Chapter 3: A Stumped Hybrid

*****Where We Left Off*****

"So brother, have you returned for good or are you just here to pack up your things?" Klaus asked, pretending he didn't care about the answer.

"You think I'd leave my niece alone with you after what you've done to her mother?" Elijah said coldly.

"I saved her mother's life," Klaus said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "You know as well as I that Dahlia was going to kill her. She lives still because of me. Because I was strong enough to do the despicable. Hate me all you want, but Hayley is alive and the threat our aunt posed gone."

"I see what you mean," Buffy said to Elijah, smiling knowingly. "I'm surprised his head isn't bigger."

Elijah gave her a genuine smile of amusement while Klaus growled. "Your guest needs to learn some manners," Klaus warned.

"Ah, yes, I haven't introduced my new friend," Elijah said easily. "Niklaus, this is Buffy Summers. She will be staying with us."

"I have just routed our most dangerous foe, and you want to bring a stranger into my home? I will not allow it!" Klaus fumed.

"This is our home. Not yours," Elijah reminded him, taking a step toward him. "I am the elder. You are not the head of this family, though, you pretend to be. That is a distinction you cannot take from me."

Buffy watched the interaction between the brothers with interest. It was clear that Klaus found joy in his brother's presence, but he didn't like to be gainsaid. There was a strong bond there as well as deep hurt between the two.

"I pose no threat to your child. I like babies even though I probably cannot have any myself," Buffy said, seeking to soothe. Things would go much easier if he didn't hate her on sight.

Klaus gave her a sharp look. "Are you a vampire?" he asked.

Buffy laughed. "God, no!" she replied.

"Is she a nanny?" Klaus asked his brother.

Buffy's mouth fell open slightly at that unexpected suggestion. "Nanny? What?" she stammered, thrown by the suggestion.

"No, she is not. She is here to help me," Elijah said simply.

"Help you how? There is no help you will ever need that I cannot give," Klaus said, casting a suspicious glance at Buffy.

"She's here to keep me from killing you," Elijah announced, letting the anger show through the cold. Then he dismissed Klaus, knowing how that would anger him. "Come, Buffy. I will show you to your room."

Klaus glared at their retreating backs, his mind racing. Why would his brother bring a beautiful human into a house of vampires? Why would he bring a stranger amongst them now? He was immediately suspicious and determined to get to the bottom of it.

******Next Day******

When Klaus awoke, he found his sister and brother sitting at the dining table enjoying a huge spread of breakfast. Buffy was regaling them with a story, and they were laughing. It was not to be born. He was annoyed that his brother had returned and yet still seemed determined to keep him at a distance.

"Well, isn't this a nice domestic scene?" he said, taking his normal seat at the head of the table. Elijah was on his right. Freya on his left. Buffy was sitting next to Elijah. Her plate was loaded with food. She obviously had a healthy appetite.

"Glad you could join us," Buffy said, flashing him a smile filled with warmth. The genuine welcome caught him off guard. It'd been too long since he'd felt welcome around his family. He resented her for it.

"It's not every day my brother and sister both grace the table," Klaus said. A servant held out his wrist to Klaus.

"Ah, brother, we have a human guest. Why don't you show a little decorum?" Elijah said to him. He wasn't sure the slayer would be able to restrain herself if she witnessed their brother feeding from a human.

"Never let it be said that I cannot show good manners," Klaus said with a smirk, slashing the man's wrist with his nail and pouring blood into a goblet. Buffy gave him a look of distaste. His smile grew genuine. So the little human knowingly came around vampires but found the practice of drinking blood from humans abhorrent. Interesting.

"This is you showing decorum?" Buffy asked, a note of mockery in her voice. "I guess blood bags are beneath you."

"Not at all. But this is my home, and I can do as I please," Klaus said arrogantly.

"So you plan on feeding from humans in front of your human daughter?" Buffy asked. "She is human, right?" She glanced at Freya and Elijah for confirmation.

"She isn't merely human," Freya said. She found Elijah's friend a welcome distraction from the tension in her new home. Freya sensed power from her—power that she had never sensed before. It both confused and intrigued her.

