Ch.1: Rescue Me

*Flashback*

        Kat stood in front of Dark Hook. He was trying to do the right thing, Excalibur in his hand, having put the darkness inside of it.

        ”Hook, don’t,” she asked of him. 

        “I was weak, so let me make it up to you by being strong. Let me be the man I want you to remember. Please,” he replied. They’d never been together, but had been through adventures for the last three years. They were alike, but with her still loving her two vampires, she didn’t have the will to fall in love with a pirate. She was always more prone to fall for those that couldn’t easily get hurt. Indestructible ones.

        She rested a hand on the hilt that his hand was on.

        ”I can’t let you do this, but I will destroy the darkness. Trust me,” she assured him.

        He was one to always trust her, so he let go of the sword, letting her take it, instead, wondering what her plan was.

        ”We’ve been through a lot together. Now, I think it’s time I made a sacrifice for you. I’ve lived for over 500 years. Now, it’s time for the second time in my human life for me to be selfless. And maybe someday, I’ll come back,” she replied. “But I won’t ask you to kill me. I’ve always been a master at doing it myself.”

        ”Katherine, please.”

        ”No. Be the person I know you to be here,” she replied, and stepped a ways away. 

        Before anyone else arrived to where they were, she’d used the Excalibur to kill herself and destroy the darkness.

*End of Flashback*

        Katherine Pierce, human, awoke in a dungeon without bars, alone. She didn’t know where she was, so she followed the stone hallway to find out. And that’s when she came face to face with the thing guarding the entrance. That told her what she needed to know. She was definitely in the underworld. She tried getting around it, but the heads were quicker than she was as a human. And so, she got bitten.

        When she woke up again, she was back where she started, back against the wall of a barless prison stone cell, this time, feeling weak. That told her that a bite from Cerberus was poisonous. 

        Rumple had come to the underworld to find and rescue her, so he’d gone to this version of his shop. He’d grabbed what he’d needed, gone to her grave, and sprinkled it on it. Then he’d gotten an answer as to where she was, but she didn’t look too well. He could only assume from where she was that she’d been attacked by Cerberus. 

        Klaus awoke to find himself in what appeared to be a dungeon made of stone, but had stone cells without bars. He was in one of them.

        He got to his feet, which was when he saw who was in the one across from his. Years ago, he wouldn’t have cared much what happened to her, but after Hope had made him a half decent person, he cared now. Besides, no matter who Elijah loved, he’d always want Katerina to live. With Elijah possibly at peace, he was the only one here to save her. If he could. 

        ”Katerina?” he inquired. Then, after a moment, he went over and knelt by her. She was definitely injured from something. “Katerina, luv,” he called, a hand on the side of her face. 

        After a few minutes, he saw her wake up. Having known her for 538 years, give or take, he knew she was weak. Something she’d never been. Not as long as he’d known her at least.

        ”Klaus?” she weakly inquired.

        ”It’s me, Katerina. What happened?”

        ”Cerberus bit me, because I tried to get out of here. We’re in the underworld, but Rumple’s coming to get me out of here. He’s the semi-reformed Rumplestiltskin. Fairytales exist here and in Storybrooke, Maine. I’m here, because I made a sacrifice of myself. Someone had to die to destroy the darkness, and I wouldn’t let Hook die for a mistake I made, in order to save Rumple,” she informed him.

        Klaus, being an Original, having grown up in the Viking age, knew who Cerberus was. A three-headed creature. Katerina was merely a human. She should’ve known better than to try getting past that thing. As far as he knew, she didn’t have any powers. And she definitely wasn’t a vampire anymore.

        ”I’ll get us out of here. Then we’ll figure out a way to save you,” he told her. It wasn’t a promise, but he wanted to get her out of here, away from danger, and he could usually sense when someone he knew had been poisoned. Plus, he was a hybrid. He’d be quick enough that he could kill that creature without much difficulty. 

        He slid a hand behind her, before putting her arm around his shoulders. He then slid an arm under her legs, being careful not to cause more pain or damage to her. He then got to his feet with her, before heading down the hallway. Then, once he’d gotten to the end of it, he gently set her on the ground, back against the wall, before facing the beast. 

        When Rumple arrived at last, Cerberus was nothing but black dust, Katherine clearly was in a bad state, and there was a stranger. He didn’t seem to be a threat, though. If anything, they seemed to know each other. There were few people she ever allowed to help her. 

        “Rumple, this is Klaus,” she introduced, Klaus with an arm around her, keeping her on her feet. 

        “The Original hybrid you talked about. I see you two have gotten past the past,” he replied. Then he added, “Let’s get out of here. Shall we? When Hades finds out his pet is dead, we don’t want to be here to see what comes next.”

        Rumple made the three of them disappear in smoke, ending up at the river, which the boat was approaching. Then, when it had, they boarded it. They then sat down, Klaus with an arm around her.

        She rested her head against his shoulder, knowing that even though he wasn’t Elijah or Damon, she could trust him. After all, him being dead like her had to mean that he’d been selfless too, right? Plus, Klaus didn’t kill without a reason anymore. And he never went back on his word or promises. If he said he’d save someone, he’d do it. And so far tonight, he hadn’t given her a reason not to trust him. 

        Once back in Storybrooke, Rumple started looking into a cure, while Klaus stayed with her in the back of his shop, where she lay. Klaus wasn't going to leave her alone. Especially, like this.

        After Rumple had gotten a cure together, she was soon saved.

        "I know I don't need to say this, but thank you. You risked an encounter with everyone you sent to the underworld to save me," she told Rumple, knowing exactly what he'd risked by rescuing her from the underworld. 

