Klaus bursts in and the look of hope and relief on her face is so heartbreakingly beautiful. He remembers the same look on her face fifteen years ago when he ran into the church and found mental witches trying to sacrifice their child. She'd fought against them, looking at him in tears. It's not your fault, Klaus, I know that you fought for us. He will never stop fighting for them. He feels a relief of his own, now that she's in front of him, and a hope, hope that this mess will finally be over and he'll be able to take her home. He'll take them both home, he vows, as she sees his daughter unconscious on the floor. An even stronger feeling comes over him, the spark, no, flame of anger as he sees Greta's filthy hands around his Little Wolf's neck. He's one millisecond away from tearing some heads off when he feels a stake in his back. He screams out, more out of surprise than pain, and falls to his knees.
"Elijah," he hears her voice for the first time in four years, ever since he ended that video call. I'm not giving up on you, Klaus. And who is he to give up on her? Elijah clearly has, and the look on her face as the man she loved walks past her shows that she's realizing it, too.
It takes a while to comprehend her words, to realize that the fool responsible for literally stabbing him in the back is his memoryless, idiotic brother. The betrayal he feels is not that hard to take, as his brother believes these people threatening Klaus's family to be some kind of new family of his.
Hayley's heart is in Greta's hand, as Elijah's stake burns in his back. Klaus growls, rising like a phoenix from the ashes. "Don't touch my family."
He tears out the bloody stake, as Elijah moves to stand next to Roman, the boy who's crouched on the floor, next to his daughter, his and Hayley's. He moves fast, faster than ever, tearing Greta's hand away from that beautiful heart, and in one swift move, Greta's head flies across the room, losing contact with her body. He throws the now grey-looking body to the side like it's garbage, and it really is, as Roman yells out "No! Mom!"
"Niklaus," he hears Elijah say like he's heard him say countless times before, but this time it's different. Unsettling. "What have you done?!"
Klaus's eyes drift to Hayley, who's still against the wall, but now she's sitting on the floor, hands on her knees. She's breathing heavily and loudly, glancing from Klaus to Hope repeatedly, avoiding Elijah's gaze completely. Seeing she's safe, he turns to Elijah. "No, brother," he spits the word out like it's poison. "What have you done?"
They had an identical conversation to that one, he remembers, before Hayley and before Hope, when Elijah had freed the siblings Klaus had daggered in anger. Back then, Klaus had been the one in the wrong, and Elijah had been the noble brother, always there right his little brother's wrongs. And when the siblings, together with Elijah, had confronted him, he was alone.
But now, alone no more, he speeds over to Roman and breaks the boy's neck. Then glances once more at Hayley, who is on the other side of the room, curled up in the shadows, hiding away from the sunlight that's coming through the open door. Klaus frowns, wondering about it, but is distracted by Elijah's very stupid move - throwing him out of the house. He lands somewhat gracefully, next to the unconscious blonde vampire. Elijah then walks out, once again ignoring the ex-hybrid on the floor.
"You killed her." Elijah accuses. "And for what? You're so convinced I loved this Hayley-"
Klaus rolls his eyes. "It's not about you, Elijah. She's the mother of my child. It's not about who you love, it's about who I love."
Elijah stays silent, probably wondering in his mind whether or not Klaus is actually capable of loving someone.
"It's ironic, to say the least." Klaus laughs dryly. "How you defend the people who tried to bind my daughter. Perhaps you haven't changed. Still that boy who held me still as our Mother and Father did the same thing to me. And like you said years ago, no one hurts my family and lives. No one."
"They are my family now! Antoinette is the woman that I love. And Roman is her brother. I will not let you hurt him."
"I should bloody kill him for what he did!" Klaus roars.
"He was following his mother!" Elijah defends the young man. "And Greta did what she thought was right."
Yellow eyes and sharp fangs are the response his gullible brother gets. "How dare you defend them? This family has many, many hardships, Elijah, but we always fight for one another. Alright? And not just Hayley, not just Hope. Kol and Freya. Marcel. Rebekah."
"I told you, I don't care about any of them," Elijah responds nonchalantly. "I chose Antoinette long ago. I had no intention of hurting your family, Niklaus, I was simply protecting mine."
"Niklaus, you call me," Klaus says, earning a raised eyebrow from Elijah. "You know, whenever somebody would have the bloody courage to call me that, I would teach them, quite thoroughly, that the only two people I allow to call me by that name are my older brother and sister. Well, as you are, in fact, no longer my brother, Freya appears to be the only one left with that privilege. I think we're done here."
Elijah's words stop him from turning around and going back to his daughter and her mother. "Yes, and now I have to tell my fiancée that her mother is dead because of you!"
"As if that's worse than me telling my daughter her mother is dead because of you!" Klaus shouts angrily. "Your woman's mother died because she dared touch what's mine."
