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A/N Please review and tell me what you think

When Elijah got into the mausoleum, Hope was already pacing, arms folded tightly across her chest.

"So is this where you interrogate me about my parentage? I don't know any more than you do." She told him. He sat down on a bench and motioned to the seat next to him. Hope hesitated, but then went and took a seat as well, though she kept to the far end of the bench, away from him.

"How long have they kept you here?" He questioned.

"Who knows? Haven't seen a clock or a calendar recently." There was an underlying bitterness in her tone, which Elijah didn't miss.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"You're not from New Orleans, originally?"

"I have no clue where I was born. I was found in a crashed car with my dead mother outside of the city, if that counts. Are we done with the twenty questions now?" Hope snarled.

"I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, something she wasn't used to. Still, she avoided looking at him as he continued talking.

"Am I to assume you know of the supernatural world?"

"Witches, werewolves, vampires, oh my? Yeah, I got the gist of it." Hope agreed.

"My family was the first vampires to walk the earth, the Originals. My brother, your father-."

"Can we be careful when we throw around that word? The witches don't seem that smart to me, so they probably screwed something up." She interrupted quickly.

"On the contrary, they seem very certain of this."

"And you? You're just going to go along with it?"

"The witches of New Orleans are very lethal when aggravated and they know their spells. I do not believe they would mess up something as serious as this."

"But it's impossible. If you and your brother are vampires, Originals, whatever you want to call yourselves, then you're dead. Dead people can't have kids, right?" The bitterness was gone, now Elijah could sense panic. He watched as closely as she watched him, taking in every detail of her appearance.

She had dark hair, a few shades lighter than his own, hanging past her shoulders in loose, slightly tangled, waves. Her eyes were brown, not the blue that his brother had. She was tall, probably only standing a few inches shorter than Elijah himself. Since she only wore shorts and a loose tank top, he could get a good look at her skin. There was no vampire-paleness to be seen; she was tanned. Whoever her mother was, the girl had obviously taken after her.

"Do you know your mother's name?"

"What? No. To be fair, the fact that she was my mother was an assumption. She was early twenties back when I was a baby, had all kinds of baby stuff and her own stuff in the car. Could've been a crazy aunt that was kidnapping me, but probably my mother." She explained in a rush, like she wanted to get away from the subject as soon as possible, so her solution was to give Elijah all the details she knew.

"You're sixteen, you said?"

"Yeah."

"So she would be in her late thirties or early forties now, correct?"

"Probably. Can we go back to the part where dead people can't have kids?" Hope pleaded.

"My brother is not entirely a vampire."

"Huh?" With any other person, that single word would have made them sound dumb. Not with her. Elijah could tell she was smart. She was determined. She would fight every single one of the witches before she let them keep her there. That part of her, at least, reminded him of Klaus.

"He is what we call a Hybrid. He was born a werewolf, before our mother cursed us to this existence. Perhaps it would be easier to show you than explain. May I?" He reached for her head and she jerked back.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you know what compulsion is?"

"A type of mind control that vampires do, right? I would prefer not to get mind-controlled, for the record."

"This will not be forcing you do anything, it's letting me into your head so I can show you how your birth is possible." Still, she hesitated. Finally, she leaned forward.

"Fine, but if I wake up running down Bourbon Street naked, I will never speak to you again."

"Fair enough." Elijah agreed, biting back a chuckle. He put his hands on either side of her head. Instantly, memories surged through her. Memories of Elijah with his siblings, their mother turning them into vampires, Klaus being a werewolf-vampire hybrid, the first of his kind. She saw his mission to free himself from the curse that kept his werewolf side dominant, using Katherine Pierce to do it, but learning after she died and became a vampire that he needed her human blood to make more hybrids. Elijah stopped the compulsion as they reached the memory of Klaus finding Elena Gilbert, a human doppelganger in Mystic Falls.

Hope couldn't help but stare at him for a moment.

"Your brother's nuts."

