Prologue
Three years on the run from his enemies. Three years of Hayley pretending leaving Elijah wasn't the worst decision she ever made. Three years of them both throwing every ounce of their energy behind raising their daughter and making sure she knew how much she was loved. Telling her stories of NOLA and the family members that were left behind and those that were lost. The first few months on the run Hayley and Klaus wanted to kill each other. They both knew how to push each others buttons and so much had happened that being in that close of proximity for an extended period of time drove them both mad. Eventually they realized in order to co-parent Hope they would have to set aside their differences and try to get along. Eventually their tolerance grew to friendship, and for the briefest of moment's even romance although that was very short lived, as both knew they would never love each other in that way. Especially not while their hearts both belonged to other people and probably always would. But over time they became each other's closest friend and ally. Hope had grown rapidly over the years, as had her magic. Though he promised Elijah he would not contact anyone at the risk of being found he eventually had to so that Freya could help him to teach Hope control. In the end the task was too difficult and they had to reach out to an allied witch to lock Hope's magic away until such a time when it was safe for them to return home where those with far better knowledge of witchcraft than her hybrid parents could teach her. It destroyed Klaus to do the spell, as locking away a part of who your child is hit far too close to home. He eventually got on board after Hayley explained that what they were doing was temporary and was for the safety of their child. They were having the spell done because they loved her, his parents had it done as a punishment for events he had no control over. After covering their tracks they went back on the run. They stayed that way until the day they received a text message from Elijah. They knew before they opened it that something had been wrong. The message contained a picture of one of Klaus's old enemies Renaldo holding a handful of white oak bullets in front of a tied up Elijah, Kol, Freya, and Finn along with the message 'Come home now or I start shooting white oak bullets in each of their hearts. You have 48 hours before the first one dies. Tick-tock.' Knowing they had to go and save their family Klaus packed their things as Hayley went to their neighbors and compelled them to keep Hope safe as well as start taking vervain to avoid any future vampires compelling their way into the house. As Klaus was getting the car loaded up he received another message from Elijah's phone. This time containing a photo of a captured Caroline and two small children he assumed were the former hunters twin girls that Caroline had given birth to and the message 'Make that 36 hours or else these three die along with one of your siblings.'