There was silence between them, a contended peaceful silence as they curled up close. Frankie's fingers were running through Elijah's hair soothingly while his hand traced circles on her hip.

"Did Tristan see the visions from the prophecy too?" Frankie asked. She saw how her question caused him to tense and then frown with concern and while she continued on, her fingers continued to brush through his hair reassuringly, "Is that what he said when he was telling you why he sent those Strix guys to follow me?"

"I don't know if he saw you," Elijah said honestly, "He said he was doing it for me, looking out for you to prevent anyone using you against me. Please, I don't want you worrying about the prophecy, I will not let anyone hurt you."

"You said they don't actually hurt me."

"My sweet," Elijah sighed, pulling her closer so her eyes met his, "Please."

"I'm not worried," she protested, "I just was thinking about it."

"Frankie."

Elijah didn't like her worrying, he still couldn't stand seeing anxiety or fear run through her because he knew everything she'd been through and he cared too much about her to let her suffer. She could see the worry in his face even as he pushed her concerns away and her eyebrows knitted themselves together in a frown.

It was clear the dismissal of the prophecy was more for her sake than for his and while she knew he clearly hadn't stopped thinking about it, she'd at least pretend she would so he needn't worry about her.

"Alright, I'll drop it," her hand slipped to his and she squeezed it gently, "I should probably head out anyway, I want to try and pack some stuff for Ric's so I don't have to do it in the morning before I drive out."

"I'll come over once I talk to Niklaus," he promised, pressing a kiss to her before standing.

Frankie groaned as she stood from the bed, warm and inviting and instead began her ever constant search for her clothes that had been abandoned by them both earlier and now lay strewn through his room.

"Thanks," she mumbled as she tugged her trousers on and Elijah passed her her shoes, "You're not fussed with me ditching you for Ric's thanksgiving, right?"

"I'm not American and I was alive long before the supposed pilgrimage," he reminded her, "I think it'll be good for you to see your brother. That and it'll probably be good to stay away from Niklaus until he's forgiven me."

"He'll forgive you," she promised, "he loves you. Plus he's not going to hurt me."

"No one will."

Frankie rolled her eyes, pressing forwards and kissing him deeply.

She was pleased to be here with him again and while she was excited to see her brother after her sudden disappearance from Mystic Falls, she'd miss Elijah in that time too. Things felt good for her, for them, even with everything going on around them. Despite Klaus and the prophecy and the Strix, Frankie felt like things were actually working for once.

"Okay, I'm out," she pecked his lips a final time before turning from the room, "I left the spare key on the dresser, if your talk with your brother goes late just let yourself in. I made brownies and I wanna try them out before I bring them to Ric's so I might just crash if I'm a little buzzed."

Elijah nodded in amusement, watching as she left, aware more than ever that with each moment he spent with her he grew more certain of his love.

By the time Elijah arrived at Frankie's apartment it was late, past midnight and he stood in such tattered clothing it seemed as though they'd been shredded. Knocking softly he unlocked the door, padding through the dark apartment to find Frankie curled up tightly in bed. He tried to be as quiet as he could, showering quickly before sliding in beside her.

"Hi," she murmured after a moment, staring at his jacket on the chair which seemed to be practically torn in two, "What's wrong with your clothes."

"I fought with Niklaus."

It took her a moment to reply. It wasn't that she was searching for an answer, only that she was so stoned that it took her a moment to remember exactly who Niklaus was. Finally she placed the pieces together, snickering slightly at the name and rolling closer to Elijah's chest.

"Are you friends again?"

"Somewhat."

"Good," she nodded decidedly, "I don't like it when you fight."

"Neither do I."

She paused a moment, rolling closer as if by pressing herself tighter to his chest she might be able to steady the world that was practically spinning around her.

"Can you hold me tighter, I'm really stoned, I didn't expect them to have the kick they did, I got my measurements wrong."

"Of course," Elijah obliged and she let out a contented sigh as his grip tightened comfortingly, "Do you feel alright?"

"Mhm. I'm good now," she looped an arm over his side and tucked her head beneath his chin, "definitely good now. I'm glad you came. I like when you're here."

Elijah pressed a kiss to the top of her head, whispering to her goodnight though she was asleep before he'd finished the word. He listened to the steadiness of her heartbeat, felt the warmth from her fists curled up against his chest and knew that with each moment that he had her in his arms, that nothing in the world could hurt him.

Morning came with a grogginess that Frankie hated, burrowing her head beneath the pillow as she felt Elijah try to pull her awake. She knew this was her fault, her fault for not testing the dose of the brownies before she committed to a full one and her fault for asking him to make sure she left on time.

"A little longer," she mumbled, "You're so warm don't make me get up."

"You said you wanted to get on the road by noon," he pointed out, "If you don't get up you'll never leave."

"Ugh."

"Come on, my sweet," he coaxed as he pulled the pillow away and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Frankie reluctantly sat up, feeling the scratchiness of her much too dry eyelids and tongue that reminded her of how stoned she'd been the night before. She watched Elijah as he pottered about the room, examining the torn suit jacket that lay neatly folded across the dresser.