"Yes, we've called him so in the past. Well, perhaps not that exact word…" Elijah smiled at her.

"Well, if you're going to tell me your whole life story, you should know my name. I'm Hope." She held out her hand and Elijah shook it.

"Elijah Mikaelson. Hope is a very nice name." She'd heard that before, but mostly only from old people. Of course, she thought to herself, he is an old person, older than you've ever met before.

"Thanks. And imagine, if Klaus had broken the curse at another time, you could be sitting here with a pregnant woman instead." Hope said. She was still trying to wrap her head around the situation, that she was actually the daughter of a powerful hybrid. When she'd gone to New Orleans for answers, she never expected an answer like that.

"That would be interesting." Elijah agreed, humoring her.

"Between you and me, I'm much more fun than a pregnant woman."

"Undoubtedly." Elijah agreed again, smiling. Hope sucked in a deep breath. She needed to focus on the situation at hand.

"So, let me get this straight, your brother, my-." She stopped herself. Don't say the 'f' word, Hope, she scolded. She took a breath and continued: "broke this werewolf curse a long time ago and has hunted doppelgangers to make his special hybrids… Why has his band of hybrids taken over the world, or at least the supernatural one? Granted, I'm no expert on the supernatural, but I haven't heard about any hybrids running around."

"There is only one left, besides himself. He slaughtered the rest of them when they tried to kill him."

"Can't see why. I mean, he sounds like such a gentle, charming guy." Hope said, putting as much sarcasm into her voice as possible, which was a lot.

"Hardly." Elijah didn't seem to recognize the sarcasm in her voice. "But you must understand. Our father hunted him, hunted us, for centuries. Every time we found a moment of happiness, we were forced to flee. Even here, in New Orleans, where we were happiest of all. Not long ago, Niklaus finally defeated our father. I thought this would make him happy… He was angrier than ever."

"Sounds like he needs some therapy."

"Yes, however, I fear the therapist would not survive the session." Elijah smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back. But the smile quickly faded and she was back to business.

"The witches are keeping me here against my will. Can't you use your vampire powers to get me out of here?" She pleaded.

"The witches will not allow that." At once, Elijah knew he had said exactly the wrong thing. Hope jumped up from the bench, her sneakers kicking up dirt on the floor.

"I don't give a crap what they'll allow. I have been drugged, chained up, slapped around and starved for who knows how long and I can't even order a pizza right now! Their happiness is not a concern for me." The candles flickered dangerously and Elijah could clearly see that she was angry, even angrier than when the warlocks had dragged her out to meet him in the first place.

"I will get you out of here, I promise you that. But first, calm down." The candles returned to normal. Hope sat back down on the bench, running her fingers through her tangled hair.

"Please… just… I can't stay here." She mumbled. Elijah looked at her, as if seeing for the first time how young she really was. Sophie walked into the mausoleum and Elijah knew from the look on her face that she had been standing outside listening to them for a while.

"I'm glad you want to get her out of here, Elijah, because we need your help." Elijah looked between Sophie and Hope; Hope had already gotten up from the bench and stepped back to put some distance between them.

"What, precisely, is it that you want and what does it have to do with this young woman?" Young woman, not kid, Hope thought, I like him better by the minute.

"We want to run Marcel and his vampires out of town. Klaus is the key. Everything Marcel knows about being a vampire, he learned from Klaus. Marcel trusts him, looks up to him, and he won't see the betrayal coming." Sophie explained, her voice rising steadily.

"Did you practice that in a mirror?" Hope scoffed. Elijah raised his hand, motioning for her to be silent. She shot him a look, folding her arms across her chest again, like a pouting child.

"Yes, well, as I'm sure you're aware; my brother Niklaus doesn't like to be told what to do."

"That's why I brought you here. Marcel drove the werewolves out of town decades ago. This mark-." Sophie started forward, snatching Hope by the arm. Elijah sped forward, grabbing Sophie's wrist. She released Hope, motioning wordlessly to her shoulder. Hope swallowed hard.

