AURELIA PARKER WOKE UP THAT MORNING EASILY, shivering a tiny bit as she stretched and sat up in bed Caroline and her mother generously let her sleep in. She had absolutely nothing on the agenda for the day—no Kol to deal with, no Rebekah to aid in her conquest of the cure—though the latter could decide to call at any point.

Eh, she'd just say no.

So, she had a wonderfully free day. Her night ended rather well, having gotten more than just tipsy with Stefan, and finding ways to bother Damon in his little temporary prison. It was up to Klaus to figure out how to convince Kol to uncompel Damon from killing Jeremy Gilbert. She could expect him not to resort to the dagger immediately. If anyone could intimidate Kol Mikaelson into listening, it was his big brother.

That was why she was jobless today. No drama, nothing. She couldn't stop the relaxed, smug grin that made its way onto her lips as she changed out of her clothes to enjoy a hot shower. Once she'd turned on the water to let it heat up, she waited. She even drew a smiley face in the foggy mirror, not forgetting to add fangs to it, as she always did with her cute smiley faces.

Once she decided she'd waited enough for the water to heat up, she removed her towel, ruffled up her hair and stepped into the shower.

Only to scream loudly, "VERVAIN?!".

She quickly ran out of the shower with burns all over her body, eyes wide and teeth gritted at the scalding and searing pain that her poor, beautiful skin had suffered—her beautiful skin was now raw, with open wounds and blisters bubbling in all the places that the water had made the most contact with.

She quickly healed, but her temper didn't. She was going to skewer whomever decided it was a good idea to put vervain in the damn water supply. She really was.

KLAUS MIKAELSON ALSO WOKE UP THAT MORNING on the right side of the bed, a cheerful smile painting his lips. Yesterday, Kol and Rebekah had yet another spat, and yet another set of death threats were thrown at each other. He'd practically gotten a headache separating the both of them, but a good night's rest had been exactly what he needed.

He was in the perfect mood to give his younger brother a bit of a lesson, considering he was still on a murderous hunt for the Hunter, who'd been in recent demand on the cure market. Did Klaus find it ironic? Yes. Was he going to let such tomfoolery continue? Of course not.

So he'd dagger Kol, put him to sleep until they'd found the cure, and he did what he wanted to with it. Then he'd wake him up and show him that there was no Silas to deal with to end the world.

He smiled as the wonderfully constructed plan was finalized in his mind. After he was done with his little brother, perhaps he'd threaten Jeremy once more, or paint for a little while. Or he could call Aurelia for a visit if she felt like it. So many pleasant things after one small obstacle. All he'd need is his trusted little daggers. Just one, though.

So he swung open the door of his alcohol cabinet, optimistic and ready to get his errands out of the way. He cleared out some of the bottles from the way and opened a smaller door at the back of the small cabinet, ready to choose the dagger that would have the honor of shutting his brother up.

And he saw absolutely nothing in there.

Suddenly, Klaus Mikaelson was very murderous in temperament, and he could just about hear Kol cackling at the back of his mind. Slamming the door of his not-so-precious-anymore alcohol cabinet, he felt his breathing quicken and become shallower.

He could call Aurelia and ask her what the bloody hell was wrong with Kol, so he made a mental note to do that in a minute. "Aurelia Parker, keep your bloody man in check." He could mumble, so he did that.

He could just press his lips together and grab onto a nearby chair tightly, so he did that.

He could also yell and lose his shit, so he did that, too. And as the chair hit the wall, quickly shattering into splinters and sticks, the entire house nearly shook at his homicidal roar. "KOL MIKAELSON!"

WITH A FRESH PAIR OF CLOTHES ON in the next few seconds, and a towel to make sure she avoided contact with her wet hair, which was also decidedly covered in vervain, Aurelia huffed and swung open the door of her bathroom, only to nearly scream once again as she was surprised by Elizabeth Forbes standing right there, hand raised to knock on the now open door. "Aunt Liz, you—you—" Aurelia clutched her heaving chest. "I didn't even hear you."

"I'm sorry, I heard the scream." Liz was obviously confused at what was going on. "I thought vampires had good—" The supernatural blinked several times, shaking her head clear.