Pulling herself from the bed in search of her favourite corduroys she let her fingers run along the tattered jacket, "Shit Klaus really did a number on your suit, can't believe you'll be reduced to sweats like the rest of us."

"Quelle Horreur," he teased, "Not like you. What will people think of me?"

Frankie raised an eyebrow, "Do you remember how you used to be nice to me?"

"I suppose I'll just have to compel you to get over it and be with me again," he shrugged, "My heart is heavy but for you, my love-"

"Not funny," she laughed, slapping his shoulder before pressing a kiss to his chuckling lips, "That being said, can you grab me more vervain, I had the last of my stash with my tea last night. Ric will have some at his but when I get back I'll need more. Despite Tristans reassurances that the Strix are looking out for me I'd rather not be open to his compulsion."

"Of course."

"Thank you for coming over. Sorry I was kind of out of it, but it means a lot that you're always here. I'm sorry we didn't talk more about what happened with Klaus either, do you want to now?"

"We can talk when you get home," he nodded, "I'll see you on Sunday."

In all earnestness, he was revelling in the way she'd nodded as he called New Orleans her home and nothing rivalled the joy was created by knowing she'd be back in his arms soon again. Elijah pulled her back towards him in another kiss, his arms circling her until her hand landed on his chest causing him to step away.

"If you kiss me like that I'll never leave and I want to say bye to Cami before I go. I'll see you Sunday."

Pecking her on the cheek he nodded, "Call me if you need anything."

After Elijah left it was easy enough for Frankie to prepare. As she'd waited for her brownie to kick in the night before she packed everything she needed so now all she needed was to finish dressing and find her friend. She'd be driving back to Mystic Falls, but to go to Cami's all she needed was her skateboard and so with that and her keys she made her way over, dialling as she did.

"Hey Cam," she spoke into the voicemail, "I'm on my way over to say bye before I head off for thanksgiving. You better not have forgotten or I'll be breaking down your door."

One thing Frankie loved about Cami was that she was reliable, she was always there for her and she was always where she said she'd be. When they made plans, while Frankie could occasionally flake out over a need to be alone, Cami was always steady by her word.

When she said she'd be somewhere, she was, which was why when Frankie made it to her door, knocking politely, she was confused by the silence that remained. It wouldn't have concerned her so much if not for how recently they'd confirmed their plans, and the absolute radio silence that followed despite the texts and calls that she was bombarding her with.

"Dude where are you," she said on her eighth message, "I'm literally camped out at your front door and I've been here an hour. I'm getting worried. If you don't call me back in ten minutes I'm gonna head to Klaus' and ask him if he knows whats up even though I'm really not into dealing with his ego."

Dropping her phone beside her, Frankie let out a sigh. She was sitting on her board with her back leaning against Cami's door, listening hopefully for some sign of movement or for the sound of a car approaching.

If it was anyone else she would've let it go, presumed they'd forgotten or gotten waylaid but it wasn't anyone else, it was Cami. She wouldn't have forgotten their plans and she wouldn't be ignoring her calls and a twinge of terror niggled at her that the reason for her silence was because something had happened to her.

Twenty more minutes passed before Frankie moved to make good on her threat, standing to her feet to leave and beginning to dial Klaus' number when a blur of movement in front of her caused her to look up.

"Francesca?" the man asked sharply, "You're Cami's friend, Francesca Rossi?"

While Frankie was Cami's friend, certainly, Cami would never send someone for her like this and she'd never tell them that her name was Francesca not Frankie. Something about the knowing way he looked at her, the fact he was evidently a vampire but not one that she knew, chilled her to the core. Something was wrong and even as she tried to seem unbothered her fingers fiddled with her phone hoping she'd be able to finish dialling Klaus or Elijah before things turned sour.

"No," she lied, pushing a look of disinterest to her face, "Who the fuck are you?"

The man's lips twitched up into an eerie grin before his hand shot out and snatched the phone from her hand, pocketing it. Frankie didn't even have the chance to protest because a moment later he moved again, pressing a cloth across her mouth so sharply that she took a breath of shock in.

Whatever was in the cloth was clearly bad because almost immediately things began began to spin, her knees buckling beneath her as her eyes fluttered shut.

As Frankie felt herself slowly drift back into reality she was aware of several things. Firstly, she was laying on surprisingly comfortable bed, secondly, that she could her Cami's voice arguing with someone in the room beside here, and thirdly, that she'd undoubtedly be late for thanksgiving.

Laying still for a moment, she gathered her bearings before peeking her eyes open. Slowly at first because the brightness of the sun shining through the apartment felt as though it was burning her eyes and then opening them wider to figure out where she was. She could feel her head pounding like she was on the poor end of a brutal hangover but nothing else about her seemed to be injured. Her wrists weren't throbbing like they'd been bound and as far as she could tell, she had no scratches or bruises on her.

Sitting up slowly, her hand rose to press against her head while she looked around. She didn't recognise the apartment she was in but the design was sleek and grand with great windows that seemed to show half of New Orleans. If her phone was on her she would've done something better, called someone or texted Elijah but without it she was stuck and after an anxious consideration she realised she needed to go and at least assess what had happened.