"I have no idea why this stupid birthmark is so important to everyone!" She complained halfheartedly, already pulling her hair aside and turning so Elijah could have a look at it.

"That mark," Sophie continued, stepping back from Hope, "is the mark of werewolf royalty, from the same werewolf pack he drove out. I doubt he'd want a werewolf princess with witch abilities running around the quarter. Convince Klaus to help us, and no one has to know about the newest member of the Original family."

"That sounds remarkably like blackmail." Elijah noted.

"Like I said, I'm desperate."

"Well, then, I have my work cut out for me, don't I?" Elijah asked rhetorically. He headed for the door, but then stopped and turned back.

"Oh, and Sophie? Get the nice girl a pizza." With that, he disappeared. Sophie looked at Hope, who smiled smugly. Sophie hurried out of the mausoleum and the door slammed shut behind her. There was an audible click. Hope sprinted forward and slammed into the door. It held steady.

"Sophie!" She screamed. No answer, not that she expected one. She snarled under her breath and sat down, hoping that Sophie was at least going to listen to Elijah and get her some food.


Klaus and Elijah walked into cemetery and Sophie led them into a mausoleum, explaining the situation. By the end of her explanation, Klaus was shouting.

"No. It's impossible!"

"I said the same thing myself." Elijah said calmly.

"This is a lie. You are all lying. Vampires cannot procreate."

"But werewolves can. Magic made you a vampire, but you were born a werewolf. You're the Original hybrid, the first of your kind. That girl is one of nature's loopholes." Sophie explained.

"Where is the girl?" Elijah interjected.

"Bring here in!" Sophie called out somewhat hesitantly. She looked at Elijah. "And we fed her, for the record." She didn't seem happy about it either.

Two warlocks shoved Hope inside and she stumbled a few steps, knocked off balance by the shove. Elijah held out an arm in case she fell, but she regained her balance on her own. Her clothes were singed and smelled strongly of smoke.

"What happened?" Elijah demanded.

"She has anger issues and we left her with candles. Almost burned herself alive. Which is not our fault." Sophie added quickly, looking annoyed.

"Hey, you're the one that locked the door behind me!" Hope shot back. For the first time, she seemed to notice that Klaus was in the room. She paled, but squared her jaw and stood up straighter.

"This is some kind of trick. She's just a witch. She knows I am not her father. Admit it!" Klaus screamed at her. Elijah started to protest, but Hope beat him to it.

"Hey, I've been held captive in a freaking cemetery! I was chained up! They stole my hair to do some witchy voodoo on me! And I don't like people touching my hair! Don't you think I would have fessed up if I had a clue who my father was! You're not exactly daddy-material, so trust me, I am not happy with this particular turn of events either!" Hope stopped yelling to catch her breath. Klaus seemed to be done with his own screaming, because he just stared at her in a mixture of shock and anger. Elijah tried to recall the last person that could stand there and scream at him without getting their neck snapped or their heart ripped out and was coming up empty. He edged forward and put his arm on Hope's shoulder. She got the message without him saying a word and took a few steps back, out of Klaus's reach.

"My sister gave her life to perform the spell she needed to confirm that this girl is your daughter! Because of Jane-Anne's sacrifice, the life of that girl is now controlled by us. We can keep them safe or we can kill them. If you don't help us take down Marcel, so help me, she won't live long enough to celebrate her next birthday!" Sophie yelled.

"Excuse me?" Hope was getting angry again and more than a little scared, though she would never admit that. Candles flared up around them. No one paid attention.

"Enough of this! If you want Marcel dead, he's dead. I'll do it myself." Elijah told them.

"No, we can't, not yet. We have a clear plan that we need to follow and there are rules!" Sophie protested.

"How dare you command me, threaten me, with what you wrongfully perceive to be my weaknesses. This is a pathetic deception. I won't hear any more lies!"

"Niklaus!" Elijah yelled at him and it caught Klaus's attention. Elijah took Hope by the wrist and spun her around, pulling her hair back to show him the mark.