"She is human, but she is also a witch," Elijah said. "We do not yet know about her hybrid status."

"We know she has hybrid blood because carrying her turned Hayley into one," Klaus said.

"But she doesn't need blood to survive?" Buffy asked, curious.

"No. She is as any other baby," Elijah explained.

"Fascinating," Buffy said thoughtfully. "If you ever want to know more about your child, I know people who could probably help."

"There will be no more strangers around my child," Klaus said coldly.

"Thank you, Buffy. I know the Council has vast resources," Elijah said. "However, they may decide a child such as ours would pose too great a risk to mankind. I trust you will say nothing of her to Rupert or your friends."

"I will not," Buffy said. "However, the Council is no longer filled with sanctimonious asses. They would never harm a human, no matter her special qualities. Willow, my best friend, is the most powerful witch on the planet. She would never allow a child to be used or harmed."

Klaus grew more alarmed the more she spoke. "What is this council you speak of? Why do I not know of it?" Klaus said in annoyance.

"How do you know your friend is the most powerful witch on earth?" Freya asked without waiting for her answers to Klaus. "My aunt was over a thousand years old, and it took all of us to defeat her."

"When Willow went dark once, she almost destroyed the world. That's the kind of power she possesses. She's even stronger now as a White Witch; she can do anything she puts her mind to it," Buffy said. "She raised me from the dead once. I'd been dead for several months."

"A necromancer? We have those in New Orleans," Klaus said arrogantly. "In fact, Davina recently raised our mother from the dead. She also managed to bring back our father, whom I had to kill once again. Currently, she seeks to bring back our brother Kol."

"She is not a true necromancer," Elijah clarified. "She managed Father only because the Other Side was unstable. As the new head of the witches, she was granted power one time to bring back our brother, Kol, but we had her bring back our mother instead."

Klaus smirked. "You know that little witch is going to be gunning for us. She foolishly loves Kol and thinks he's capable of fidelity. It matters not that in the thousand years we've known him, he's never been faithful to anything or anyone," Klaus said.

"Cannot love change a person?" Freya asked.

"It can," Buffy said. "I personally had a demon fall in love with me. He fought to regain his soul, hoping I'd love him back."

"Did you?" Klaus asked, intrigued by the puzzle the woman represented.

"I did but not the way he wanted," Buffy said regretfully. "He is a good man and still a friend I can count on."

"You remain friends with an ex?" Klaus asked in surprise.

"I remain friends with all the men I've cared about," Buffy said, smiling. "You care for your daughter's mother or you wouldn't have work so hard to save her life."

A ghost of a smile traced over Klaus's lips, and he gave a nod. "My little wolf has been a constant surprise. Motherhood agrees with her," he said, a note of affection in his voice.

"She is not yours, Niklaus," Elijah said in annoyance.

"She is mine more than she'll ever be yours," Klaus said bluntly. "She is married to another. A wolf marriage is sacred and will only be broken if you or I decide to kill her husband."

"We will not be killing Jackson," Elijah said firmly. "He is a good man."

"Wow, so much drama!" Buffy said in amusement as she looked between the two brothers. She sensed that Elijah cared more than he probably should for his niece's mother. Klaus didn't seem too jealous, so the baby must not have been the result of love. Still, the tension was high, so she sought a way to dispel it. She glanced at Freya. "Shall we leave the brothers to their squabbling and go shopping in town? I love shopping!"

"I have not been shopping in over a century," Freya said, looking down at her clothes. "My sister gave me these."

"Our sister Rebekah has two entire rooms full of nothing but clothes. You are welcome to them," Klaus said in amusement.

"A girl wants clothes of her own," Buffy said, giving Freya an easy smile. "She can begin working on filling her own closets."

Freya was unsure how to handle Buffy's genuine warmth and extension of friendship. Her aunt had only allowed her to live one year every century, thus slowly her aging. However, Dahlia allowed only herself to be close to her. Freya had never had a friend before Rebekah, but she was her sister. She gave Buffy a shy smile. "I'd like that," she said. Perhaps, Elijah's new friend would be her friend, too.

