Title: Family Ties
Ships: klaroline, elejah
Rating: T
Spoilers: up until s3 to be safe.
Warnings: violence, swearing, murder - general Kol shenanigans
Author's Note: This is mostly Kol centric. Because he gives me feels. It's also unbeta'd, so you've been warned. This is also longer than the first part…and there will be more, don't worry.

"What's wrong with Klaroline?"

"You want them to name their daughter with a combination of their names, Kol? Really?"

"Well maybe if someonehad already picked a name we wouldn't have to go through this," said Kol pointedly, looking hard at Klaus and Caroline.

They had been at this for hours, trying to come up with a name for their child. Klaus looked over at Caroline blankly, raising an eyebrow. Kol did have a point. They'd been at this for ten years; the least they could have done was come up with a few names they liked. But Caroline hadn't wanted to jinx it and had forbade (forbade, yeah, that had been an interesting conversation/argument/lamp smashing against the wall near his head because it was her way or the freaking highway) Klaus from bringing it up.

Caroline ignored him and instead glared at Kol. "You can't tell what a person's name should be before you've even met them."

Kol rolled his eyes, jabbing his finger in her direction. "You're ridiculous."

"Let's keep the conversation civil, shall we?" offered Elijah, looking from one member of his family to the next. Kol was sprawled in an armchair across from the couch Klaus and Caroline were sitting in. Rebekah was sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Caroline's feet, holding the baby, who she had been hoarding all afternoon.

"I still say she looks like a Charlotte."

Kol made a face. "Not that horrible girl you were friends with when we were human?"

Klaus covered a smirk behind his hand. "Friends…lovers. What's the difference, eh Bekah?"

"Nik!"

Caroline toed her husband's thigh, reprimanding him for the comment. He flashed a grin in her direction before leaning forward to flick the back of Rebekah's head. "Don't be so shrill, sister, you'll disturb the baby."

Rebekah snarled at him, but didn't say another word as she cuddled her niece closer to her chest. Kol shook his head at the three of them, grinning broadly. "She should get used to it now, we're not going anywhere."

That was directed at Elijah, who clenched his jaw to prevent himself from bringing up the argument he had been trying to make over the last few days. Klaus and Caroline had proven time and time again that they could control their bloodlust in nearly any situation, but Kol and Rebekah were different. Their temper's sometimes got the better of them, and with a child around something was sure to happen eventually that tested their control over their monsters.

Elijah had thought it might be best that the two of them live somewhere else for a while, at least until their newest addition was old enough to defend herself if she needed too. Needless to say, the idea was met by a chorus of outrage.

"We're thinking too hard about this," said Elijah, deciding to ignore Kol's barb and continue with the naming of his niece. "What's the first name that comes you your mind?"

A thoughtful silence descended over the room, even Kol turned away from Elijah to stare at the baby with narrowed eyes and a contemplative turn on his mouth. Caroline was leaning over Rebekah's shoulder, their foreheads touching intimately - like real sisters - as they stared down at the baby.

"Cecilia." All eyes turned to Klaus; his elbow was propped up on the armrest, leaning his jaw on his fist. His eyes flickered briefly to Caroline before they were back on his daughter.

"Cecilia Mikaelson," repeated Kol, letting the name hang in the air for a few moments to let it sink in. He nodded, smirking. "I like it."

Caroline's face was practically split she was smiling so hard. "I like it too."

"Middle name?" asked Elijah lightly.

"Elizabeth," was Klaus' immediate reply. "For Caroline's mother."

"She would have liked that," said Caroline softly, already back to staring at little Cecilia. The baby squirmed slightly in Rebekah's arms and Caroline reached out for her, making grabby motions with her fingers. "Gimme."

"Alright, well," started Kol, standing up with an exaggerated stretch. "I'm off. Need to get away from all," he gestured at Rebekah and Caroline. "This."

"Coward," muttered Rebekah without any heat, raising onto her knees to hand Cecilia off to Caroline. Klaus just waived him off, but Elijah watched him go with narrowed, calculated eyes. He could have sworn…No; it was just Kol being Kol.

When you're a vampire years go by in moments, always traveling, suspended in time even as the world evolves around you. But with a baby in the family now, time seemed to come to a screeching halt, and every moment of that first year the Mikaelson's could remember with striking clarity.

Good moments and bad.

Mostly they were good moments; Rebekah with baby food splattered across her front, Cecilia imitating the funny faces Kol would make, Klaus falling asleep in the nursery with his daughter curled against his bare chest, Elijah lying flat on the ground - suit and all – playing peek-a-boo, Caroline and Cecilia bundled up so tightly it was ridiculous, standing in the snow. But all of them paled in comparison to the one bad. The Very Bad.

