hey old friend, whadaya say old friend

[beanchaointe]

[Stiles has told Lydia several times that she doesn't need to stay in Mystic Falls. She's refusing to listen. Things are starting to get worse here, and whatever impending storm is coming is going to be here soon. She puts herself out and about in town when she can, trying to see if she can catch something that might give her a clearer idea of what's going to happen.

What she isn't expecting, is to run into a familiar face.

She's having another text argument with Stiles about her current life choices when she catches a familiar set of cheek bones out of the corner of her eye. She turns towards them, eyes narrowing before she asks:]

Jackson?

Comments

[shreds]

Someone should.

( She sets her plate and fork aside, standing up on her stilettos, approaching the hunter.

"Are you Katherine or Elena?" the hunter asks. )

A secret kept for over ten years, blown thanks to an international hunting syndicate. Brush up on your study materials, and you'd know.

( She rolls her eyes. )

Klaus is staying at the school, then?

[werewolfqueen]

He's got a hotel room elsewhere, but right this minute, Hope is giving him the grand tour of the Salvatore School like he wasn't here years before she was.

[Not the school itself, but back when the school was a boarding house.]

It's kind of endearing, in a weird sort of way.

[shreds]

I'll take your word for it.

( Sorry if she doesn't find anything Klaus-related endearing. Maybe she might like his kid. She's never met her. )

Hope is graduating. I remember you being pregnant with her.

( Helping her out. Semi-blackmailing her. And then sending her to New Orleans. Katherine never said it, but she's happy Hayley was able to raise her child, when Katherine never got to. )

[werewolfqueen]

[Hayley's mother never got to either. And while Hayley isn't always one-hundred percent sure she's done right by Hope, she's done her best. And it's been worth it to see her grow up and thrive.]

I never did thank you for that, by the way. Not to say that the last eighteen years haven't been full of varying degrees of supernatural horror, but I found the answers I was looking for. So thank you.

[shreds]

I'm not going to stand here and tell you I was being selfless or I was thinking about anything other than myself, but if the information I gave you led to Hope being able to graduate high school, then it was worth it.

( You're welcome. That's as far as she gets. )

That you had a child with Klaus Mikaelson from a one night stand. I couldn't count on those odds.

[werewolfqueen]

Trust me, I don't think any of us saw that coming.

[She tips her head to the side as she looks down at the hunter, arms crossed in front of her.]

You know, while they're all upstairs rubbing elbows, I could compel what we want to know out of him, text their location to Klaus and let him take care of all of this.

[She doesn't miss the way his Adam's apple bobs as she talks.]

[shreds]

( Her lips upturn, curling, nose crinkling. )

I'm game. Send the protective hybrid. Less work for us. Do it.

[werewolfqueen]

[She grins in return, before making her way closer and resting her hands on the arms of the chair so that she can make eye contact. The hunter furtively tries to look away, anywhere else so that she can't make eye contact.]

Look at that. I think it's starting to sink in how screwed he really is.

[shreds]

Bring it on home, then, why don't you. Before any Italian white knights make it down here to stop you.

( She hits every syllable with a pop of her lips, slowing it down to make it a little bit harder to make out. )

Do it, Hayley.

[werewolfqueen]

[Hayley reaches up, catching him by the chin and pulling him into her focus.]

Tell me everything you know about your team.

[He struggles. He tries to keep his mouth shut, but eventually it starts pouring out, everything he knows about the Monroe organization and what they're up to in Mystic Falls. He's new in town, so he doesn't have all the details they're looking for, but it's enough to confirm that they're planning an attack on the school.]

[shreds]

( It's her turn to role her eyes. )

He's like the hired help. Need to know, which isn't much. Ask him if he meant to be captured or if he's just an idiot who went after the Ripper of Monterey alone.

[werewolfqueen]

Answer the question.

[The hunter looks nervous, before shaking his head. "I was on my way into town to meet up with the rest. I just ... saw an opportunity. I didn't realize he had the Slayer with him."]

I take it back. You are one hundred percent an idiot.