"This is the mark of a werewolf. She has witch abilities," He motioned towards the still flickering candles, "and the witches would not be treating her like this if she was one of their own. When were you born?" His voice was still harsh when he spoke to Hope, an unfortunate side-effect of his angry towards his brother. Hope jerked out of his grip, not happy about him touching her or her hair.

"1995! Why does it matter? He obviously doesn't believe us!" She yelled. Klaus stared at her, as if trying to see something in her face that would prove without a shadow of a doubt she was his daughter. If he saw anything, he didn't show it. After a moment, he looked at Sophie and spoke calmly.

"Kill her. What do I care?" He stomped out, leaving Hope staring after him in shock.

"Screw this. I'm gone." She started to run, but the two warlocks standing guard caught her by the arms, as if they hadn't learned their lesson from the last time she'd beaten them up. She brought her knee up into the stomach of one of them, but Elijah was already hauling her back.

"Let me go!" There was panic in her voice; she was desperate now.

"No one touches this girl." Elijah told Sophie sternly. She looked at him, as if challenging him to give her a reason to listen to him.

"I'll fix this." He promised.

"Don't leave me here." Hope pleaded.

"She comes with me." Elijah added. Sophie hesitated but then put on her brave face again.

"Fine. But know that if you don't bring her back, I can easily end her, no matter where she is." Elijah made no comment; he simply pushed Hope ahead of him. She ran out of the mausoleum full blast and headed for the cemetery gate. With vampire speed, he got in front of her and caught her arm. With no other choice, she stopped.

"I am not going back there." She cried.

"Stay with me."

"Would you like a leash?" She demanded, only halfway sarcastic.

"Is that necessary?" He asked. She didn't say anything. He took her by the shoulders and vamp-sped them the way Klaus had gone. He stopped at the corner of a street; Klaus was sitting on a park bench a few yards away. Elijah motioned for Hope to stay where she was, which didn't appear to be a problem. She looked sick from the sudden movement and sank to the ground, head between her knees.

Elijah walked towards his brother.

"Niklaus."

"It's a trick, Elijah." Klaus was already on his feet again to face his brother.

"No, brother. It's gift. It's your chance… It's our chance." Elijah chose his words carefully. He knew it would take very little to set Klaus off and he also knew that Hope wasn't out of earshot; she was probably listening very closely and he couldn't blame her for it. He felt sorry for her and the way that Klaus had acted hadn't helped anything.

"To what?" Klaus scoffed.

"To start over. Take back everything we lost, everything that was taken from us. Niklaus, our own parents came to despise us. Our family was ruined, we were ruined. And since then, all that you have ever wanted, all that we have ever wanted was a family."

"I will not be manipulated." Klaus turned away, but Elijah vamp-speed around him to block his way.

"So they're manipulating you. So what? With them, this girl, your child, will survive."

"I'm gonna kill every last one of them." Klaus shoved Elijah back and turned away, but found Elijah blocking his way once again.

"And then what? Then you return to Mystic Falls to resume your life as the hated one, as the evil hybrid? Is it so important to you that people quake with fear at the sound of your name?"

"People quake with fear because I have the power to make them afraid. What will this child offer me? Will it guarantee me power?"

"She, Niklaus. She is not an 'it'." Elijah told him sternly.

"It. She. The witch. The baby wolf. Call it what you want. It will not bring me power!"

"Family is power, Niklaus. Love, loyalty, that's power. This is what we swore to one another a thousand years ago, before life tore away what little humanity you had left, before ego, before anger, before paranoia created in this person before me someone I can barely even recognize as my own brother. This is us, the Original family, and we remain together, always and forever. I am asking you to stay here. I will help you and I will stand by you. I will be your brother. We will build a home here together. So save this girl. Save your child." Elijah put his hand on Klaus's shoulder. Klaus brought up his own hand to Elijah's neck in a brotherly gesture. Elijah started to smile, but Klaus's next word ruined it:

"No."