Frankie pushed the door to the bedroom open tentatively. She could hear her friends voice outside but she didn't particularly like that she'd been drugged to get here and she half expected someone to attack her the moment she came out.

The sight in front of her baffled her when she finally opened the door and stepped through, catching the view of each of its occupants with various levels of surprise. Cami was the person her eyes first settled on and they were filled with horror at the sight of her, next she looked to Lucien, grinning cockily as he raised his hand and twiddled his fingers in hello before she looked to the third man, clutching a knife though she could see his curled up fist beneath the table shaking.

"Francesca," Lucien called happily, "You're awake. Do you like Cajun food?"

"What's going on?" she asked, "How did I get here?"

"Oh specifics are such boring things," Lucien laughed, "Sit. Do you know Camilles friend Detective Kinney? He believed she was a cold blooded serial killer. Can you believe it? Not our sweet Camille."

"Cam," Frankie could feel hear heart beginning to pound in terror with the horror in Cami's face and she ignored Lucien to instead rush towards her friend, "Are you-"

Before she got nearer than a foot towards Cami, Lucien appeared, blocking Frankie's path and waggling his finger disapprovingly.

"Uh, uh, uh," he frowned leaning forwards in an attempt to compel her, "I told you to sit."

"How thick are you," she snapped back in a furious attempt to hide her fear, "If Klaus wasn't going to rip your heart out for taking Cam, Elijah definitely will for taking me. You've known that family a fucking long time from what I hear and I'm sure you've gathered they don't take well to people who-"

"Yes, yes," he rolled his eyes condescendingly as he cut her off with a wave of his hand, "I'm aware. Fortunately I've taken care of that. Dearest Elijah believes that you're on your way visit your family and won't get a chance to talk to him for a while. Now, I'm prepared to let you leave once Camille has given me what I want, however if you were to disappear forever, well from what I hear, Elijah wouldn't exactly be surprised."

Frankie's eyes darted between Lucien and Cami as though checking to see if this was some mistake but the fear in her eyes told her otherwise and she felt her body slump in defeat. She knew he was right, Elijah wouldn't bother her if she'd been texting him telling him she was fine and clearly no one knew about Cami's disappearance but herself.

"Fantastic," Lucien grinned, "Now, sit. Camille will find me my medallion while you enjoy the delicacies of the good detectives people."

Frankie's face screwed up into a snarl though she reluctantly slid into the seat beside the detective that Lucien had pulled out for her. When he slid the plate of food in front of her though she turned away in disgust. It wasn't that it looked bad, in fact it looked and smelled so good she could feel her mouth beginning to water but considering she'd already been drugged once that day, she wasn't quite so keen to allow more opportunities for it to happen again.

"How impolite you are," Lucien chastised her, laughing as a moment later Kinney shifted in his seat to glare at him.

"The moment I have a choice," Kinney said cooly, "I'm going to use this knife and I'm gonna stab you in the heart."

"You couldn't if you tried," Cami sighed, pausing her search, "You've been compelled to do everything he says. It's like hypnosis. Vampires use it against humans to do their bidding."

"We're using the V-word now," he said with exasperation.

"You might as well embrace the insanity," Frankie sighed with her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at Lucien, "If it helps, I found out about vampires because I got kidnapped too. By this dickhead's idol and all. So, peas in a pod you and I are."

Lucien shot her an annoyed look, either at the title she'd given him or at the implication that Klaus was his idol and his eyes narrowed as she leant back in her seat, trying to figure out her next move.

She felt bad for the detective beside them who'd clearly been thrust into this world without explanation and she worried about what lengths Lucien would go to in order to force Cami to find whatever medallion he was searching for.

The medallion he continued to demand was something more than a little important to him. It was important enough that he'd taken Cami and Frankie despite knowing what the Mikaelsons would do for that offence and that made her almost certain it was a weapon against them. It wasn't that to any of them he'd said anything that implied that exactly, but he was no idiot and he knew no doubt the danger he was in using someone that Elijah or Klaus cared about and yet the medallion was clearly worth that risk.

She presumed there was at least some protection for her and Cami, that if they followed along with his plan he'd simply wait it out and compel them rather than deal with the complications that would come from their murder but she wasn't sure if there was a point at which they'd outlive their usefulness.

The detective beside her she really worried for, he'd already been compelled and yet it was obvious that Lucian only kept him here and alive as a means to control them both. While there was no need to kill him he'd presumably keep him alive for entertainment, but from the stories Elijah had told her, she knew he wasn't above killing him to make a point.

As much as Frankie wanted to snap furiously at Lucien or run and attempt to attack him, she figured the most pertinent thing to do here was instead play the long game, wait, try to keep his temper somewhat cool, and do everything she could to prevent him from getting the medallion he was searching for.

"What else you gonna force us to do?" Kinney snapped at Lucien.

"Well," Lucien sighed, "Camille consumes vervain and considering Francescas vampire boyfriend and the fact she wouldn't sit when I so kindly first asked her to, she does too so I can't force them to do anything. But in exchange for preventing future bloodshed, I'm asking that Camille finds me my pretty little medallion."