• • • •

"You're the one that pulled the dagger out of her," Stefan countered back as Rebekah went back inside the changing room.

"I heard that!" Rebekah yelled from inside the changing room.

"How do I look?" Faith asked, smiling at the two men sitting in front of her.

She pulled the silky red fabric lower before moving her hair out of the way. She grinned as she posed in the silky satin red dress. The straps of the dress were thin with a bit of a low v-neck as the neckline. The top of the dress was comfortably fitted around her chest to her waist. The lower half of the dress flowed down loosely.

Faith combed back her hair revealing her tattoo on her arm. The tattoo was the name 'Woods' in cursive with a leaf above the letters 'oo' and it was located on the inside of her upper right arm. That was only one out of the two tattoos she had. Faith had her daughter's name tattooed in a typewriter font on the left side of her neck just behind her ear. She placed it there since it wasn't noticeable and her hair covered it.

Klaus' eyes widened at the sight of the siphoner. The dress showed her figure easily and showed enough cleavage that it wasn't overbearing.

"You look absolutely stunning, Faith," Rebekah complimented the girl.

She received a beautiful smile in return. "I'm definitely getting it then."

"Alright," Stefan sat up from where he sat and placed his glass of champagne on the table. "I'm going to get some fresh air."

Faith shrugged as she stepped down from the display. She took Stefan's glass and poured herself champagne. She took a sip of her drink and glanced at the hybrid who sat comfortably in the chair. "You are getting this dress for me, right?"

"And why would I do that, love?" Klaus questioned with a smirk.

"Think of it as my birthday present," Faith bargained.

"I gave you a day off."

"Oh, come on, Klaus," Faith walked over to the hybrid with a playful smile. "You've got to admit I look amazing in this dress."

Klaus' eyes traveled up and down her body. Faith smirked as she took notice of his eyes. "Y'know the last time a guy checked me out, he was my one night stand."

"Just tell Rebekah to hurry up," Klaus ordered, taking the champagne bottle and serving himself another glass.

Faith smirked in victory and turned around. "That wasn't a no!"

Rebekah looked at the siphoner in amusement as she entered her fitting room and pulled the curtain closed behind her. "My brother fancies you."

Faith scoffed as she slipped the dress off her shoulders. The dress dropped to the floor and she began to put on her clothes. A black spaghetti-strapped crop top and a high waisted layered ruffled skirt in a pastel blue color. "Sure he does."

The blonde rolled her eyes as she showed the siphoner two tank tops in the color white and gray. "Which one?"

"The white one," Faith answered. "You can wear another white shirt underneath it since it's see-through."

• • • •

Faith sat bored out of her mind on the bar as Gloria tried to find the necklace Elena had while Stefan hadn't returned. She had her arms crossed in front of her before placing her head on them and closing her eyes. As much as Faith loved being free from her mother, she missed Dani. Being able to cook for her, draw or play with her. She just wanted to hold the toddler in her arms and take care of her.

"You left us," Rebekah told Stefan as he walked inside the bar. Faith raised her head up, placing her chin on the palm of her hand as she watched with sleepy eyes.

"Yeah, sorry. Retail therapy was making my head explode," Stefan replied.

"Tell me about it," Klaus agreed from behind Faith.

"What's she doing?" Stefan pointed at the witch sitting at a table with candles lit.

"She's failing," Klaus said, angrily.

"It's hard to find something when you don't have anything to go on," Gloria remarked.

Rebekah jumped off the bar and walked over to the table. "So use me. I only wore it for a thousand years."

"See? Now this one offers a solution," Gloria said. "Alright, give me your hand, sweetheart."

Gloria held the blonde's hand between her own and closed her eyes in concentration.

"She's, uh, she's looking for the necklace, huh?" Stefan asked.

Faith rolled her eyes before a yawn crept up her lips. "No, she's looking for my missing dog, Stefan."

"I can sense something," Gloria told them, causing Stefan to step forward in worry. The witch began chanting in Latin for a few seconds before letting go of Rebekah's hand. She looked over to Klaus. "I found it."

Faith grinned in amusement at the news while glancing at Stefan who looked worried. He just kept confirming her theory about Elena being alive. How? She didn't really care. It brought entertainment to her with Stefan's worry.

"So where is it?" Rebekah inquired.

"It doesn't work like that, doll. I get images. There's a girl with her friends..."

The witch was interrupted by Rebekah. "Yes, a dead girl with dead friends, if I don't get my necklace back."

"Well, I'll have to dive back in to get the details," Gloria explained.

"So dive," Klaus stood up from his seat from the bar.

"I need more time." The hybrid walked over to the witch and leaned on the table where Gloria sat. "And space. You're harshing my ju-ju."

Faith smirked at the lack of fright from Gloria. She would've probably liked the witch if she wasn't, well, a witch. Witches like her tend to only care about power and a talisman from the Original witch. It was the only reason she was helping Klaus. She probably didn't even know why he couldn't create hybrids.

"We can wait," Klaus agreed.

"I'm sure you can but that's not what I asked," Gloria answered.

"Hey," Stefan patted Klaus' back, glancing between the two siblings. "You know, why don't we just come back later. I'm hungry anyway. I'll let you pick who we eat."

Klaus and Rebekah glanced at each other before they stood up. Rebekah glanced back at the siphoner. "Faith, care to join us?"