Looking at Freya, Buffy was struck by how much she reminded her of Tara—her blonde hair and hunched shoulders, the underlying sense of power. On Tara, the power had been gentle and warm, soothing. On this woman, however, it was strong and chaotic. Buffy doubted the woman knew who she was yet.

"I would be happy to escort you around the city," Elijah offered.

"I think a girls' day is in order," Buffy said. "I will call Cami."

Klaus looked dumbstruck at the mention of Cami's name. "You have been in town less than a day and are already acquainted with Camille?" he asked. He wanted to rail that she was his friend and thus could not be hers. However, he knew how childish that would be.

"I took her to Rousseau's for dinner when she arrived yesterday. Camille was working," Elijah explained with a small smile. He knew how possessive Klaus was about people he deemed his. Regardless of the lack of sexual intimacy between them, Klaus considered Cami his.

"And how did you find Cami?" Klaus asked. He knew that he had hurt her deeply in his mad scheme to stop their aunt. The woman had such faith in him, and he'd let her down in a most brutal fashion. A human was too fragile to love—he knew this. He kept her at arm's length for a reason. However, he craved her acceptance for some reason.

"I found her intelligent, down-to-earth, and friendly," Buffy said. "We have a lot in common."

"You have a master's in psychology, too?" Klaus asked in surprise.

"A bachelor's only. I never liked school enough to go any more than that. It took enough effort to finish my degree to begin with," Buffy shared.

"How did you get into psychology?" Elijah inquired, finding her surprisingly complicated.

"I finished three semesters of college in California before my mother got sick with a brain tumor. I had to drop out to care for her. Then she died of a brain aneurysm. I had to care for my younger sister and work. I eventually got a job as a teen counselor at the high school. I kind of liked helping them, so when things finally settled down, I went back to school and finished my bachelors," she explained.

"Where did you attend?" Elijah asked, interested in her. Rupert had only divulged the basics.

"Oxford. That's where Will went to graduate school, and I was living in England at the time," she shared. "My grades weren't great, but my test scores were. Plus, my mentor Giles had connections there."

Elijah was impressed as the school was very exclusive. "That is an excellent school," he said.

"I never got to attend school," Freya said sadly.

"Our sister Rebekah amused herself attending high school in Mystic Falls," Klaus told her. "I'm sure you could go to school if you wanted."

"But perhaps not high school," Elijah said, smiling at her.

"You'll have to get your GED first—that's your high school equivalency. I can help with that," Buffy said. Many of the slayers ended up having to go that route, so she was very familiar with the process.

Freya didn't know what to think of the woman's kindness since it was beyond her experience. Sensing her confusion, Elijah gave her a look of understanding. "It's okay, sister. You can trust Buffy," he said.

"And how do you know that? How long have you known this woman you are entrusting our lives to? My daughter's life?" Klaus asked sullenly.

"I only met Buffy yesterday," Elijah confessed, surprising both siblings.

Sensing an explosion of anger and outrage about to burst forth, Buffy decided more of an explanation was in order. "Elijah once saved the life of my almost father. If he hadn't saved Giles, I'm sure I'd be dead by now," Buffy shared.

"How can someone be an almost father?" Freya asked, confused. The new world was so strange and different.

"My father mostly abandoned Dawn and me when he divorced my mother. He didn't even call us when Mom died. Giles came into my life at school as our librarian. I was a sophomore in high school. He's been there ever since," Buffy said. "I depend on him."

"How do you know that Elijah can be trusted?" Klaus asked mockingly. "After all, he is a vampire."

"Well, two of the best men I have ever known have been vampires," Buffy replied, giving him an easy smile. "But they were a different kind. The kind that is more ancient than your family. The kind with a demon in them."

"I have never heard of such things," Freya said, frowning.

"I saved Rupert from a demon, not a vampire," Elijah revealed.

"When was this and why do I not know of it?" Klaus asked, looking hurt.

