left_ofthemurder | chicago } { heading for a new beginning

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chicago } { heading for a new beginning

Witness protection is never an easy thing, no matter who you are.

Cutting yourself off from everything you've ever known is one of the hardest things a person can do. You have to completely start over with a new name and have to make new friends. You leave everything you've ever known behind, and no one handles that with as much grace as they could. They can't. Human beings just aren't wired that way. Katherine isn't the exception, and her case comes with a lot of complications. Klaus and the Mikaelsons aren't easy to hide from, which means nothing gets left behind.

Nothing, including Katherine's twin sister.

As they pull into the driveway, Buffy spots the sedan sitting there and pauses. "Is that your sister's car?"

If she's here, it may be easier to talk to her. Get it out of the way in the comfort of her own home. She just hopes that the Mikaelsons' don't have ears in there listening.

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Her life is game of dress-up, or cards, or chess, but whatever the game is, Katherine plays it. Everyone is in one way or another. She plays it well, always thinking several steps ahead and watching for tells. For a while, it's fun, but she forgot one very important thing. No matter how good she is, the house always wins, and this house belongs to Klaus and his family.

She knows when to cash in.

Even as she does, she's bluffing. She won't miss this city. She won't miss her friends, and she won't cry over the death of a guy she barely knew. She isn't scared to death of being found and killed, or worried the same might happen to her sister. She's fine. They'll both survive. The game goes on.

Katherine nods at the question as she slows to a stop, poker face in full effect. "And clearly representative of her dull-as-dishwater personality."

Buffy's lips purse at that. She knows it's probably a defensive mechanism, that she's covering up whatever it is she's dealing with, but she doesn't push. That isn't her job. Her job is to get Katherine and Elena into the marshals' custody and move them to a safe location.

Now they just had to break the news to Elena.

"Then let's go in and tell her. It's better if we don't wait."

This is the worst part. Elena isn't involved in any of this. She didn't witness any crime. She's never even met Klaus. She just looks like Katherine, and because she looks like Katherine, her life is being uprooted.

Any guilt the elder twin has is pushed down and tucked away. It doesn't matter. What's done is done, and there is more to do if either of them wants to keep living. She just wants to get her sister and get out.

"I have no objections." As soon as her seat belt snaps into its place, she's out of the car and on her way inside.

Buffy climbs out of the car to go with her, and just before they reach the front door, she reaches out for Katherine's shoulder. Klaus is setting him up to be the one of the next great kingpins. Their house might not even be safe.

"Do you know if Klaus bugged your house?"

Katherine's never considered it. "He's never been here." Of course, that has little meaning when it comes to Klaus. He doesn't just have eyes everywhere. He has hands as well.

And then comes that sinking feeling no one ever wants to have.

"Elijah has." Elijah, the only Mikaelson she'd trusted enough to invite into her home and the magnetic personality that pulled her into all this. Needless to say that relationship was over the second she decided to tattle on his brother, but he wouldn't have arranged for surveillance for the sake of it.

Would he?

Katherine may want to think the best of Elijah, but Buffy isn't taking any chances. She's not going to run the risk of Klaus listening in and figuring out where Katherine had gone.

"Go inside, see if you can get her to come out with you. A cup of coffee, a drink, anything." She gives her shoulder a squeeze. "It's better if we have this conversation in my office."

Her eyes flick to the hand on her shoulder, uncomfortable and slightly annoyed by the continued contact and what she assumed to be an attempt at comfort, but she simply nods in agreement. Buffy's not exactly shaping up to be her favorite person, but the woman knows who she's dealing with and how to deal. That deserves at least a shred of respect.

Katherine opens the door and walks through, gait as loose as ever, as if nothing has changed. And it hasn't. Yet.

"Elena!"

Elena's original plans were to spend the night in with a book. She had never been the party girl her sister was. She would go out with her friends, once in a while, but most of the time she kept to herself. Katherine partied enough for the both of them.

Especially since she had brought Elijah around, but that was another story entirely.

She's surprised when she hears Katherine's voice filtering through the house. It's early for her to be in for the night, and the fact that she's looking for her, even more so. She pushes to her feet, sliding her bookmark into her book before heading into the hallway.

