Frankie did eventually fall asleep, she didn't remember when it happened, how long into the drive but when she woke she was curled up with her head in Rebekah's lap as the sun rose around them while Rebekah's fingers brushed through her hair. Sitting up with a groan, Frankie was quick to pull a fist to her face to rub her eyes.

"Where's Klaus?" she asked, noting the empty drivers seat.

"In the truck," Rebekah told her, when this didn't seem to give Frankie the answer she wanted she continued, "He's been snapping Stefan's neck for hours, he's not happy. He think he's hiding something."

"Catching her up are we?" Klaus said, tugging the door open suddenly causing both girls to jump in surprise, "Not long now till we're there."

"Till we're where?" Frankie asked, slowly placing the puzzle pieces together.

"Mystic Falls, sweetheart," Klaus told her, "We're going to have a little look around for what Stefan might be hiding."

Rolling her eyes, Frankie leaned back in her seat to look out the window as the car pulled back onto the highway. It must be exhausting being Klaus, always planning, waiting for someone to plot against you.

As it turned out, not long was a lie, it took the rest of the day to actually reach Mystic Falls, by the time they arrived the sun was beginning to set and Klaus had returned to the truck six more times to snap Stefans neck. He did seem remorseful for the pain he'd caused Frankie, he still hadn't apologised, she considered that was likely off the table, but he had gone through two more drive through's and when he offered to pull into the third it was her who said no.

Driving through the somewhat familiar streets of Mystic Falls, Frankie felt a tug in her chest as the car pulled to a halt in front of a familiar building. Klaus turned to Frankie who'd moved into the passenger seat, he had an almost stern expression on his face and she was fighting to keep from snorting out laughter at it.

"You're still familiar with what will happen if you run?" he questioned, as he spoke, he tugged her phone from his back pocket causing her to gasp in surprise, "I will find you again and I will-"

"Yes, yes," she cut him off, snatching her phone from his hand with a roll of her eyes, "murder, agony, etcetera etcetera."

"I will return and if you are not here-"

"I got it," she cut him off, "stop ruining the millisecond you're being a nice person."

Klaus nodded, stony faced before he gestured to her phone, "My number is in there, if anything happens you are to call me immediately."

Frankie laughed at him before reaching behind to grab her backpack from the backseat, already pressing her phone on, hoping the battery somehow wasn't destroyed after three months of no use.

As she reached around, Klaus caught her hand, shaking his head slightly, "You won't be needing your things," he told her, "we won't be here long."

Her face fell, this was why he was being kind for a moment, he intended it to be her last moments with her brother before they were travelling the world again. He thought this would be his solution to the problem of the hybrids and once he had his answer they would be off again.

She couldn't be bothered to argue really, she would give Klaus hell enough when he returned for her for now she was going to enjoy her freedom whilst she could. Unsurprisingly her phone was dead, tucking it in her back pocket she exited the car with a wave to Rebekah and a teasing middle finger salute to Klaus.

Standing in front of her brothers apartment door as she waited for him to answer she remembered the last time she'd been here and how drastically her view of the world had changed since then. Alaric swung the door open before her and surprise flitted across his face like last time but now it really was her brother and he tugged her into a hug.

Entering the apartment, Alaric went to fix them both drinks whilst Frankie plugged her phone in. She realised now that she'd need to repeat the conversation she'd had with Klaus as Alaric to explain why she'd come to Mystic Falls from California the first place but she didn't want to yet.

When she finally turned from her phone that had begun to charge but not turn on yet, she saw him studying her, rolling her eyes at the questions she knew were forming, she grabbed his drink with a grin. She'd let him ask the questions later, she knew he wouldn't be able to hold off forever but she was going to get at least tipsy before then and hopefully would have had a good meal too.

"What are we ordering for dinner?" she asked, "I'm thinking Chinese but is small town Chinese food good?"

"Mystic Falls Chinese is not," Alaric told her with a grimace, "Pizza?"

The pizza came and they drank their beers, Frankie could feel her brother eying her up, waiting and wanting to ask but not brave enough to push her. Finally she snapped with a sigh, rolling her eyes she leaned back in her seat.

"It's fine," she told him, "You can say it, I know you want to know."

"What happened?" he asked, "We hardly talk and then apparently you'd rocked up on my doorstep. I thought you hadn't been replying to my messages because you were busy. How are you wrapped up with Klaus."

"I don't know really. Things went bad with Mitch," she explained, "I had to get away so I figured I could hide out here till I sorted out what next. You invited me in and told me to stay and then the next day I watched these witches do some spell to pull Klaus out of your body. You collapsed before I could get to you and then he put me into some magic coma until he'd broken his hybrid curse."

"You were in my apartment the whole time?"

"Yep," Frankie laughed, "He nicked my phone and then told me to come along with him and Stefan when Stefan sacrificed himself for Damon. Well he didn't exactly ask."

"I'm sorry you got caught up with him," Alaric's face was screwed up with guilt, he suddenly snapped out, "Fuck! This is all my fault."