It hadn't taken long for the rest of the supernatural world to learn that the Big Bad Mikaelson Family had adopted a human child. The Salvatore's for instance, paid a visit just to see if it was true. Klaus blamed them for confirming the rumors and for what subsequently happened after their visit.

Cecilia was 11 months old when Elijah finally persuaded Caroline and Klaus to take a break and go somewhere for an evening out. They had whined and complained and made excuses but eventually they did give in (because they had to admit it had been a whilesince they'd had sex after adopting Cecilia) and made Elijah promise to look out for their child.

Elijah had gotten a phone call from Elena literally thirty seconds after Klaus and Caroline had pulled out of the driveway. Something about blood and human flesh stuck in her teeth and a swimming pool, Elijah was notbeing very clear when he told Rebekah that she had to watch the baby as he all but ran out of the house.

Under normal circumstances this would have been absolutely fine. But it had been three days since Rebekah had fed and she had been planning to spend the evening ripping apart the town. So it was with great trepidation that the role of babysitter fell to Kol.

Kol was notpleased.

"Seriously?" Rebekah called over her shoulder as she pulled her coat on, glaring at her brother. "You've watched her dozens of times, why is this any different?"

"Because someone else has always been around," hissed Kol, his fingers curled into his palms. "Nobody trustsme with the baby-"

"You've been reluctant around her at best, brother," interrupted Rebekah with a tsk, buckling her coat and propping her hands on her hips impatiently. "It'll do you good to spend some time with her. Alone."

Kol snarled as he watched his sister blur out of the house without another word, his teeth grinding together angrily. Dropping his head back with a huff, Kol turned around to occupy himself for the evening and stopped. His little brunette niece was sitting in her swing, staring at him with wide blue eyes and open mouthed curiosity.

His shoulders slumped, because damn it all if he didn't love her just a little bit. Shaking his head he walked over to the swing and lifted Cecilia up, holding her to his chest and grinning down at her (without fangs, Klaus had punched him through a wall the first and only time he'd done that…). "We are going to have a terribletime together," he said brightly, cocking his head when she smiled back at him. "Your mum and dad wont be back until morning, Auntie Bex is going to whore herself out to the town and Elijah's gone to fuck the doppelganger. How did I become the most reliable one?"

Cecilia babbled at him, reaching up to stick her fingers up his nose. He intercepted her hand casually and press a quick kiss to her fingers, immensely glad that his family wasn't around to see him being all….domesticated. It was sickening, and bad enough that he indulged the girl when she played. Cece wiggled impatiently in his arms.

"What am I going to do with you?" he muttered, ruffling her hair playfully. She beamed at him, babbled again, and he sighed. His options were limited. He could stay home and play babysitter and when Klaus and Caroline came home they would gush over how great of an uncle he was and how he should do this more often.

Option B was to go to the pub with the kid and use her to pick up women.

Option B was a go not even twenty minutes later.

Five minutes after that he'd already been hit on twice by the wait staff, and Cecilia had been given ice cream.

"Oh, she is just adorable."

Kol looked up, smirk on his face, prepared for any level of attractive this woman would turn out to be. He nearly froze. The gorgeous redhead was bent over the table to coo at Cecilia, showing off cleavage and creamy white skin that just beggedhim to sink his fangs in. She looked up at him, smiling, and flipped her long, wavy red hair over one bare shoulder. Kol imagined what she would look like upside-down.

"Is she yours?"

Kol was a thousand years old. He'd picked up more men and women in his life then most people could even imagine. He'd bedded all sorts of humans, but for him almost nothing compared to a redhead. He loved them; their fire, their hair, their stereotypes. Kol leaned forward, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "My niece," he said smoothly. He turned his head to look at Cecilia, reaching out to nudge her cheek with his knuckles. "Cece, love, can you say hi to the pretty girl?"

Cecilia grinned at the redhead as her uncle told her, reaching a sticky hand in the air to grope for the woman's hair, babbling cutely. Kol could literally hearthe many hearts skipping in the bar. The redhead practically swooned, and sat down next to Kol without invitation, still smiling at his niece.

"She is absolutely precious." Kol's tongue darted out to wet his lower lip, his eyes falling down her body and coming back up with a hungry glint in them.

"I'm Kol."

Her head turned to him, her ears turning a little red. She gave him a similar once over and held out her hand. "Vivian."

Okay, so Kol wasn't a completely useless guardian. He'd even remembered to grab Cecilia when Vivian traced a long, turquoise painted nail down the inside of his wrist and suggested they go back to his for a drink.

He'd even managed to put her in her crib before he shoved Vivian against the front door and hooked her legs around his waist, snarling into her mouth as she raked her nails across the back of his neck. Kol took her lower lip between his teeth and bit down, drawing blood.

He stopped, pulling away from her mouth, rolling her blood around his tongue. There was something…wrongwith it.

"Oh that's just perfect," growled Kol, rolling his eyes. Taking a fistful of her hair, he yanked her head back, exposing her throat. "Trying to catch me off my guard, love?"