"On your bloodfest? No thanks," the siphoner denied the offer. "I'm just going to drink. Maybe shop some more. Whatever comes to mind."

The blonde shrugged and left the bar. Faith raised an eyebrow at the witch, feeling her stare. "Is something wrong, Gloria? Or do you think I'm going to reveal your little secret to Klaus?"

Sensing something, Faith turned around and grabbed the witch by the neck. Her expression held amusement and she stood up as she siphoned magic from the witch. "It seems like you don't know what a siphoner is, Gloria. I might not be able to have my own magic, but I can take some of yours or all of it. So I wouldn't try anything with me. Plus even if you are powerful, you're old."

She tightened her grip on the witch's neck before pushing her away. Any amusement disappeared from her face as it turned impassive. She watched Gloria stumble to regain her balance while coughing. "Anyway, I'll be going now. I have a toddler waiting for me and Stefan would be back here any second now. Hope you die."

She disappeared from the bar and appeared in Dani's bedroom. She smiled with joy as the toddler looked up from drawing. Instantly, Dani dropped her crayon and rushed toward her mother with a big smile into a hug. Faith picked her up and spun her around before placing the toddler on her hip.

"Mama!" She squealed, gleefully. "I missed you!"

Faith smothered her with kisses before grinning at the little girl. "I missed you, too. I'm sorry, I couldn't come earlier. I was in a bit of a trouble."

"You were on time out?" Dani asked with big hazel eyes looking up at Faith. "Uncle Marcel said when you do something bad you go on time out. Did Mama do something bad?"

Faith placed the toddler on the ground as she grew heavy. Dani had gained healthy weight along with two missing teeth on the front upper row. "Kind of."

"Are you staying?" Dani asked her mother.

"I can't," Faith sighed, ruffling Dani's brown hair. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I have to go back to time out."

"Okay," she mumbled and Faith's heart squeezed in sadness at the sad expression in the four-year-old.

She fixed her daughter's hair as she smiled sweetly at her. "Did you eat?"

When Dani nodded, Faith took her small hand into hers and began pulling them out the door. "Then it's time for ice cream! What kind do you want?"

"Chocolate!" Dani yelled in happiness. Faith watched the toddler as she began jumping and they left Marcel's house.

• • • •

A few hours passed and Faith tucked Dani in for bed. She quietly closed the bedroom door. Her blue eyes met with Marcel's who stood with arms crossed and a drink in hand. "Did she ask about the tattoos?"

Faith smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah, told her it was grown up's art, and only they can have it."

"I'm going for a bite," Marcel told her after chuckling as he handed her his drink. "The nanny is in the living room in case you have to leave while I'm out."

"A nanny?" Faith raised an eyebrow.

"I have a city to run. I can't always be taking care of her and the nanny's compelled," Marcel smirked before he disappeared from her sight.

Faith studied the drink before drinking the rest of it. She was serving herself when her phone began ringing. She grabbed her phone from the coffee table as she drank the glass of scotch. "Hello?"

"You're making it a habit of not returning on time, love," Klaus' voice was heard from the phone after she answered.

"That's nothing new," Faith stated, nonchalantly.

"Gloria's gone," he informed her. "We need a new witch, immediately and you're the best next thing."

Faith hummed. "Hope she's dead. It looked like she was only using you for the necklace."

"Get to the warehouse," Klaus said before hanging up.

Faith stared at her phone, confused. Usually, Klaus would say something back sarcastically, so it felt weird when he only hung up. She shrugged the thought off and finished her scotch before disappearing from New Orleans.

• • • •

She appeared in the warehouse, standing next to Rebekah. Feeling the tension in the air, Faith glanced between the siblings before noticing Stefan on the ground, knocked out. When her eyes met with Klaus', she immediately raised her hand in defense as Klaus rushed toward her with anger. The hybrid flew across the warehouse and crashed into large wooden boxes.

"Okay," Faith trailed off and glanced at Rebekah. "What did he do and why is Klaus trying to kill me?"

"He was asking about Mikael," Rebekah explained.

"Did you tell Stefan about him?!" Klaus glowered as he stood up from the ground.

"No," Faith admitted, calmly.

"You're hiding something," Rebekah looked at the siphoner with narrowed eyes.

Faith glanced between the two siblings and sighed in defeat. "Okay, so a certain doppelgänger who's supposed to be dead could be alive."

"And you didn't tell me?" Klaus questioned, anger filling his voice.

"I wasn't sure," Faith defended herself. "Stefan was all worried about Gloria finding the necklace, so I had my suspicions."

There was a moment of silence before Klaus spoke. "We're going to Mystic Falls."

"Does this mean I don't die?" Faith asked as Klaus picked up Stefan and draped him over his shoulder. "Cause I would really like that."

"He won't kill you," Rebekah placed her arm over the siphoner's shoulder, pulling her over to the truck. "He cares too much to do that."

Faith ignored the last bit and smirked. "At least I'll be back for senior year. This is going to be fun."

• • • •

Ahhhh!! Thank you so much for the 1k reads! I really appreciate it! Now, I feel bad about this.......I've been having writer's block...I'm sorry!! I will be updating only one chapter at a time instead of two. I'll try my hardest to get inspired! I will let you know when I'll resume updating like I used to.

Ps. The drawings, if you haven't noticed, are Faith's tattoos. I tried to draw them the best I imagined them in my mind, but if you imagined them a different way that's okay, you can keep imagining them however you want.