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[That's...about the reaction she was expecting.]

Freya's mirror showed up. She forced Klaus to turn and then set him loose on the mansion. Elena found out about it after he attacked Lucifer and let me know. I was trying to keep him from hurting people.

[She's failed, she knew that. She'd saved people, sure, but not all of them. Klaus had to carry that weight even more than she had, along with his mangled pride and the way his choices had been ripped from him.

Too bad it only got worse from there.]

He bit me while Rebekah and I were trying to...contain him. [More like she took the hit for Rebekah, knowing full well that she would have an easier time dealing with him than she would if they ended up down to only one of them.] While we were busy doing that, Freya's mirror snapped Damon's neck, took Elena, and then...drained her. She stole her blood and then just left her.

[She has to stop at that point, at least for the moment, because the image of her friend lying there with her throat slashed open is just...

...she busies herself with that second drink.]

[ So it was Klaus that had attacked Jesse. Stefan's face loses about all its color, and there's a murmured 'fuck' as he reaches for another drink. By now, he's certain the bartenders are used to their... erm, excessive habits.

Then Caroline mentions that she was bitten and that Elena died and -

It sinks in, all at once. No wonder Elena looked so rough. No wonder Damon forced him out. He heaves his shoulders, struggling to hold in a mangled sob. Wonderland sucks. Wonderland sucks so, so much. ]

I'm so sorry. I - [ He takes a breath, ] I should've been there.

[ "I should've saved you too."

He reaches for her hand, wanting to squeeze it and reassure her. At this point, he's not sure what else he can do. ]

[Imagine how shitty she felt when she'd found out that Stefan knew her when he'd told her he'd saved her. At least she hadn't died; that would have made things even worse. She'd had to deal with a corpse already and the fallout that had caused. She'd felt bad enough and she hadn't even known her.

Wonderland definitely sucks. It has its perks, but at times like this, it just doesn't outweigh anything. She's trying to find what good she can, and by all accounts she's not doing so badly, but it still lingers in the back of her mind all the time, how fragile peace is around here.

Not that Mystic Falls was much better.]

Don't, Stefan. You didn't know. [He helped, in small ways. He was here now.] Besides, if you say that, then I have to say that, and I don't think I can handle that guilt.

[Elena had died while she was chasing Klaus. She'd been killed by another Mikaelson while she'd worried about the one who killed her first.

She doesn't like to think about it too much.]

It doesn't...end there, either. There's more, and it's important.

Yeah, but... [ His shoulders droop with a sudden, heavy weight. Saving Jesse (and subsequently texting both Rebekah and Caroline) hadn't felt like enough. Even if she'd stayed with him for multiple nights, just to make sure she would rest and recover. He should've been there, pulling Caroline back from the brink.

He remembers now, just how fatal a werewolf's bite can be, and he remembers just how much she truly means to him. ] Go on.

I know, um, you said something about your mirror?

I'm just glad you didn't get hurt, too.

[Someone got out of that whole mess unscathed. It was something, at least, one less thing to feel guilty about. And he'd saved Jesse. That meant something to her, to Klaus.]

My mirror came over here and stole a bunch of stuff. Which meant I was over mirrorside for a while. I met Klaus' mirror, except I didn't know it was his mirror until later. The whole thing was super gross. [She waves that away, wanting to move on quickly.] She took Miss Cuddles from me. But Elena...she and Damon were storing a cure for vampirism. My mirror has it and we don't know what she plans to do with it.

[ It's a small mercy. Katherine's mirror had been the only one to taunt him, and frankly? After that? He threw out the mirrors in his room. Best to cut her off while he was ahead.

He pauses at the confession - and she's right. Ultimately, a gross Klaus is a blip on the radar next to a bonafide cure. He hadn't even known that they were in possession of one, given that - ]

But we gave it to Katherine. [ It's a slip of the tongue. One that he won't realize until he clarifies, ] Back home, I mean. I don't know how Elena got it, but now that your mirror has it...

[ He sighs, rubbing his temples. ]

Worst case scenario, she'll use it on one of us.

Exactly. She has like...the worst weapon ever and-

[Okay, hold on. Back up.]

You...did? Wait, did she tell you that?

[Because you, sir, aren't supposed to have any memories. And if Katherine is telling him things, well, believing anything that comes out of her mouth is a mistake.]

Of course not.

[ He furrows his brow at the insinuation. Sure, he talked to her, but never about vulnerabilities. And especially not now. He can't afford to make the same mistakes twice and – ah, crud. This wasn't at all how he wanted to tell Caroline. Even though he should. Time and tide wait for no one. ]

I might've um... [ he sighs, unable to meet her gaze. ] I asked Freya for a favor right before all of this went down.

[She blinks a few times as she processes what that means. If Katherine didn't tell him, that means it's something he already knew. Except he's not supposed to remember anything, and it's not like Damon's talking about the future, so...

...the favor from Freya kind of brings it all together.]

Wait, you remember? Like bits and pieces, or everything?

[She's going to wait on the part where he didn't tell her he was going to do it. Or ask for her help.]

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