"My god," she retorted with a grin, "Take a load off dude, you don't need to parent the whole goddamn world."

"Frank," Alaric sighed standing up as though to lecture her but instead beginning to pace, "He took Jenna as punishment for us messing around, I can't believe he took you for the same reason and I wasn't even aware-"

"Ric," Frankie snapped her brother out of his self critical rambling, "He didn't kidnap me because of you. I doubt Klaus even remembers you aside from his daily threats on your life. There's something to do with his brother Elijah. No one will tell me what it is but Klaus is hellbent on keeping me safe because of him."

"Elijah? His brother, Elijah? The one in the suit?"

"Yeah," she took another sip of her beer, laying back on the couch as Alaric stopped his pacing, "It's super weird, first Klaus knew my name when he was you, thats why I thought it was you, then some witch in Chicago knew who I was and then Klaus' sister who was daggered for like a century knew who I was as soon as she woke up."

"How is that possible?"

"Beats me," she sighed, "Klaus is so set on Elijah being the one to tell me that he wouldn't let his sister or the witch spill a thing. He says he'll undagger him soon enough to tell me but I don't think I can really do anything before then to make him."

"My god," Alaric groaned, pressing his hands to his head as though trying to massage a logical answer into his head, "So you've just been with him and Stefan for months?"

"Yep," her beer was now empty and she abandoned it by her side, "Stefan the ripper and Klaus the psycho," Alaric looked alarmed and she laughed, "I was fine, Ric, he really wouldn't let anything happen to me. I got stoned one night and he nearly flipped it, it seems like he actually cares what happened to me. When I got here, I had a couple of bruises and when I was telling 'you' about them he looked like he was going to murder someone."

"You had bruises?"

Oh shit.

She hadn't meant to let that slide out, she'd figured by the way her brother was blaming himself for her involvement with the supernatural if he knew about Mitch he'd feel even worse. Since no one but Klaus, Katherine and Stefan really knew about the bruises she figured none of them would tell her brother and she could keep it under the rug.

"It's cool," she laughed, standing and swiping both of their empty drinks as she made her way to the fridge to grab them refills, "I'm all good."

"Frankie, you don't need to hide-"

"I'm fine," she snapped, handing him the beer with a little more force than necessary, "Bruises heal, I'm all good."

Alaric sighed, sometimes his sister had a wall so high around her it seemed nothing affected her, no words hurt her and nothing could break through. She was fine, she was always fine. She was fine the time she'd come home from her last day of middle school with a split lip and two fractured fingers and she was fine even with whatever happened with Mitch, the boy she'd known he was in love with. Alaric could see the pain flit across her eyes as she thought of him but when she pressed a smile forth he dropped it with a sigh, she didn't pry into peoples lives because she didn't want them to pry into hers.

"So how was your summer hunting Stefan?"

"Well Damon killed me."

"Looking alright for a dead guy," she replied, an eyebrow arched in surprise, "Isn't Damon your best friend here?"

"Was my best friend. He knew I wouldn't die when he did it," Frankie's face continued to look surprised at this and she tiled her head with confusion, "remember that ring Isobel gave me?"

"That ugly one she told you to never take off?" Frankie replied, glancing down at his hand to see his thumb slowly twirling the ring in question.

"That's the one," he laughed, "It resurrects me if I'm killed by something supernatural."

"Huh, guess you need that in a town of vampires. So why exactly did he kill you then? Isn't Damon the good brother?"

"Not the good brother," he replied, his face furrowed up in annoyance, "He killed me because he was pissed and he wanted to take it out on someone. He knew I was wearing the ring but.."

"But he still killed you," she nodded, "What a dick. So how exactly did Isobel end up with some magic ring?"

"Oh god," Alaric groaned, "We're gonna need more than beer if we get into this."

Frankie shrugged, standing and heading to where she knew he kept his liquor while he went to gather them glasses. It took him a moment to locate the right cups and so Frankie went over to her phone, pressing it on and seeing a plethora of messages from Klaus checking on her. Spaced out in intervals of fifteen or so minutes, the messages ranged from questions about her safety, to threats on her life, to reminders of what would happen if she ran, charming.

i'm fine chill out

She sent the message before scrolling through the other messages she'd been sent in her three months away. The messages from Mitch hadn't paused and instead had begun to get more violent and slanderous, screwing up her face for a moment she quickly deleted the thread entirely before scrolling through the messages her other friends had sent her, mostly confused and concerned for her wellbeing. A message from Klaus pinged back in and she slid to it, repressing a groan at what she knew it would say.

You're on thin ice.

Frankie rolled her eyes at his attempt at sounding threatening to her, he'd made it well clear that he wouldn't hurt her and so any threat he gave seemed ludicrous. She could hear her brother setting up behind her and so, locking her phone, she left it in its place charging as she returned to the couch.

She should've known by now that there was no end to the interconnectedness of the supernatural realm. She shouldn't be surprised by it anymore, but when her brother began to explain that Isobel had known about vampires and not only that but that she'd been turned by Damon, she was. Not only that, but Isobel was also apparently the mother of Elena who was, of course, the niece of Jenna, his dead ex-girlfriend.