[shreds]

Slayer or no slayer, that was probably the dumbest decision you've ever made. Other than joining up with the "rest." ( She uses air quotes for emphasis. ) Where in town were you meant to meet up?

[werewolfqueen]

["At a motel just outside of town." He then gives the directions without asking, because he knows the drill.]

Thank you. You've been so helpful.

[shreds]

Useless.

( But, Hayley is right, with how helpful he's been. )

Do you think he'll stay useless. Should we keep him here? As, contingency? Might do us good to keep an inside man.

[werewolfqueen]

Never hurts to have leverage.

[She does reach for her phone to text the location to Klaus.]

We see what the Salvatores have to say. It's generally not a good house guest move to eat what hasn't been served.

[Or kill someone else's hostage. She learned a lot from Mikaelson dinner parties. Also because she's starting to hear footsteps on their way closer.]

[shreds]

Not what I was suggesting. I no longer eat house guests. I am the house guest.

( Which was always the truth. )

[werewolfqueen]

[She smirks.]

Sometimes eating the house guests is necessary. But I don't think this is one of those times.

[And her head will turn to the door as people start making their way downstairs.]

You guys took your sweet time.

[Stefan shrugs as he falls in, with the rest of the group behind him. "You seemed like you had it well in hand."]

[unforgivably]

( Damon comes in right behind him, with Lydia and Jackson. )

What dinner party have you been to that ends early, just because we have someone tied up in the basement. You handled it yourself.

( Jackson, leans close to Lydia's ear, speaking under his breath. )

The hunters are staying in a motel outside of town. The attack is on the school and he is Monroe's. You can get more.

[beanchaointe]

[Lydia nods, taking that in as she keeps her eyes on the hunter. He's staring back at her, eyes wide, knowing, and she knows that Jackson's right. She reaches for a nearby chair, before moving closer and nodding to Hayley.]

May I?

[Hayley nods, stepping out of her way and giving Lydia room to sit. She keeps her focus on the hunter, trying not to worry about all the other powerful supernatural creatures in the room.]

You know who I am?

[He doesn't bother to affirm one way or another. "You screamed for me. Didn't you?"

She shakes her head.]

Not yet. But that could change if you prove to be less than helpful.

[There is a death-like itch somewhere, however, but she's not quite sure it's for him. The hunter swallows hard.

"I told her everything. I had to."]

And you and I both know that compulsion is only as good as the questions you ask.

[illtempered]

( Jackson, Damon, and Katherine stand back while Lydia takes point. )

What isn't he saying?

[beanchaointe]

That he was burned the moment he didn't show up like he was supposed to.

[Monroe's people aren't stupid, and the look on his face seems to confirm that. The hunter swallows hard as Hayley glares, clearing her current text to Klaus and replacing it with one to call him off.]

What will they do?

["I don't have to tell you anything. You can't compel me."]

[unforgivably]

I can. Stefan, Hayley. And we can do so much worse. He told us the old plan. The old set-up.

( Excuse him, Lydia. He's just going to lean over - yes, he does smell that good, and dilate his pupils. )

So, hostage. What's your contingency plan? Where is your Plan B hideout? That you have to be honest about.

[beanchaointe]

["I don't know where the failsafe is. That's why it's a failsafe."

Just because you compelled him doesn't mean he can't be sassy.

"But, we're prepared to fight back. If someone doesn't follow their end of the plan, we reassess and ensure the follow through of the plan."]

What does that mean? You're moving up your timetable?

["If they kill one of ours, we kill one of theirs."

Hayley's head tips to the side. "But you're not dead."

"Not yet." He looks between the group of them. "Was there really a chance of me walking out of here alive?"

But, while they're arguing the semantics, Lydia is running the numbers. They wouldn't come at the house directly. They'd pick off someone who was easy to grab. Someone alone.

Her eyes widen and she looks to Jackson.]

Oh, God.

[shreds]

What is he talking about?

( Katherine looks from Hayley to Lydia, to Jackson, then.

"We're not alone." Jackson whips his phone out, dialing Stiles' phone which ... rings in Stiles' pocket. )

Is someone outside?

( Damon looks to Stefan and then glances upward. )