"We do, I—I'm sorry—" She stuttered, placing a hand on her still-red forehead, wincing slightly at the sting. Alright, she hadn't healed entirely. She needed some blood. "I was just caught up in something—about that..." She pointed behind herself, in the vague direction of the bathroom. "You wouldn't—uh—happen to know about the newly updated water supply, would you?" Aurelia was very clearly a haphazard mess, unable to process all that had just happened, and in a mood malicious enough to mutilate anyone that ticked her off. Liz Forbes, however, was one of the people that could sweeten Aurelia's mood without knowing.

Liz looked at the shower, before her hands flew up to cover her mouth in horror. "Oh my God! Aurelia sweetie, I'm so sorry—I forgot that the new mayor put vervain in the water supply." Aurelia, forcing a crooked smile, shook her head, feeling much like the emoji with a smile and a very contradictory tear falling from its eye. "That's why you're all red, oh God—" She waved a hand at the middle-aged human being, unable to show any irritation, which had dissolved at the sight of the sweet face.

"You wouldn't—uh—" Aurelia shrugged, making her way into the bedroom. "Happen to hate me if I killed this new mayor, would you?" Liz, with a warning look, quickly raised her eyebrows, which made Aurelia shut up immediately, like a child that was getting scolded. "My bad. I should go let Caroline know about this. I wonder how I didn't wake her up already."

"Caroline's still asleep." The loving mother said. "She couldn't sleep last night, so she must've put on her headphones. She likes listening to her music to help her sleep." Aurelia, recalling the fact from before, pursed her lips and nodded. "Once she wakes up, we can tell her."

"As you say, Aunt Liz." Smiling as if nothing had just taken place, Aurelia fondly looked at the loving mother. Over the last few visits she'd made to Caroline's place, she'd grown much closer with Liz than previously—in the process, she was emotionally guilt-tripped into referring to Liz in a familial and affectionate manner.

The human had always liked Aurelia, and simply couldn't help but insist that the vampire call her anything but Ms. Forbes. Since the story for Mystic Falls was that Aurelia was Caroline's somewhat distant cousin, the centuries-old Heretic had settled with either 'Aunt Liz', or simply Liz.

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIKAELSON MANOR, Aurelia's voicemail was reached, and Klaus broke some glass.

"YOU'RE NOT WEARING YOUR UNIFORM, BY THE WAY," Aurelia observed sometime later, leaning against the kitchen counter to accompany Liz in some small chores. "Day off?"

"I wish," Liz chuckled, wiping her hands with a towel. "Late day. I thought I could be here when Caroline woke up." Aurelia smiled admirably at the mother-and-daughter relationship. Liz, though not the best at balancing her work with her personal life, seemed to play the 'tough cop/loving mother' role better than anyone in Mystic Falls expected when she'd initially been appointed Sheriff.

Liz reminded Aurelia of her own mother; though her mother had flaws of her own—most of which had been her father's fault—when her mother was allowed to take care of her, Aurelia always ended up well fed, her wounds treated, and with a cute little smile that made her hope for better the next day. She was wrong, of course, about the last bit—but that was beside the point.

"Want anything to eat?" Liz offered, breaking the supernatural out of her train of thought. "There's cereal, there's bananas, there's Nutella and bread. I know you don't like peanut butter, so I'm not going to offer that to you." Aurelia laughed lightly at the last part.

"I can have some Nutella and bread." She said. "While you make that, why don't I go figure out how I'm going to keep my hair from touching my neck? —it's probably dry, but with it being coated with vervain, and all—I should tie it up—" Liz frowned at the statement, feeling the need to point something out that she wasn't certain Aurelia had realized.

"Won't the vervain just hurt your hands?" Aurelia clicked her tongue.

"Excellent observation." She complimented, before furrowing her eyebrows. "I didn't even think about that. Eh, I'll find gloves."

"Or," Liz began, putting the slices of bread into the toaster. "You can make the sandwich, and I can tie it up?" Aurelia raised a hand to wave her off.

"Oh, you don't have to, Aunt Liz—I'll manage—"

That was how Aurelia found herself feeling severely emotionally manipulated and blackmailed (lightly guilt-tripped, actually), while she sat at the dining table, spreading Nutella on her slices of bread. Liz, who had quite easily won that conversation, smiled smugly as she wrapped the vampire's hair up in a bun. Her hands were gentle; Aurelia was always picky about who touched her hair, feeling like it was overly sensitive to rough handling, but felt only relaxation as Liz carefully tied her hair up. "All done. You look pretty with your hair up."

