This is a companion piece to In This Life Or The Next. Hayley's perspective on things starting with her death and will continue until Elijah's. At which point the stories will merge and be continued strictly there.

~Waiting For That Dance~

For one second, Hayley thought that she was saved. More importantly, that Hope was saved. Klaus could be an ass, but he'd never let anything happen to his daughter. Until he toppled to the ground with a stake in his back. A stake planted there by…

"Elijah?"

He stared at her, his eyes reflecting recognition and shock. For a fleeting moment, she took the recognition to heart. Maybe, despite his attacking Klaus, maybe Elijah really was going to be the one to save her. As he had so many times before.

But, no. He twisted the stake deeper into Klaus, and walked to the doorway. "Roman. Are you okay?" He wasn't there for her, or for Hope. He was a part of this.

Greta used Hayley's moment of distraction to plunge her hand into Hayley's chest and grab her heart. Not that it mattered. Her heart had shattered into a million pieces, anyway. Maybe having it ripped out would make it hurt less.

Time seemed to almost stand still. She looked around the room. Klaus was struggling to get to his feet. To get to her. Hope was unconscious. Roman was obviously worried about her, but was no match for his mother. And Elijah… The man she had loved with all her heart was gone. Even the man she had met in Manosque five years before was nowhere to be found in this man standing there now. She couldn't trust him to protect Hope. She wasn't even sure she could trust him to not kill her, himself.

But, no. He wasn't there for Greta, either. He was there for Roman. And Roman cared about Hope. Once Greta was dealt with, Hope would be safe. Once Greta was dealt with.

She closed her eyes. I love you, Hope. She grabbed Greta's wrist in one hand, and the finger that sported her Daylight Ring in the other, and pulled in opposite directions. Throwing the severed finger to the ground, she grabbed Greta's shoulders and slammed them both through the door - and into the sun.

~Waiting For That Dance~

She was on the edge of the bayou. How did she get there? How did she even get back to New Orleans? Her last memory was of a blinding pain. And then, she remembered just what that pain had been. Burning to death. She was dead. For good, this time. She felt tears well up in her eyes, but brushed them away. If she was in the bayou, then maybe the rest of the wolves were nearby. She would like to see Eve, again. And then find out where Cami had ended up.

There was a chuckle from behind her, and then a familiar voice. "It's a little disconcerting, isn't it? One minute you're in a shack, who knows where, the next you're here."

"Jackson?!" She wasn't sure why that surprised her. She was dead, after all. And she wasn't the only one. She looked around. But, she and Jackson seemed to be alone. "Greta?"

"Dead. Let me tell you, watching you die was hard as hell. But, it was kind of satisfying watching you take that bitch out with you."

"Watching me die? Have you been watching me this whole time?" The thought was a little sickening, actually.

Jackson shook his head. "No. Of course not. We can, of course. We can watch over the people we care about. Most of us only check in once in a while. It gets too hard, otherwise. I mean, it's not like we can do anything about what we see. But, we can feel it when someone we care about is particularly emotional."

He took her into his arms, but she pulled away. "Jackson…" She wasn't being fair, really. But, it would be even less fair to let him think that things could go back to the way they were.

Jackson stared at her with an incredulous expression. "You're my wife, Hayley. And I've missed you."

"I was your wife, Jackson. I promised you 'until death do us part'. We're both dead."

"This is about him, isn't it? Elijah? The bastard stood there and watched you die, and you're still in love with him."

"He wasn't himself, Jackson. And you knew. You always knew. Don't stand here and pretend that you didn't know…"

He cut her off. "That you were basically using me? That our marriage was nothing to you except a way to get the rest of the wolves to stand with you against the witches? Yeah, I guess I did know that. I guess I just also thought that that line you gave me about choosing me was true, that you had come to love me. I guess I was just stupid."

"I did love you! I just… I never stopped loving him. And I'm not going to apologize for that. I can't help how I feel. I did love you, Jackson. But, yes. I'm in love with Elijah. I fell in love with him the moment I laid my eyes on him. And that never changed. I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this, but…"

"So, you're not going to apologize for loving him, but you'll apologize for marrying me? That's just great, Hayley."

"That is quite enough, young man!"

That voice. She knew that voice, but how? And then she remembered. Freya's visions. She turned around to see someone she hadn't really seen since she was a baby. Someone she knew more from a vision than from memory. She probably wouldn't have recognized him if she saw him on the streets of New Orleans. And yet, here, her heart knew him. "Daddy?"

"Andrea. No. Hayley. You'll have to forgive me. I haven't gotten used to calling you Hayley, yet. In my mind, you're still my baby."