Buffy bit back a smile. How can someone so ancient be so needy? She never considered that freezing a person into vampire form at a young age would keep the mind from fully maturing and developing. However, Klaus had clear signs of immaturity that was unexpected in one so ancient. Elijah was obviously a few years older, thus he had better control and maturity. Giles would be fascinated by the family dynamic. She couldn't help but wonder if the werewolf nature combined with the vampire side of Klaus made him more erratic and volatile.

"It was when you became so insufferable in the eighties that I left you for a few decades," Elijah said. "I was in Wales when I came across Rupert nearly being eaten by a giant squid-like creature. He and I spent some time together. I know he is a man to be trusted. Relax, Niklaus. I would never bring a threat into our home. You should know me better than that."

Niklaus did trust his brother—more than he trusted anyone. Yet the sting of his recent betrayal still lingered. He knew Elijah daggered him, convinced that it was best for Hope's safety. However, the insult of that grated him greatly. "I thought I did. But then you turned around and betrayed me by literally sticking a dagger in my heart!" Klaus said angrily.

"Come now, Niklaus. Hypocrisy should be beneath you. How many times did you dagger your siblings—even myself? Poor Finn spent 900 years in a coffin, Kol a few centuries. Even Rebekah, our youngest sister and the only woman ever devoted to you, you daggered decades at a time," Elijah said.

"For their own good, as you well know!" Klaus fumed.

"Yet you've done it to me twice in the past few years, neither time was for my own good but for yours," Elijah said coldly. "What I did was for the good of all. You insist on being petty and secretive and confessing to killing our allies when you did not. I will not apologize for doing what's necessary."

"Maybe you should apologize for hurting his feelings," Buffy said, interjecting into the argument. Beneath the anger from Klaus, she sensed a deep hurt. The hurt was probably what pushed him to act so irrationally.

"Hurting my feelings?" Klaus said, offended at the suggestion. "Am I child or a woman?"

"Hey, this is the twenty-first century, bucko. That antiquated sexism has no place in it!" Buffy said, offended.

Elijah laughed, enjoying her immensely.

"You mock me?" Klaus asked his brother.

"Must you take everything so personally, brother? It is most tiresome," Elijah said. "My amusement is because Rebekah has been saying similar things for a while now. She would enjoy this."

The mention of the sister that he loved did make Klaus smile. "Yes, she probably would," he acknowledged.

"I never seek to hurt you, brother. Surely you know that," Elijah told him. "However, I am unsure you could say the same."

Klaus frowned at the accusation. However, his brother wasn't completely wrong. A part of him had wanted to hurt him for his betrayal. Yet he had not sought to kill his brother's lover. He looked up at Elijah. "I did not seek to harm Gia, brother. She was there with Marcel when Dahlia and I arrived. I knew that I had to kill one of them or Dahlia would grow suspicious," he admitted.

"An innocent young girl was your first choice?" Elijah said.

Looking uncomfortable for the first time, Klaus admitted, "I could not kill Marcel."

Elijah knew that, of course. He just wasn't sure his brother would admit it. He decided to accept the olive branch. "So, brother, shall we escort the ladies shopping?" he suggested. "After all, our sister doesn't yet have her own credit card."

Freya was surprised by the swift turn around between her brothers. It made her head spin. However, she'd been inside their heads. She knew this was the way it was between the brothers. They fought like dogs. It was strange, though, to witness the turn around.

Klaus smiled, flashing his dimples. "I guess they will need someone to carry their bags," he acknowledged.

Buffy looked at him in awe, drawing his attention.

"What is wrong?" he asked, bracing himself for her rejection of his presence.

"You have dimples! I have never seen a vampire with dimples! It's so adorable!" she said, flashing him a smile. She couldn't resist commenting on them, watching and delighting in his surprise. She wasn't sure that this big bad wolf was so bad.

Elijah laughed at his brother's discomfort. Bringing the slayer to town was just what their family needed. She would keep Niklaus off guard and out of trouble. She would also be a powerful ally. Already, she'd managed to completely disarm their brother. When she gave Elijah a mischievous smile, he felt something warm inside grow.

Maybe Klaus wasn't the only one caught off guard by her.

******Chapter End******