Once they got into Elena's lineage they'd had several more shots, the connection between Jenna, his now dead girlfriend, Katherine, the doppelgänger and ancestor of Elena and Isobel, and then Elena and Isobel themselves blew her mind.

"So you're telling me, Isobel wasn't dead," he nodded, taking a shot as she continued, "She faked her death to become a vampire, but now she is dead, and Klaus compelled her to kill herself."

"Mhhm,"

"Jeez," she drank the shot her brother passed to her before flopping her head back on the couch, her head was beginning to spin and she was trying to figure out if it was the alcohol or the information that was doing it, "So Elena was Jenna's niece right, she's the one Klaus sacrificed to break the curse."

Alaric nodded, "But her dad, who she thought was her uncle, performed a spell to save her life during the transition.."

"What?" Frankie's head shot up suddenly, "She's alive?"

Alaric nodded, "You met her actually, that time in the woods, not Katherine."

"Shit," Frankie yelled as she stood up suddenly.

This was what Stefan had been hiding, and this was why they were back in Mystic Falls. It was such a small town she was sure that it wouldn't have been difficult for Klaus to figure out she was alive. She had no doubt the fact that Elena was alive had some contribution to why Klaus couldn't make his hybrids and she was sure that Klaus would know that too by now .

"Where's Elena right now?" she asked, her brother's face furrowing in confusion at the urgency in her voice.

"Uhh," he checked his watch, "They might still be at the school. Tomorrows the first day, should be senior prank night tonight."

"Dude, we're back because Klaus can't make hybrids and Klaus thought Stefan was hiding something in Mystic Falls," she told him, "If Klaus finds out she's alive he'll go kill her, we need to check on her."

"Oh no," Alaric replied, standing suddenly before swaying as he realised how drunk he had inadvertently gotten.

Both siblings tugged their shoes and coats on, rushing to the door as quickly as they could. They were stopped in their tracks by what they saw as Frankie pulled the door open, Klaus Mikaelson with his fist raised as though to rap on the door.

Klaus raised an eyebrow, dropping his fist to clutch his other hand in front of him, "Now this is a surprise," he told them cooly, "going somewhere love?"

"What did you do," Alaric snapped, "Where's Elena."

"Ahh the lovely not so dead Elena Gilbert," Klaus replied, stepping over the threshold to brush past them into the room, "not to worry, it turns out I need her alive for my hybrids. Now I thought you didn't know anything about Stefan's little secret, sweetheart."

Her fists were balled up as she turned to look at him, "I didn't know. I told you that, I only just found out she was alive."

"No matter," Klaus replied, cooly though they both knew he was fuming, "I see you're already dressed, it's time to leave."

Alaric stepped in front of his sister protectively, his eyes flicking to the front table nearby where he knew he had a stake hiding, "She's not going anywhere with you."

Klaus rushed forwards, a fire appeared in his eyes as his hand shot to Alaric's neck, gripping tightly as replied, "Whilst I do love a nice sibling bond, I'm afraid it wasn't a request."

"Klaus," Frankie snapped, "Get the fuck off of him, I'm coming."

Klaus didn't reply, his eyes flickered down to meet her face but his grip stayed strong. Alaric was struggling now, his hands were clutching Klaus' on his neck and his face was turning red as he choked out.

"Let him go Klaus," she said again, "You kill him and you've got no leverage to make me do what you want."

"Well who says I need to give you the pretence of free will," Klaus hummed out.

"How happy will Rebekah and Elijah be if you're forcing me," she replied, her arms crossed over her body. Her whole body was tense, she knew she wasn't strong enough to physically fight Klaus and so relief rushed through her body as she saw his grip on her brother loosen, allowing him to drop to the floor.

"We're leaving," he told her, grabbing her upper arm and tugging her to the door.

"You can wait outside," she informed him, "I'll be there in five minutes."

Klaus seemed unconvinced but when she raised her brow argumentatively with her fists clenched at her sides he reluctantly turned to the door, slamming it behind him as he left. His night hadn't ended in the way he'd hoped and he had little tolerance for her disobedience, not now when he needed to run as far and fast as he could, before the Salvatores new threat came into play.

She waited until the door had clicked shut behind Klaus before she unclenched her fists and turned to her brother, his neck was red from the pressure it had so recently had on it but his face looked more normal and she could see his breathing had steadied.

"Ric," she told him, grabbing his hand and using her weight to help tug him to his feet, "Are you alright?"

"You can't leave with him again, Frank," Alaric told her, his voice was croaking out and she could see his face flinch out, obviously pushing words through his bruised throat hurt him.

She was smiling at him, refraining from rolling her eyes at his words, neither she nor him were any match against Klaus, if he wanted her to come with him there wasn't anything either of them could do to stop it that wouldn't result in their deaths.

"I'll be good," she said lightly, a chuckle coming out, "Rest up for school tomorrow and I'll come back when Klaus chills out."

"He's psychotic."

"I'll call you."