She actually smiled at him, her blood smeared across her chin from the wound he'd given her. "It worked, didn't it?" she asked huskily. Kol's eyes narrowed at her, his fingers tightening around her throat. She choked, her hands flying up to grab at his wrist. And then that damn smile was back. "We're in the house."

Kol's eyes widened a fraction out of surprise, just before he felt warm hands on his neck and everything went black.

He expected to wake up tied to a chair or maybe something more inventive, like a torture wheel. But when Kol opened his eyes he was staring up at the ceiling of his foyer. He was at home, and he could hear no other heartbeats inside the house. Sitting up, he rubbed the back of his neck, rolling his eyes. What did the werebitch mean to accomplish by getting into his home? He could understand if it were meant to be some sort of warning, but honestly, the worse they could do would be to-

Kol froze, still sitting on the ground. He whipped his head around, ignoring the sharp, lingering pain from the broken neck and concentrated on the upstairs bedroom. Nothing.

"Cece," he breathed, his eyes widening a fraction. He blurred to his feet and (faster than he thought possible) reached the nursery where he'd put his niece down. The light was on, but the crib was empty.

"That fucking cunt!" roared Kol, whirling around. He could still smell the bitch in his house, along with the other two (or maybe three) members of her pack that he could make out in the air. They had touched things. They had touched Cecilia.

They had takenher.

Kol didn't bother with his coat, he left it lying on the ground in front of the door as he stalked after the scents. He was good at tracking, always had been, even as a human. He had a sharp eye for detail and quick reflexes, and it took him less than half a hour to find the pack's den.

There were three sentries posted. Adorable. Kol took quick work of the first two easily and let the last suffer slowly, breaking his legs above the kneecaps and splitting his ribcage open. Medical school in the 1700s had been fun, he'd have to remember to thank Elijah for persuading him into going.

Kol waited for the poor bastards howling to stop as his body started to try to mend itself together before he reached down a plucked his heart from his chest. By then, the precious little cave system in front of him was crackling with life and angry pooches in hiking gear.

And there was Vivian, arms folded over her chest and her eyes narrowed. The alpha of the pack in all her fiery glory.

"You miscalculated, darling," snarled Kol, his eyes dark red with blood, his head tilted down slightly. There was darkness in his eyes, his upper lip curled into a snarl as he advanced on the redheaded werewolf and her pack mates. "My brother's the hybrid," he continued, flashing to take out the nearest pack member, dropping him to the floor with ease and continued stalking forward. "And I am well versed in killing werewolves."

Vivian snarled, but her fear was rolling off her in waves. Werewolves, Kol mused, were always so amusingly cocky. All talk. But put them up against an actual vampire and they scampered off with their tails between their legs. Kol smirked back at Vivian, all teeth and sinister. "Kidnapping a baby, Viv? How very audacious of you."

His mocking was what snapped her out of her fear. How interesting that the overzealous puppy didn't like to be insulted. She clamped her jaw shut, growling low in her throat. Kol, ever arrogant in the face of danger, slid his eyes away from her and onto his niece - locked in a fucking cage- behind her. He couldn't help the way his posture relaxed slightly, seeing that she was still alright. There were tear streaks down her cheeks, and she was dirty and cold and frightened but there wasn't a scratch on her. He moved closer to Vivian, never taking his eyes off Cecilia.

"I'll be taking my niece back now, thank you," he announced casually, turning his eyes back to the redheaded werewolf. She was seething.

"You little shit," she snarled. Kol chuckled, shaking his head.

"Oh-ho, watch your language in front of the baby." a faceless, useless werewolf lunged at him with a stake. Kol stuck his hand through the brute's chest with barely a glance at him. He raised the man's heart to his eyes, twisting his mouth contemplatively. "Pathetic. The whole lot of you…" his eyes snapped back onto Vivian, letting the heart in his hand fall to the ground. He stepped on the damn thing, relishing the feel of tearing muscle beneath his boot heel. "Absolutely pathetic."

"You're brother-"

"I don't give a flying fuck what my dear brother's done to offend you so," snapped Kol, flashing into Vivian's personal space and taking her by the throat. Blood rushed into his eyes, his rage clouding his senses. "You tried to seduceme to kill my brother's daughter. I take personal offence to that."

Her eyes flickered away, eyeing the only two surviving members of her pack. Kol tilted his head, drawing her attention back to him. "Thinking of surrender already, love?"

"What would be the point," snarled Vivian, her teeth snapping together. Her foot scraped backwards against the ground. "You're just going to kill us all anyway…"

Kol looked thoughtful for a moment, turning his head and winking at the two pack members staring at them. "And here I was, thinking you didn't understand me," he said dryly, swinging his head back to Vivian. "Put up a fight then, love."