"Yeah?"

"Put on your shoes. We're going out."

Katherine doesn't waste her time with pleasantries, though she does keep her tone pleasant. The situation is already less than commonplace. No need to draw any more attention to it.

"We are?"

Elena raises an eyebrow. Katherine's tone is putting her even more on the defensive, never mind the fact that her sister never asks her to go places with her. Ever.

"Where are we going?"

She's not saying no, she just wants more information.

Where? She hadn't thought of that. Not that it matters.

"Somewhere that isn't here. You spend way too much time at home." Which is the truth, in Katherine's opinion. Her sister doesn't get out enough.

Elena rolls her eyes some more. "I happen to like being at home. It's quiet. People aren't trying to grab all over me."

But she's also putting her shoes on. Just don't expect her to get into club clothes.

Katherine's lips purse just slightly. "If that's what it takes to get you out, fine. We'll go somewhere less grab ass."

It's surprising, and kind of funny, how honest she can be while simultaneously deceiving any ears that might be listening. Even with the uneasy feeling churning in her stomach, it's a little exhilarating.

Elena nods, before finishing pulling her shoes on and grabbing her coat. "Okay. Let's go."

Katherine leads the way, back in the direction she came from. She's relieved Elena has made this so easy, though she can still hear the pounding of her own heart in her ears. The anxiety is enough that she fears it's leaking through, so her steps become just a little bigger in an effort to stay ahead. Her sister doesn't need to start asking any more questions until they are outside.

Elena follows her out the door, and when she sees Buffy, she stops. Her arms cross in front of her chest, and she glances back to her sister.

"Katherine? Who's this?"

Buffy frowns slightly. "We should talk about this in the car."

"You might want to listen to her, little sister."

It's the only thing she says before doing as Buffy suggests and making her own way to the car.

That doesn't really make her feel any better. She stands where she is for a moment, not moving, before looking back to Buffy.

"Who are you?" Her voice his firm, even if it shakes, but she's not moving until she gets a straight answer.

"My name is Buffy," she sighs. "I'm a US Marshal. I really think we should discuss the rest of this in the car."

Elena still hesitates, but she can't say her question wasn't answered. So she follows her sister, sliding into the backseat, and giving Katherine a look that says she needed an answers to her questions.

When Katherine looks back at her sister, she doesn't see a need for answers. She sees judgement. She can just hear it now.

What have you gotten us into, Katherine? Why does a US Marshal need to talk to us?

She answers neither of those questions. Buffy can do that. Instead, she turns back to stare out the windshield and tries not to sigh as she waits for someone else to break the silence.

Buffy slides into the front seat of the car, taking a deep breath before glancing over her shoulder to look at Elena.

"What do you know about Klaus Mikaelson?"

"Klaus?" Elena frowns even more. "He's Elijah's brother."

"He's also one of the most dangerous leaders of organized crime in Chicago. And your sister has offered to testify against him."

Katherine glances back at her sister, keeping her face as neutral as possible.

"Trevor's dead. Klaus killed him."

There's no need to explain who Trevor is. Katherine's mentioned him and his efforts to woo her a few times in passing. He never really held her interest, not like Elijah, but it was flattering.

Of course, he's gone now, and so are her chances with Elijah.

It takes Elena a moment to process that, before she turns and looks at her sister, knowing but not all at the same time. "You were there. You're going to testify against him."

She's her twin. She doesn't have to guess.

"Yep. My life sucks." She pauses as she tilts her head to the side, eyes averted. "Which means your life sucks."

She exhales sharply, before slumping back against the seat. "How does this ... ?"

"You're going into witness protection," Buffy replies softly. "It's to help keep you safe."

Katherine looks back at her sister, her face mostly blank, but there is a small glint in her eyes she hopes Elena understands. I'm sorry. Please don't hate me.

Elena stares back at her, watching her for a moment, before her face softens. She knows this wouldn't be her choice if she could choose. It just ... sucks. A lot.

"So what do we do?"

"We'll discuss it back at my office."

Katherine sighs, exasperated. "Then let's go. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can move on with our lives."

Edited 2016-03-01 13:48 (UTC)

Buffy nods, and off they go to start brand new lives in a brand new city.

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