Ellwood, Arizona 1887

Klaus turned up his nose as he got out of a stagecoach. The long journey had been unpleasant to say the least, but arriving here wasn't much better. Damn Kol for making him come all the way here.

"I'm going to kill him," he murmured while glancing at the dusty main road. The town seemed to be the same kind of hellhole than all the previous ones. During the years Klaus had lived in New Orleans, he had become accustomed to certain luxury these one pony towns hadn't even heard of. He missed his bed, his quality liquors, his bathroom, his maids and pretty much all the convenience he was now forced to cope without. Traveling wasn't nearly as fun as it had used to be.

"Come on now," Elijah stated while stretching his neck. "If I recall, it was you who undaggered him in the first place."

"Yes, because I wanted some fun company for a change," Klaus snorted.

"Well… He has suddenly has some fun," Elijah replied dryly.

Klaus didn't reply to that, he was way too annoyed. What had Kol been thinking? They had talked about the famous outlaws and Klaus had to admit that reading about them was his guilty pleasure, but really, Kol should have known better. Getting his face in a wanted poster had been beyond foolish. It wasn't a very good picture, but there was still a chance that Mikael would see it and recognize Kol.

"I would kill for a bath and a bottle of decent scotch," Klaus huffed.

"I doubt that they serve any decent scotch in the saloon, but hopefully there's a tolerable hotel here," Elijah replied. "I think we could both use a bath a good night sleep."

Elijah was most certainly right, but first things first. Klaus needed a drink. He turned around, planning to look for a saloon when he bumped into someone. A young woman who had long brown curly hair. She was wearing a pale blue dress.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Klaus said, giving the girl a charming smile. "Could you tell me where can I find the saloon?"

She looked at him for a brief moment; there was no expression on her face. Then she simply walked past him.

"Hey," Klaus snapped. "I was talking to you."

She continued walking, ignoring him completely. That didn't sit well with Klaus at all, people didn't just ignore him.

"Hey!"

"Let it go, Niklaus," Elijah sighed. "We just arrived; I would like to have that bath before you start causing trouble."

"Trouble? I'm going to teach that girl some manners."

"Just let it go…"

"Listen, boys," a male voice suddenly said. Klaus frowned and saw an old man standing next to them. He had a long grey beard and he was smoking a pipe. "You ain't from around here, so a word of advice. Stay away from that girl."

"Why?" Klaus asked.

"She's the mayor's girl. Trust me, boys, you don't want to mess with him."

"Thank you for the advice," Elijah said before Klaus had time to make any mocking comments. "Mr…?"

"Buddy's the name," the old man said.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Buddy. I'm Elijah Mikaelson and this is my brother Niklaus."

"City boys, eh?"

"Yes, we are from New Orleans."

"Fancy. What brings you boys here?"

"We are actually looking for someone." Elijah paused and took a picture of Kol out of his jacket pocket. "This man. Have you seen him by any chance?"

The old man looked at the picture and shook his head.

"No, can't say that I have. A friend of yours?"

"Our brother. We really need to find him."

"Well, good luck to you, boys."

"Thank you. Is there a decent hotel here?"

"There's one hotel, it's that way."

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Buddy."

"No problem. You boys be nice now, it's not wise to cause trouble around here. The mayor doesn't like trouble."

"What a hellhole," Klaus snorted after the old man had left.

"I'm warning you, Niklaus, if I don't have my bath and one night in a bed, I'm not going to be a very pleasant company."

"Tell me something I don't know. Fine, go, take your bath. I'm going to the saloon."

There was something about these backwater towns Klaus did like. The atmosphere. Drinking, gambling, the brothels… He had no doubt that there was at least one of them here, just like in every other town. Perhaps he wouldn't have to take his bath alone. He spotted the saloon and smirked as he saw who was just going inside. The rude girl. Perfect. She was talking to the bartender as he walked in. So, she could talk. He marched straight to the bar counter and smiled at her.

"Hello again. I believe you owe me an apology."

She glanced at him and continued talking to the bartender. That was the last straw. His eyes narrowed as he grabbed her arm.

"I think that someone needs to teach you manners, sweetheart."

The bartender's eyes widened, he looked shocked.

"Let go, mister," he murmured. "You don't know what you're doing…"

"Hey!" a male voice snarled. "Get your hands off her."

From the corner of his eye, Klaus saw that few nasty looking men had risen from their seats while everyone else was trying to get out as fast as they could.

"That's the mayor's girl."

"Yes, so I heard," Klaus huffed carelessly. "She's also a very rude girl."

All the men pulled their guns on Klaus.

"Let her go," one of them demanded. "Now."

Klaus smiled at them.

"I don't think so."

"Then prepare to die…"

"Gentlemen," a familiar male voice said. "There's no need for violence."

Klaus couldn't deny that he was more than surprised. What was he doing here?

"Lucien."