" He whispers.
Claire glances at Elijah who's been eerily silent during their conversation. She could see the concentrated look on his face. She knew he was trying to wrap his mind around the fact that Henrik is right in front of him after a thousand years and get his mind around the information Henrik has told him.
"You need to let go of Elijah" Henrik said and Claire instantly looks at him. Elijah instantly looks at Claire as the scent of blood reaches his nose.
"No, I'd lose you." Claire shakes her head.
"You're siphoning too much, Angel." Henrik tells her. Elijah reaches over and wipes the blood off her lip. "Elijah isn't going anywhere, you can see me as much as you like now. But please let go and get some rest. I'll be here a little bit after you let go."
Elijah doesn't wait for her to let go but pries his hand from hers ending the connection. Henrik leaves Elijah's eyes but Claire can still see him. Knowing this, he gives Claire a soft kiss on the forehead before giving them some time.
"He'll be back" Henrik reassures as Claire watches Elijah leave. Henrik wraps his arms around her tightly. "I love you so much, you know that right?" Henrik whispers.
"I know" Claire nods hugging him back just as tight. "I'm still upset" She whispers. Henrik sighs. "I know why you told him but don't do that again. I know you know everything about me but it should be my decision who knows what and when they know things. It's my life, Henrik. You don't have the right to go around telling your brothers my secrets."
"I'm sorry" Henrik said seeing how much he not only angered her but hurt her as well. "I won't do it again, I promise." Claire smiles.
"As long as you keep that promise, I forgive you." Henrik lit up and didn't hesitate to pull her into a breath taking kiss. Claire moans as she grips his shirt kissing him back with just as much passion. "I love you" Henrik grins loving the sound of those words leaving her lips. Madelyn cries again bringing their attention back to her.
"She truly is as beautiful as her mother" Henrik whispers kissing Claire's head. "I wanted to be there for you so badly when you went into labor... and so much more afterwards."
"I could have really used your comfort" She whispers. He sighs and pulls her into his chest.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't be there, Angel."
"It wasn't your fault" She mutters against his chest. He simply kisses her head. "I can't wait to being you back" She whispers.
"I can't wait either" He replies. "That way I can hold you forever. Hold Madelyn for the first time. Protect both of my girls." Claire smiles and holds him tighter.
"Madelyn's your girl, huh?" She asked looking up at him.
"She's apart of you. I was there the entire time, whether you saw me or not. I love her, Claire. I love both of you. And I will protect both of you to the best of my ability" He reassures. She smiles and kisses him softly. "But did it really have to be Tyler?" He whined making her giggle and pull him into another kiss.