"Thank you." Aurelia said sweetly, putting her bread together. She was ready to breathe the damn sandwich down; she loved Nutella. It was just what she needed after a vervain shower, really—A Nutella sandwich and a cute, domestic conversation with her Aunt Liz.

Too bad Klaus called her before she could even take the first bite. "What, Nik?" She groaned, a small pout on her lips as she looked hungrily at the sandwich in her hands. "I'm eating breakfast." Liz took a seat in front of her, paying no attention to the call, supposing that the woman needed her privacy.

"Dearest Aurelia," Klaus was suspiciously sweet. "WHERE IS YOUR LOVER?!"

Yep. There it was—she knew something was off about his greeting. Even Liz had to look at her phone, having heard the screech easily. "I don't know. And I would like to correct—"

"I want you at the Manor, now." And the call was cut, earning a feigned and dramatic sob from Aurelia, who felt like a public relations manager at this point.

"I thought I could have some peace and spend time with you and Caroline—" She only huffed, earning an amused look. "Should I just not show up?" She asked the woman sitting opposite to her, who hummed in thought for a few seconds.

"Better to listen to the very dangerous and angry-sounding Hybrid." And Aurelia dramatically sobbed once more. "But I think you can delay it a few minutes so you can eat." A motherly smile painted Liz's lips, earning a delightful grin from the immortal. "Speaking of, is Caroline awake?" The question came with Liz gesturing to her own ear, and Aurelia took a bite as she allowed herself to focus on the sound in Caroline's room.

"Oh yeah, she's in the bath—" And both their eyes went wide, realizing they'd forgot something very important. That sent them hurriedly rushing to the targeted bedroom without tripping and falling onto the carpet floor. "CARO—" The shower turned on, signaling that there was very little time left.

"OH MY—" Aurelia was right at the door of Caroline's bathroom when she heard it, causing her to grimace as if she could feel Caroline's agony. "VERVAIN?!"

"I NEED THAT DAGGER, STEFAN. GET IT FROM REBEKAH." Klaus was much less than pleased at the turn of events that morning, clearly indicated from the poor phone in his hand that looked like he would crush it any second. He'd tried calling Kol after Aurelia, but to no avail, of course. Then he'd tried calling Rebekah to ask for the dagger that she had in her possession, but received the verbal middle finger. His next victim was Stefan, although the vampire was more of a means to retrieve it from Rebekah. "Talk some sense into her."

"Why don't you talk some sense into her?" Stefan was clearly irritated at the Original's request—well, demand, but to Klaus, they were all the same. "I'm supposed to stay home to play prison guard to Damon. He's on lockdown ever since Kol compelled him to kill Jeremy last night."

"You see? That's my point exactly." Klaus encouraged. "If you let Kol roam free, then Jeremy won't live to see his junior prom, and we can kiss our map to the cure goodbye." He turned around in his pacing, only to find Aurelia leaning against the wall, realizing she'd snuck in without much noise. "But if you help me dagger Kol, Damon will be uncompelled, Jeremy will live, and we'll all be on our merry way to doing what we want with the cure. And find out where that tombstone is—The only way to ensure Aurelia's at less risk is with that. I can't have Rebekah be the only one to know of its whereabouts." He quickly cut the call and threw his phone on the couch in front of him, before looking at his sire.

"You summoned me?" Aurelia asked, arms folded and posture relaxed.

"You—" Klaus pointed at her. "Your lover is on the loose with my daggers." He pointed at himself, irritation growing. "Keep him on a bloody leash for all I care, but I need you to find him." Aurelia, rolling her eyes, looked very much like a modern teenager. "And now you're sassy? What is happening to my brilliant day?"

"We're the Originals, sweetie." Aurelia chirped. "We don't have brilliant days." It was Klaus' turn to act like a teenager. "And I wanted to correct you. He's not my lover." Sneering, he gripped onto his expensive couch alarmingly tightly.

"Don't play games with me."

"We ended things." And Klaus could scream, he really could. "I can see your little forehead vein. Just so you know, I'd like to live to see tomorrow." Aurelia smiled sarcastically. "I didn't know you were keeping tabs on us."