        "Well, you're not just anyone, dearie," he replied to her. They hadn't been together since she'd first been in town when everyone had had false memories, but he still felt like she was a special person. But he wouldn't go back to her as long as he had Belle. Plus, he knew what she felt for Elijah and Damon. They'd both shared a lot of their history when she'd first come to town the first time around. He knew everything about her, just like she knew everything about him. 

        "You're right. I'm a different kind of species," she agreed. "I assume everyone probably already knows I'm in town, so I should probably head to the diner." She looked at the hybrid she'd once upon a time had hated. "And thank you, as well. For once, you actually had a part in saving me." 

        "Yes, well, Elijah would've wanted you alive. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I just let you die? You already died before. You didn't deserve something like that."

        "You've changed for the better," she complimented. 

        "I did it for my daughter. I didn't want Hope to grow up thinking I'm a monster. Like nearly everyone thinks," he informed her. 

        "Looks like we're more alike than I'd like to admit, then. I changed too, because Nadia would've wanted me to become a better person. She was my daughter. When she found me years ago, back when I was dying of old age after Silas took the cure out of me, she got the answers she so desired. The truth. She thought I'd abandoned her, when she was actually torn from me at birth. When she found out what was happening to me, she told me I was descended from Travelers, and that I could go on living inside someone else. I refused for a while, because I gave up. But Stefan gave me my hope back. For a time, I body jumped into Elena. Then they found out, so I ended up in hell. And when they killed Cade, they left hell leaderless, so I became its Queen until I was killed again. I was nothing but a vengeful demon with no remorse, so I don't  blame anyone for what they did. When I died though, I ended up in a prison world. I had to survive Kai until I found a way out. That's when I ended back in this town. Rumple and I had a thing when I first came here the first time around, but that's over. Unlike most that we know, he's pretty faithful to just one person."

        "I'm sorry, Katerina. What happened to her, if I may ask?" he wanted to know. He knew what it was like to almost lose a daughter. He couldn't imagine if he'd actually lost her. 

        "Tyler Lockwood bit her, and I'd love to see him suffer for it if he were still alive," she replied. "But descended from Travelers or not, I never wanted anything to do with it. You're not the only one that has a deep hatred for their father. He's the one that tore her from me, and the one that banished me. And I can never forgive him for what he did to my mother. Let's just say, I was happy to see him dead. If you hadn't killed him, I surely would have," she replied. She then added, "How about we go to the diner. I could use something to eat. Plus, I'm sure Rumple would like to find Belle to let her know that he made it home." 

        She headed for the door.

        Klaus followed her. 

        When she walked into the diner with Klaus, everyone was happy to see that she'd made it back home, as well as the fact that she'd been cured. 

        "See? I told you I'd be back some time," she told Hook, before he could say anything. "It all worked out," she added with a smile, in which he returned. 

        After they'd all been introduced to Klaus, she and Klaus sat down at the bar part of the diner, where she ordered some food, and him the usual shot glass of Bourbon. 

        "We're going to have to talk some time, Katerina," Klaus informed her. 

        "What about?" she asked. 

        "I think you can probably guess who I'm talking about," he replied, not really saying the subject matter. There were very few things that he and Katerina shared people wise, in which they both cared about. And Klaus figured the sooner he told her what had transpired, the better. 

        "You said you died for Hope. I know he's always been so loyal to you, since you're family, but I doubt he'd ever even think about following you before his time," she replied. "You have other siblings, too. He'd probably want to make sure they stay out of trouble."

        "Katerina, when I decided to sacrifice myself...to put all of The Hollow inside of myself, Elijah was dealing with a lot. I never fell in love with her, but Elijah...He fell in love with Hayley, the mother of my child, before Hope was old enough to remember. There was this vampire that hated us. Hybrids. She feared Hope's powers. Hayley, to protect Hope until we could find them, let her make her wolf side dormant. At the time, Hayley was a hybrid because of what Hope was born as. Elijah at the time didn't remember any of us, so he didn't try to save her. Hayley saved everyone but herself, when she through herself and that vampire into the sun. Hope was the one that made Elijah remember everything. He blamed himself for not saving her. I tried, but Elijah was too far gone in grief, and it seemed like our siblings would all be okay. Elijah figured that his best way to get through it was to reunite with her, so I accepted his offer. We died together. I can only assume since he wasn't in the underworld with us, that he found peace with her," he explained to her. 

        She looked down, as she finished her food. Then sipped her own shot glass of Bourbon. She couldn't believe that he was gone. She'd always thought he'd outlive her. Not the other way around. 

        "I wish I'd been there. Maybe I could've given him a reason to keep living, even without you," she replied, acting strong, despite the pain of knowing that she'd lost another love of hers. First Damon many years ago by now. Then Elijah.

        "Perhaps, but I think we both know that he wouldn't want any of us to be unhappy. All we can do is to try and make the best of what we have," he replied.

        She finished her drink. 

        "I need to be alone for a while. Granny usually has a room open that she can rent out if you need a room. Ruby here can direct you where to go," she told him, before getting off the barstool, heading out of the diner. 

        The hybrid had known Katerina for far too long. Most probably would've gone after her, or maybe even tried to convince her to stay, but he knew better. She needed time alone after hearing about Elijah. To him, it had always seemed that the two of them had an epic love, despite Elijah's loyalty to him. Even in the beginning. Elijah had betrayed him for Katerina. He wouldn't stop Katerina from walking out that door. They were too much alike. He probably would've done the same or something worst if he hadn't joined him in dying. But he took comfort in believing that Elijah was at peace.