He took quite work of the two men who lunged at him, snapping their necks and taking their hearts. Vivian hadn't moved an inch. Her eyes were red and watery and angry, she sucked in a breath as Kol come back to her, pressing the length of his body against hers, trapping her with his arms.

"You know what I'm going to do?" asked Kol softly, lowering his head to brush his lips along her neck, breathing in the scent of dog breath and mangos. Vivian shook against him, not even bothering to use her previous façade to cover up her fear. Kol ran one hand up her side to her face, brushing the backs of his fingers along her cheek. "I'm going…to let you go."

Vivian's eyes snapped onto him, widening in surprise. Her mouth opened wordlessly.

"Do you know why?" continued Kol, stepping away from her and turning to the cage his niece was locked in, crouching down to break the lock. "Because I want you to be the messenger." He scooped Cecilia up into his arms, taking comfort when she buried her face against his neck. He rubbed her back soothingly, straightening up before turning back to the redhead. "I want you to tell every wolf, vampire, hybrid and witch you come across that Cecilia Mikaelson is notto be touched. Or they will suffer as you sweet little friends have suffered." Blood pooled in his eyes as one last warning. "You're lucky she's unhurt. I would have eviscerated you and forced you to stuff your own organs back inside you with your bare hands if it had been different."

Hitching Cecilia more securely into his arms, Kol turned his head down to look at her, smiling brightly. "Say bye-bye, Cece."

Okay so that may have traumatized the child, but he was beyondfurious and inappropriate humor was his coping mechanism. He left Viv with a wink and a sharp snap of his teeth before she had the chance to move an inch. Only when they were clear of the werewolves super secret hideout did Cecilia start crying.

"I know love, I know," murmured Kol soothingly, wrapping his arms around the girl and holding her tightly to his chest. "You're safe now, 'm here."

By the time they reached the house Cecilia's cries had turned to hiccups and there were cars in the drive. Kol groaned out loud, wondering why he had to leave his phone behind tonight of all nights (Elijah reprimanded him enough as it was 'It's why you havea phone, Kol. To use it!'). Hopefully it was just Rebekah and Elijah, and not-

"KOL!"

"Fuck," he muttered, stopping in his tracks as the front door slammed open and Klaus came storming out. The rest of them weren't far behind, but at the sudden noise, Cecilia started wailing again, clutching at Kol's shirt and causing everyone to freeze.

"Shh, love." Kol pressed his lips to the crown of the baby's head, muttering soothing words (half of which he wouldn't be able to recall at a later date when Rebekah asked him). He could feel the surprised looks on him, and for the first time in about three hundred years wished that the earth would open up and swallow him.

"Kol…what happened?" asked Elijah cautiously. Caroline was inching closer to him, reaching out for her baby, and when she was close enough Kol handed her over without complaint. Cecilia whimpered for him, and Kol actually had to look away from her. Caroline frowned at him.

"You have blood on your hands."

An instant after the words left her lips, Klaus was in front of him, baring his teeth and snarling. "What did you do, Kol?"

"I rescued her," Kol snarled back, shoving Klaus out of his personal space. "You should be grateful, you sod!"

"I should be grateful?" asked Klaus with a step forward; his tone sent warning bells off in Kol's head. "Why should I be grateful when you're the reason my daughter was kidnapped in the first place!"

Kol felt his mouth drop open. It wasn't his fault. It wasn't, it wasn't at all. That had been the only thing keeping him from murdering the entire fucking town, that it wasn't his fault. Caroline said something softly about taking the baby inside, until it was just the Mikaelson sibling standing outside in the cold night air.

"It wasn't my fault." the softness of his voice surprised him, it surprised the rest of his siblings too. His throat felt tight, and he swallowed to make that feeling go away. He tried again. "It wasn't my fault, Nik."

He wondered why his brother's face had gotten so concerned. Klaus stepped forward, reaching out cautiously. "Okay," he said gently. "I believe you, it's okay."

Kol shook his head as Klaus wrapped his arms around him, his breath catching in his lungs because it was sort of hard to breathe. Klaus' arms tightened, over his shoulder Kol could see Rebekah with her hand covering her mouth, pulled in close to Elijah's chest. They both looked so sad….

"Are you going to dagger me for this, Nik?" asked Kol, his voice sounding thick and muffled by Klaus' shoulder.

"No, little brother," whispered Klaus, one of his hands coming up to press against the back of Kol's neck. He nodded weakly, and maybe it was out of relief or exhaustion that he let himself relax in his older brother's arms.

It was a few minutes before Klaus spoke up again, his voice conversational. "Tell me," he started. "Did you kill them all?"

"I did leave one alive," said Kol, pulling back and looking Klaus in the eye. His brother looked surprised by his answer.

"Oh?"

"To be the messenger," explained Kol, his mouth thinning in anger. "No one fucks with our family."