"Why?! Couldn't you have done it after this mess?" And her look turned rather unimpressed, allowing Klaus to think his words over with a deep sigh. "Are you okay? Do I have yet another reason to end my little brother?" Aurelia, unable to just glaze over his protective side, smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"I'm okay. It just didn't work out." She assured cooly. "What brings your little thundercloud upon us? I hope you haven't broken—" As her eyes fell on a pile of wood in front of a nearby wall, which likely used to be a chair, she fell quiet. "Never mind."

"Kol's taken the daggers, and Rebekah's withholding the last one from me because of spite." He spat out the last few words. "I don't know what to do. I just called Stefan Salvatore to help sort out this mess, but he's too busy cleaning up another mess Kol's created." Slamming his hand back on the couch, he was visibly trying to contain his fury.

"Sheesh," Aurelia sighed. "Everyone's been angry the last few days. I need a break."

"Oh, no, no, no," Klaus shook his head. "You do not get a break when this—" He gestured to the air with his arms. "Is what I have to deal with!" Aurelia looked at him, less than impressed.

"I don't know how to help you. I can't reason with Kol—"

"KOL JUST TRIED TO KILL BONNIE." HAND ON HER HEAD and eyes shut, Elena found her plan with Jeremy becoming evermore necessary and urgent—she'd simply need everything to be well-structured to ensure she could avoid facing the consequences for something so heinous and controversial between the people of Mystic Falls.

"What?" Stefan Salvatore, beginning to feel like he'd been receiving far too many calls today, had yet another thing to worry about. "Is she okay?" After a small pause—which had Elena wondering if he'd heard her right through the phone—he spoke up again.

"Yeah, she's just shaken up." Elena soothed. "She managed to hold him off," Referring to Bonnie's growing magic made the doppelganger feel at least somewhat secure, knowing that she had some advantage over the ruthless Original. "But Kol seems pretty intent on murdering everyone who's looking for that cure."

"Yeah," Stefan agreed with a sigh. "Klaus has me trying to convince Rebekah to give up her dagger so he can take care of Kol." Elena pinched the side of her mouth together.

Would it be alright to tell him that what she wanted to do was kill Kol, not dagger him?

They'd barely spoken after Rebekah had held them captive with Caroline and Aurelia at the school. Despite Stefan's indifference to her falling for Damon, it would be inhumane of him not to feel at least a little spiteful—no wonder he'd been avoiding her, and looking for the cure himself for a reason he hadn't given away yet.

What she wasn't aware of, however, was that she was wrong about one thing—Stefan could not care less about her and Damon, besides perhaps the slightest bit of annoyance with how Elena, after all her indecisiveness on which brother to go with. A more accurate manner to describe his thought process was simply that he was tired of the love triangle, but was very glad he'd gotten out of it—he'd still need some breathing space before talking properly to her, though.

Of course, again, she didn't know that.

On another note, Stefan and Aurelia were friends. Aurelia was involved with Kol, to her knowledge. Stefan, for whatever reason, cared more than he wanted to admit about the morally ambiguous blonde, and despite his own set of agendas against the Original Family, might've been inclined to disagree with Elena's harsh idea.

Plus, everyone was in some manner, working together to find the cure. Elena didn't want to remain a vampire, Damon was supporting her, Jeremy and Bonnie were supporting her—Shane wanted to raise a Silas—Rebekah and Stefan, strangely enough, also wanted the cure, much like Klaus. And though some of them were at odds, they all were linked in some way. It was like a delicate house of cards that could fall, and it felt like everything would fall apart no matter what.

Elena shook her thoughts away. Maybe it was a better idea to tell Stefan about the Kol conspiracy later. She'd just need one thing from him for now.

"Stefan, I need you to do me a favor." She didn't wait for a response, finding the situation too rushed and pressing to wait for pleasantries. "I need you to use that dagger on Rebekah."

"...on Rebekah?" Stefan took a second to process what she'd just said. "Why?"

"I have an idea—but I'll tell you the rest of the details later." She quickly said, arousing his suspicion. "It'll put away most of the Originals for long enough for us to get to the cure."

"If I were to dagger Rebekah, which I can't, you wouldn't be able to dagger Kol. And don't forget about Klaus." He was clearly confused as to why she'd suddenly become so vague.

"Bonnie has all this crazy new power—" Elena proposed, much to his dismay. "She thinks she