"Yeah. And not this hybrid monster I've become." She brushed away tears. For just a minute, she had thought that she would have a family, again.

And then there were arms around her. She struggled for a minute before realizing that they weren't Jackson's arms.

"That isn't even close to what I meant. Hope is old enough for you to understand, I think. It's hard for a parent to come to terms with their children growing up and becoming strong, confident, independent adults. And you… your mother and I are so proud of you, of the woman you've become. Never, ever doubt that." His next words were whispered almost too low for her to hear them. "I should have listened to her."

"You should have listened to her about what?"

"Honestly? That it was too soon for you and Jackson to see each other again. We didn't get much warning that you were coming, though. No time to talk things over. I didn't want you here alone, and thought it would be weird for you to be faced with us with no warning. If we had had more time to think, we would have sent your friend Cami."

Hayley smiled at that. "Cami's here then?" Which was a stupid question, actually. Of course Cami was there, somewhere. Hadn't her own first thought been of trying to find her?

"She stays in the quarter with her brother and uncle. But, she came to see Ansel shortly after she died. He introduced us to her. She's a very sweet girl. We like her. Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if she's with your mother, now. From what I saw, your death hit Klaus pretty hard. Cami would have felt that."

She shuddered at that. "Well, that is going to be very much not fun."

Her father frowned. "I thought you and Cami were friends? If you don't want to see her.."

"No! I want to see Cami. But… Hope was unconscious when I died."

"Shit. Let's get you home, baby girl. Because you're right. That is very much not going to be fun."

Home. She was going home. With her father. To see her mother. The parents she had spent over twenty years thinking had abandoned her, but who were now here with her, and loved her, and were proud of her.

And Cami was probably there, as well. And, if not, Hayley knew where to find her. St. Anne's. Father Kieran would know where she was.

She took her father's hand with a smile.

~Waiting For That Dance~

"Hayley!" Two voices called out to her at once. One, familiar, the other… less so. Cami… and her mother.

Cami reached her first, and pulled her into a hug. "I am so sorry, Hayley."

"It's good to see you, though. And I need to talk to you later. Alone?"

"Of course. Though, do you want just the two of us, or should we ask Aiden to join us?"

Hayley smiled at that. Of course. Even here, Cami was still a shrink. And still damned good at reading people. It shouldn't really surprise her that her friend knew exactly what she wanted to talk about. "I'll see if Aiden wants to come, too. The three of us can hang out at Rousseau's, get completely sloshed, and commiserate." She stopped and tilted her head. "Can we get completely sloshed?" She really hoped so. She wasn't sure she wanted to try to get through a literal eternity waiting for Elijah sober.

"You can if you want. Or, if you want to drink the entire bar without so much as slurring your words, you can do that, too. Being dead really does have its perks."

Hayley couldn't help but laugh. And then she finally turned to the other woman that had been waiting for her.

It wasn't quite like looking in a mirror. But, the family resemblance was certainly there. "Mom?"

She found herself pulled into another hug. "Hayley. Welcome home, baby. Even if it is far too soon for you to be here."

And then the enormity of what had happened hit her. She was thirty-five years old. She should have had decades even if she had never met Klaus. And thanks to Hope, she should have had centuries.

Hope. She wasn't going to be there to help Hope through her first transition. She wouldn't dance at her daughter's wedding. She would never hold her grandchildren.

Two more pairs of arms were suddenly around her. She found herself the center of a group hug as she broke down, mourning her own death and all the things she was never going to do, now.

Eventually, she got herself pulled together, and they let her go. She wiped her eyes and then looked around. There was another person in the room, now. Standing anxiously by the door. "Aiden! Cami and I were just talking about you. I'm guessing you're here because they've told Josh?"

Aiden nodded. "Yeah. He's doing better than Klaus is. But, it was still bad enough to get my attention."

"Well, Cami and I were actually wondering if you wanted to go to Rousseau's with us? I desperately need to get drunk off my ass. And… well… there are certain aspects to my situation that the two of you would understand better than anyone else I know."

"Yeah. Let's go get drunk, and talk about Elijah, Klaus, and Josh."

"You kids go have fun. Hayley, I can't imagine you would want to stay in the plantation house or the compound. So, know that you do have a home, here, too."

"I was actually thinking of offering her my second bedroom. Sean and Uncle Kieran still stay at St. Anne's. I mean, if that's okay with you, that I'm stealing your daughter so soon after you got her back."

"Go! We'll see you all later."

Hayley shook her head and hugged her parents. "We do have a lot to talk about, though. But, right now… Right now, I need my friends." And then she grabbed Cami's and Aiden's arms and pulled them out of the cabin.