Elijah smirks all of a sudden, confusing Klaus for a moment. "You are just as everyone said you'd be. Impulsive Original Hybrid, intent on proving to everybody that he's the Alpha Male."
"This again," Klaus almost laughs. "I don't have to prove anything, I am the Alpha Male."
"The King and Queen of New Orleans." Elijah lifts his arms in the air. "And whoever disrespected the Queen..."
Klaus's facial expression sharpens at the mocking words. "Do. Not. Push. Your. Luck."
"Or what?" Elijah challenges him. "Come on, then, oh great Klaus Mikaelson. What happens to anyone who dares disrespect the Queen?"
"You are playing a dangerous game," Klaus warns then, yellow eyes glowing in the light of day. "Leave. Now."
Elijah walks closer to him. "I'm not leaving without Roman."
Klaus tears his gaze away from Elijah when a van full of Nazi vampires arrives in front of the house. "Weapons up!" someone yells, and Klaus resists the urge to sigh exasperatedly.
"Wait, everybody!" Elijah yells, and turning to Klaus once again, he offers "Give us Roman and we'll leave."
"Not so fast." a man in black jumps out of the van, staring at Greta's headless body inside the house. "You killed our Queen. It's only fair that we kill yours."
Klaus's heart races, skipping beat after beat, as his protective instincts kick in with his adrenaline. And before even he himself can comprehend what's happening, his bones are breaking, like they did a thousand years ago when he made his first kill and like they did the night he broke his curse, and the angry wolf inside him comes out. Instead of screaming, he growls at the threat. Instead of pain, he feels euphoria. The vampires, including Elijah, are frozen as the man standing before them transforms into what they hate most. A wolf in full form.
The animal jumps on them as they start fighting the best they can. Elijah is stunned, not because of the wolf, but because of the immediate protection that Klaus is providing for this woman. Klaus, who claims that this woman is important because she is the mother of his child, and that makes her family. And he wonders, is that all it is? Hope had to have been conceived somehow. He's done thinking, however, when an angry wolf attacks him, biting him time and time again. Klaus knows it won't kill him. It'll make him suffer. That's enough for the hybrid.
He tears them limb from them, the twenty-something idiot vampires that tried to hurt her, and he bites Elijah, breaking his neck. He howls, attacking until each and every one of them turns grey with veins decorating their skin. People would call this his greatest fight, a historical moment in the supernatural world. The old Klaus Mikaelson, he knows, would thrive in the glory of it.
But all he cares about is her.
...
"Little Wolf." he's back in the house in a flash, taking her hands and pulling her up. She's shaking, he feels it with his touch, and he keeps her steady with his hands. He studies her, and everything is still the same. He hides a smile at the boots on her feet. Some things never change. Her now short hair is the only difference, even if he's seen it before during their video chats, but she's still Hayley.
"No," Hayley shakes her head. "Not anymore."
Klaus puts two and two together and closes his eyes for a moment. The bloody binding spell. "I'll kill them."
"Klaus?" Hayley giggles, a sound he hasn't heard in so long. "You already did."
He looks at her fondly, then speaks again. "I need to get you out of here, Hayley."
"I can't," she says with sorrow. "I don't have a daylight ring. But Hope, Klaus... she needs out of here-" Hayley trails off as her eyes set on something behind him. He keeps his hands on her elbows, where they've been for the last few minutes, and whips his head to the side, seeing an ugly snake crawl around. The consequences of him being in the same room as his daughter are represented by ugly plagues.
"You came back," Hayley whispers suddenly, and he turns to her once more. "You knew the risk, and you..."
"You needed me." he says in a 'duh' like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
She closes her eyes at his simple sentence. "I shouldn't have needed you. I'm a hy... I was a hybrid. And I let a few vampires overpower me, and Hope-"
"Is one hell of a little witch." Klaus smirks.
Hayley gulps. "Roman and Greta, they said something about Hope kidnapping me... to see you. I didn't, I didn't want to believe it, but..."
"She's our daughter, Hayley." he sighs. "I don't even know why I was surprised. But don't worry, she got a very good lecture on my part. Just ask Freya, I bet that sneaky witch was eavesdropping every word."
Hayley ignores his jokes and continues on with her motherly rant. "I should've just asked Freya to locate you, I could have done something-"
"It's my fault," Klaus says instantly. No way in hell is she blaming herself. "I should have been there. And not just for Hope. For you! I should have found you sooner."
"It's not your fault, Klaus." Hayley half-smiles, but it's a thoughtful half-smile. "I know that you fought for us."
It's his turn to shake his head. "I should've fought harder-"
"You fell for us! You knelt for us, you killed for us, you waited for us... I know how much you love her. I know you'd anything for her." she says. "Now, how about we stop with the I should have's, and figure out how to get our kid out of this hellhole?"
