Author's Note: This story is basically an AU from 2x14: I Love You, Goodbye and onwards in which Kol/Kaleb survives Finn's hex. I'm a really huge Kol fan who was disappointed that they killed the character off not once, but twice, and I'm pessimistic as to whether he'll be resurrected on the show in the season finale. That being said, this story will not be entirely Kol centric, but he will play a large role in the story.

P.S. Mikael and Aiden won't die in this version of events either.

The interior of the tomb was decorated with candles. Elijah and Klaus entered, both with an arm drapped over the shoulders, supporting the weight of their dying little brother, Kol. Rebekah and Davina followed, Davina gripping a necklace tightly in her hands. Rebekah quickly sat down in the centre of the tomb, Klaus and Elijah gently lowering Kol closer to the ground, laying the back of his head on Rebekah's lap.

Kol blinked painfully, and looked up at his baby sister, who was now cradling him in his last hour. He tried to force a smile on his face, even as blood spilled out of his nose. His body ached, or at least, the body he was in. It's not even my body that's withering away, Kol thought to himself silently. It's someone else's. I'll have to share a bloody grave, I won't even get one of my own. It was frustrating, and yet, it didn't seem worth worrying about at this particular moment. All that mattered was that he was surrounded by his brothers, sister, and the girl he held so close to his heart. Kol groaned as the pain he felt all over intensified. He opened his mouth to cough, drops of blood launching out of his throat and into the air.

Davina sat a few feet away from Kol and Rebekah, eyes closed and whispering a chant while fiddling with the necklace in her hands. Her face was wet with tears. She was desperate to save Kol, she couldn't lose anyone else, not after Tim.

Kol lifted himself up out of Rebekah's lap by grabbing on to the lapels of Klaus' coat. He looked into his older brother's eyes and held the gaze for a moment. He saw the tears forming in the corners of the hybrid's eyes. His brother Klaus, the one who daggered him repeatedly, was shedding tears for him. "All my life," Kol said, holding back another cough. "All I ever wanted, was for you lot to care about me."

Klaus struggled to hold back more tears, pained by his brother's words. Kol let go of his brother's laps and chuckled weakly, before breaking into a coughing fit, startling Rebekah. She rubbed her brother's back as he coughed, Elijah gently putting his hand on Kol's shoulder, hoping to comfort him. The two of them slowly lowered his head back onto Rebekah's lap. Impulsively, Kol reached for his sister's hand and squeezed as he let out another groan.

Davina's chanting stopped as the stone of the necklace in her hands began to glow brightly. Klaus redirected his attention towards Davina, noticing the glow almost immediately. Frantically, Davina crawled over to the sickly Kol, handing him the necklace.

Kol released his grip on his sister's hand and took the necklace from Davina. The glowing stopped. "I tried a different spell," Davina said softly, smiling through her tears.

With Rebekah and Davina's help, Kol put the necklace on, not taking the time to ask any questions. The moment the stone met with his bare skin, Kol felt his pain begin to lessen, as if the stone was somehow absorbing it. "You'll live," Davina started. "It won't break the hex, but it'll buy us more time. As long as you don't take the necklace off."

"How much time?" Rebekah asked.

"I-I don't know. Kol, how do you feel?"

In the Arkansas Morgue...

Finn, now fully healed from his burn wounds, sat up prudently on the autopsy table with the help of his older sister Freya. The last thing he remembered was seeing Elijah take a ring off his finger as he held it up to an open window. Then everything erupted in flames, and a voice that he recognized but couldn't quite put a name to it spoke in his ear as the flames consumed his flesh. Now he was in a morgue. He didn't entirely understand what was going on, but he knew, judging by his surroundings, that he had died and somehow came back to life.

"Sage," Finn whispered to himself quietly, identifying the voice that called to him in his last moments.

Freya titled her head, giving Finn a perplexed look. "Who?"

Finn shook his head. "What did you do? How?"

Freya didn't bother to question it. "It took a while, but I healed you. Brought you back from death, using this," Freya replied, gesturing to the blue pendant talisman in Finn's hands. Finn took a moment to examine the talisman, baffled at how much power it seemed to contain.

"Your pendant," Finn spoke letting out a small laugh. "You did say it would protect me."

"It's a talisman used to focus my power," Freya stated matter-of-factly. "I knew it would be dangerous to face Elijah by yourself. I didn't wanna see you get hurt."

Finn smiled widely. "Just like when we were children," Finn said as he attempted to get to his feet, letting out a moan in the process. He had been risen from the grave once before and he didn't remember being this sore the last time he was resurrected. "I seem to recall you were always defending me."

Freya took her brother's hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze. "You're my brother Finn. I'll always protect you," Freya paused, her smile fading. She dropped Finn's hand, looking down at the floor and avoiding her brother's eyes. "And I'll need you to protect me too. Dahlia must have sensed Niklaus' child by now. Chances are she's already on her way."

Finn didn't seem phased at all by his sister's words. "Niklaus used magic to cloak his daughter from Esther. I would think it would take a bit of time before our wicked aunt finds her-"

Freya cut her brother off before he could finish. "You don't understand. Esther's power was nothing compared to Dahlia's. I was taken when I was only five years old. I had just started to display a potential for magic. It is the magic that resides within Niklaus' daughter that will draw Dahlia here. It will serve as a beacon, calling her. Dahlia will come, she will take what's her and she will kill anyone that stands in her path."

At the Compound...

Hayley was standing in the nursery, holding her daughter tight in her arms. She looked towards her new husband, Jackson Kenner, who was watching them both from the doorway, wearing the biggest grin on his face. She had never seen anyone look so happy before. Hayley gave a half-hearted smile back, trying to force herself to be just as happy.

Hope dug her head into Hayley's shoulder, as if she was trying to comfort her.