"I could help with that." someone walks up to the front door. "You have no idea how glad I am I slept through that horror." Caroline says, pointing to the mess outside.
Hayley looks surprised, in a friendly way. "Caroline."
"I could take her to New Orleans," Caroline offers. "Or the school, if Klaus will be staying home?"
Klaus looks at Hayley, only to find that the former hybrid is already looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer Caroline's question. Basically, it's a roundabout way of asking if he's going to abandon them again, and Hayley's waiting to hear it.
"I'll stay," Klaus nods to Hayley. "If you want me to."
"Of course I want you to," Hayley says like his doubt is unbelievable. "We need to talk things through..."
Klaus raises a finger. "..and break your curse."
"Right." Hayley looks like she's just remembering her awful fate, and closes her eyes. Re-opening them, she looks at him inquiringly. "And then?"
"Then we have another curse to break. I want my family back. Even Kol." he says with a still and calm voice, but re-think the last part. "Maybe Kol."
Hayley stifles a chuckle and turns to Caroline. "Mystic Falls, then. Take Roman, too."
Klaus gives a look that says Wait, what? "Hayley-"
"Klaus," Hayley says calmly. "He's not going to hurt her."
"No one is," Caroline confirms. "I'll make sure of it. She'll be safe at school. Hey, what about Memoryless Mikaelson over there?"
"Take him, too." Klaus nods, seeing Hayley stiffen. "Drop him off at a bus station, if you will."
"O-kay?" Caroline's answer turns into a question, and she walks over to the two unconscious teenagers, picking them up easily. "I'll see you guys at the next PTA meeting, then. Both of you, I hope."
"Caroline?" Hayley calls out to the woman whose neck she once broke. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Caroline smiles as best she can with two kids in her arms. She carries the precious cargo to her car, returning to pick up Elijah, and drives away. Klaus and Hayley are left alone with each other, imprisoned by the sunlight. Once Caroline's out of sight, Klaus comes to his senses and closes the damn door and covers the windows, at least protecting Hayley from the sunlight in the house.
"I thought I was going to die," she says later on, and he's about to tell her he'd never let that happen, but she carries on. "Elijah, he walked past me like I was nothing... But I was watching you. And I was watching Hope. And I knew what needed to be done to save you. I would have jumped into that sunlight with Greta if it meant the two of you would be safe. But you saved me."
"Of course I did," he whispers after her little tale. "I always will."
"You, ah, you went into full wolf form." she smiles a little as they sit on the floor next to each other. "I've never seen you... I mean, of course, I knew you could... I guess I've just gotten so used to your vampire side, I forgot you were just like me. Or just like what I used to be."
"Hayley." he stops her softly. "You know I won't sleep until you can run through the forest and howl at the moon as much as your heart desires."
"Is it me or are you a tad nicer to me than you used to be?" she teases lightly. "Maybe I should ask our prodigy of a daughter to kidnap me more often."
He glares at her half-heartedly. "I think not."
It's amazing how easy it is to jump from sad to relieved to happy to murderous to regretful to somewhat okay in such a short period of time.
"She's beautiful, Hayley." he says, thinking about the blue-eyed little princess of his.
"I know," Hayley nods in agreement. "Were you two okay? These past few weeks?"
He sighs with a dry laugh. "Well, it wasn't easy. We argued, we cried... The snakes and the blood didn't make it any easier. It was hard for her, with the guilt, and her powers were getting out of control... We missed you. But it's okay. We'll get her through this."
"You said we." she says quietly as if she's trying to figure out if she was imagining it.
"Yes, Hayley..." he nods, thinking she's teasing him. "We missed you as in I missed you..."
"No," she shakes her head, interrupting him. "You said we'll get her through this. You mean... you're staying?"
Klaus shifts closer to her, so close it's as if their hips are glued together. "Hayley, I'm going to do whatever it takes to fix this. And when everything is fixed, I swear I'm never leaving again."
They stay like that, waiting for the sun to finally set, sitting in silence, and her head rests on his shoulder. He wraps his arm around her shoulders then, never wanting to let go. It doesn't seem like she's letting go either, considering her hand gets tangled into his shirt, as she takes in all the comfort he's offering. She needs it, he knows. She needs him. He needs her just as much.
"Klaus?" he's surprised she's not asleep yet when she moves her head to look at him. He locks his blue eyes with her own hazel green, and he's about to comment on her restlessness, but there's something in her voice that tells him she has something to say first. He hums peacefully so that only she can hear him, even if they are alone. "Hm?"
She waits a moment or two, uncertain if she should say, but then places her head on his shoulder again, smiling softly, eyes closed. "I missed you, too."
He has no idea just how much.